Why Onboarding is Crucial for Kickstarting Careers at Your Company

Onboarding is more than just an introduction to your company—it’s the foundation for an employee’s success. New hires must familiarize themselves with the company culture, organizational structure, and processes. At the same time, they need to acquire essential domain knowledge that will enable them to contribute meaningfully to the company. Establishing effective learning patterns during onboarding is crucial for fostering long-term employee growth and success.

How We Do Onboarding at ROITI: A Continuous Improvement Approach

Our onboarding process has been a continuous cycle of trial and error for the past year and a half—and if we’re being honest, it will likely never stop evolving. Meeting the diverse needs of our employees while ensuring a structured, effective onboarding process has been a challenge. However, through constant iteration, we have found a formula that has proven to be highly successful so far.

We recently transitioned from a four-week onboarding program to a more efficient two-week General Company Onboarding. This new format helps us streamline the process without sacrificing the quality of learning for our new hires. Our current winning formula for all new employees includes the following key components:

• Company Culture and Overview – Led by our CEO
  New hires are introduced to the company’s values, mission, and vision to help them understand the bigger picture.
• Operations Terminology & Process Basics – Led by our Service Manager
  This session covers essential processes and the language used within the company to ensure employees feel confident navigating their roles.
• Branding & Marketing – Led by our Head of Marketing
  Understanding the company’s brand identity and marketing strategies is crucial for aligning new employees with the company’s public image and customer engagement.
• IT Security – Led by our System Administrator
  In today’s digital age, IT security is a critical component of any business. Employees are educated on the basics of data security to keep both personal and company information safe.
• Navigating Workplace Communication – Led by our Training Specialist
  Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful workplace. This session focuses on tools, channels, and strategies for clear and productive communication.
• Growth Mindset – Also led by our Training Specialist
  Finally, we introduce the concept of Growth Mindset, emphasizing the value of learning, perseverance, and self-improvement.

Why Soft Skills Matter

You may wonder why we include soft skills, such as Growth Mindset, in our onboarding. The answer is simple: these skills are crucial for long-term success in any role. A Growth Mindset encourages employees to approach challenges with a mindset that embraces effort, learning, and continuous improvement. This philosophy is in line with ROITI’s culture, which embraces open communication, innovation, and learning from mistakes.

A Growth Mindset teaches that consistent effort leads to improvement. Neuroscience supports this idea, noting that a change in environment, such as starting a new job, is an optimal time for adopting new habits. As James Clear explains in his book Atomic Habits, environmental changes are key moments for cultivating new behaviors. By instilling a Growth Mindset from day one, we help employees build the habit of resilience and learning, which are essential for their career development.

Scaling Onboarding for Growth

In 2024, ROITI welcomed 18 new employees, bringing our total workforce to 110. Scaling onboarding for a growing team requires significant resources and careful planning.

After the general onboarding, employees transition to a self-paced learning module focused on domain knowledge. Our structured approach includes:

1. Reading Materials
   Essential materials to provide foundational knowledge about the company’s products, services, and industry.
2. Multiple-Choice Quizzes
   Quizzes to test comprehension and reinforce key concepts.
3. Q&A Sessions with Experts
   Interactive sessions that allow new employees to ask questions and gain deeper insights.
4. Open-Ended Questions
   To encourage critical thinking and application of knowledge.
5. Final Wrap-Up & Q&A Session
   A concluding session to clarify any remaining questions and consolidate learning.

Diversifying the learning formats keeps engagement high and helps us identify individual learning preferences. No single method works best for everyone, so understanding each employee’s unique learning style allows us to tailor materials specifically for them. This approach aligns with modern employee training trends, ensuring effective knowledge retention.

Why the Onboarding is the Best Time for Soft Skills Training

Helen Simeonova, Training Specialist at ROITI Ltd.

While we at ROITI believe that soft skills development should come from individual motivation, onboarding is the perfect time to introduce them as a mandatory part of training. When starting a new job, employees are already adjusting their routines to the new environment, making it the ideal time to establish new mindsets and habits. By incorporating Growth Mindset into our onboarding, we aim to instill the habit of continuous learning and resilience from day one.

Author: Helen Simeonova

Editor: Hristina Tankovska