Onboarding: first gut instincts are always right

My first day at Ferpection wasn't a relaxing one. A bit tired from a trip I had come back from the day before, I was directly thrown into the heart of a start-up which was in constant motion. After a warm welcome with croissants, we started with the introduction stage of the tools used by Ferpection, which I had previously installed beforehand in order to save time when I arrived. And there are quite a few tools: Trello, Todoist, Pipedrive, Twist, Zoom, not to mention our in-house platform.

                 On-boarding "welcome" project in Todoist

Once our tools were almost fully mastered, I spent most of my time visiting all the team members to learn more about their jobs and their daily routines at Ferpection. This is an important process that allows a good understanding of each person's area of expertise and guarantees a good level of coordination between employees. If I could get a clearer idea of a business developer's day, it was a little less obvious for me to imagine what Nathanael, an IT developer, could do. I quickly understood why we were currently using the v1936 platform because fixes and improvements never stop.

Then, shadowing kept me busy for the first two weeks following my arrival at Ferpection. Underneath this unclear name lies the fact that I follow - like a shadow - my colleagues as they go to our clients' offices, launch studies, make calls and all the other daily actions that I will eventually be required to perform independently. 

Shadowing, with careful observation, allows a gradual transmission of experience and an immersion of proper operating methods. 

It has however given me many opportunities to ask questions and learn! Additionally, it allowed me to take a fresh look at how the company operates and to question certain methods, mainly due to the fresh eye report.

What struck me when I arrived

During my onboarding, few things were left to chance and I somewhat followed a course to optimize my integration as much as possible: I had a detailed roadmap indicating each action to be taken, at what stage, all of which was monitored by Mathieu (below) who took on the role of "integration coach". This is an important element, because the first few days after taking a job are often very stressful. According to Welcome to the Jungle, 4% of employees actually decide to leave their job after a disastrous first day.

 Coach Mathieu

This arrival was also the perfect opportunity to assimilate Ferpection's corporate culture, which encourages initiative, questioning, and especially independence in the execution of tasks. The perception of work is different from what I have previously experienced, especially with student jobs. I admit I was surprised when I saw the daily message asking what team was coming or not to the office the next day, but ultimately, it's a habit to acquire.

Finally, I experienced the dreaded Ferpection hazing, which consists of paying for a round of chocolate bars, a product that has a very special place in our team!

The Fresh Eye Report, or how to take advantage of a new recruit's unprejudiced view.

Following these weeks of integration, I wrote and presented my fresh eye report at our Ferpect Weekly meeting. It includes different aspects: first of all, a review of my recent achievements, then my goals for the future, but the most interesting part for the company is probably the part where I talk about what I find best and worst at Ferpection. It's a perfect opportunity to discuss about our operating routine, what we need to improve, or on the contrary, what we absolutely need to maintain. 

In my opinion, the 3 key points for a successful arrival are

• Meet your colleagues: talking about their tasks, understanding their role, their constraints, is an essential step for an optimal collaboration afterwards.
• Have a clear roadmap: again, having a clear vision of what needs to be done allows the employee to look forward to his or her arrival in the company with peace of mind. Arriving prepared also helps to ease the integration process.
• Use shadowing: in line with the meetings with the rest of the team, shadowing helps to assimilate the behavior to follow in a practical way this time.

In conclusion, recruiting is good. Properly integrating newcomers is better!
If you would like to find out more about our corporate culture and our job opportunities, please visit our page Welcome to the Jungle or our "about us" page to learn more about remote work, the liberated company and our teams.