Welcoming new employees to the company is an important part of the onboarding process. In addition to the content-related training, personal introductions are also at the forefront. After all, you want to create a good basis for future collaboration with your team. In this article, you will learn how we at blink.it adapt onboarding and integration of new employees to the needs of team members. I will share experiences based on practical examples.
Personalized onboarding initially sounds like a lot of work. But the effort is worth it! Depending on the department and phase, onboarding should be tailored to the specific responsibilities of the employee. Everyone has different learning methods that they prefer. Preparing an onboarding plan can quickly become time-consuming, but: The better the preparation, the faster new employees find their way in the company. The preparation time is invested in new employees, so it is not wasted.
Why personalized onboarding makes sense
Not only the time invested in onboarding matters. After all, those responsible for onboarding, as well as the new team members, invest a lot of time in this induction phase. If these first weeks are used effectively, everyone benefits in the end. Personalized onboarding offers several additional advantages:
1. Increased learning success through individual learning styles
Research continually confirms that people have individual learning styles that should be taken into account to achieve maximum learning success. This is especially relevant in onboarding, as your new employees are also learning here, both content-wise and interpersonally. Ask your new team members, for example, right at the start of onboarding, which learning method they feel most comfortable with, and develop creative onboarding ideas based on that. This can happen in a brief conversation or quiz. In the spirit of personalized learning, it is essential to adapt learning successes to employees.
2. Time-saving due to good planning and preparation
Adapting content beforehand to new employees is initially time-consuming, but once the plan for onboarding is established, new employees find their way around faster. After all, the content is tailored to a specific position or person. This allows them to take on tasks independently in no time and provides them with onboarding content as a point of contact where they can find initial assistance and answers to questions. This relieves both your new employees and the onboarding partners from the existing team.
3. More cost-effective compared to standardized onboarding
In standardized onboarding, the plan is not tailored to the specific position, and employees have no guide or checklist to orient themselves. New employees may receive support through content, but it is too general. This leads to more uncertainties, as the assistance is not concrete enough and does not help in the current 'problem situation'. If new employees are accompanied by personalized onboarding, they can work independently faster. This saves the company costs.
4. Strengthened team spirit through team-building measures
Through various team-building measures, new employees have the chance to get to know their colleagues better. This not only strengthens the team itself but also promotes the working atmosphere. After all, the 'newbies' learn more about their colleagues and vice versa. This helps all parties involved to better assess where the strengths and weaknesses of the others lie. New employees feel included in the team, which boosts work motivation. Uncertainties are overcome more quickly because new team members engage more.
My experience report – Onboarding at blink.it
These advantages clearly show: Individualizing onboarding offers added value for both new team members and the company. The goal is to quickly integrate new employees into the team so that they can take on their own responsibilities as soon as possible. Only then do they actively contribute to the company and can realize their potential. I will show you how that works at blink.it based on my onboarding, which consisted of four main focuses that I will introduce below:
Note: I have been part of the team for three months now, and my onboarding lasted a total of six weeks. Since then, I have been part of the blink.it marketing team, responsible for blog articles and social media.
1. A fixed onboarding contact person for questions and problems
On the very first day of work, I was assigned a fixed contact person who was available to assist me. Having a consistent person to exchange ideas with from the beginning helped me to better understand and internalize the blink.it work style. I was also directly integrated into the team and never felt like an outsider or 'the new one.' This security gave me more confidence and allowed me to contribute creatively and content-wise right away.
2. Independent work and personal responsibilities
Being able to carry out tasks independently from the beginning and having my own area is essential for work motivation. In the blink.it team, everyone has their strengths and corresponding individual areas of responsibility. This allows everyone to fully develop in what they do, which consequently promotes enjoyment and eagerness to work. I could work independently mainly thanks to the learning library, which was tailored to my areas of responsibility. Here, I found guides and links that initially helped me with questions. Important documents or blink.it courses are also linked here, so I can quickly find what I'm looking for.
My personalized learning library with all relevant information. // Source: blink.it
3. Regular feedback and time for reviews
Regular and constructive feedback is crucial for learning success. Therefore, at blink.it, special attention is paid to sufficient feedback during onboarding. I received this, for example, in the form of reviews (for blog articles) or quizzes on the blink.it platform. Additionally, a time block was scheduled at the end of each workday for unresolved questions.
Furthermore, one of my tasks was to maintain a video diary at the end of each workday. My colleague Corinna recently published an article on this topic: Methods in Onboarding – The Video Diary
In my video diary, I reflected on the day within a 2-minute video based on the following questions:
What did I learn today?
What did I enjoy the most today?
What would I have wished for?
This feedback is not only useful for oneself but also allows colleagues to participate in my onboarding who otherwise wouldn't work much with me.
My video diary on the blink.it platform. // Source: blink.it
4. Participation in team events and meetings from the start
Group events strengthen cohesion within the team and promote a relaxed working atmosphere. I was able to experience this myself before my first working day at blink.it. Even before my first day in the office, I participated in the annual summer camp and took a trip with the entire team. But even a shared lunch strengthens team building, as we eat together in the office and can exchange ideas beyond work-related topics. To stay updated on what colleagues are currently working on, our daily lunch meeting (Daily Huddle) takes place. Here, not only the focus for the day is discussed, but also problems or noteworthy issues.
Conclusion: My personalized onboarding
Looking back on my first weeks, I can say that personalized onboarding made my start easier and that I quickly got into the processes at blink.it. As the onboarding was tailored to my responsibilities, I found it easy to adapt quickly to the blink.it working style. Being integrated into the team from the start helps to overcome initial shyness and fully engage in one's own work. It is also essential to take responsibility for clear areas of responsibility, as independent work should be the result of every onboarding.
Although I had not worked with blink.it before and only know other learning platforms like Moodle from my studies, I quickly found my way around the platform. My onboarding consisted not only of in-person sessions but was also supported digitally by learning libraries and blink.it courses. I enjoyed using our tool and getting to know it from a user perspective. The blink.it platform supported the onboarding process and helped me become a Blinkie myself! 😃
My conclusion in one sentence: Personalized onboarding made my start at blink.it easier and helped me settle into the processes quickly. Especially the mix of online and in-person made the first weeks varied.
