Features of Software Developer Onboarding Process

New employee onboarding is a responsible and pretty complicated process. Newbies need not only to be familiarized with the specifics of the company’s work but also to be appropriately introduced to the team. In the IT field, new employees frequently require additional training. Therefore, it’s essential to recommend the newcomers reputable sites that help with programming homework. A simple IT onboarding checklist is below to help business owners and managers adapt new specialists correctly.

Why Is It So Important to Onboard a New Employee Properly?

Management specialists consider this process an essential part of the strategy for building a successful software development team. So, business profitability depends on proper newcomers’ adaptation. Moreover, the developer onboarding process quality affects:

• Work duration of a new employee. Under SHRM, nearly 69% of newcomers stay with companies with the right approach to new hires’ adaptation for at least three years.
• Employees’ KPI achievement. By 99firms, 77% of newcomers reach necessary personal KPIs in companies that provide formal onboarding.
• Staff turnover. Under Spiceworks, first-year employees occupy 34% of this index. And right newcomers’ adaptation may decrease the indicator.

Additionally, the onboarding process affects workflow productiveness. According to CareerBuilder, 42% of newbies work harder after completing an introductory course.

Remote Developer Onboarding Guide

Nowadays, numerous programmers work from their homes. Experts explain such a trend through the intensive development of digital technologies. However, the unstable epidemiological situation worldwide has also affected this.

For example, under Statista, 43% of employees wished to switch to permanent telecommuting after working from home (see the chart above) in 2020. Furthermore, according to Startup Bonsai, 73% of all departments in companies worldwide will have remote employees by 2028. That’s why it’s so important to know how to adapt such IT specialists.

1. Prepare all necessary instructions and documents

New employees need to understand what tasks they will perform, the peculiarities of workflow, etc. Therefore, managers should prepare online documents and brief instructions for newcomers. This will help to avoid problems and unnecessary questions in the future.

For example, the newcomer should be introduced to the software for communicating with team members or managers (Slack, Telegram, Google Chat, etc.). Such an approach to dev onboarding allows the newbies to be ready to work on their first day in a company.

Moreover, telecommuting involves regular video meetings and private conversations with co-workers as well as customers. That’s why newcomers have to install appropriate applications (e.g., Skype or Zoom). So, they need to know which ones the company uses.

2. Preparation for the first working day as an essential part of software engineer onboarding

Here, managers should add a new remote employee to all company chats as well as groups where the team communicates. Furthermore, experts recommend making a post-greeting for newcomers and asking them to tell about themselves in short (their experience, skills, etc.). This will help the newbies to find their feet faster.l

3. Getting started to work

Managers should introduce newcomers to their mentors. It’s important to discuss all the details of the workflow here. Sometimes, new employees need special equipment to work. Therefore, business owners should ask about it as part of onboarding developers. This is especially critical for companies proposing jobs for coders without work experience.

4. Meeting face to face with the team

Managers usually hold such events in video format on a new employee’s second or third day of work. This helps the team:

• learn more from the newcomers about their professional skills;
• understand the newbies’ characters;
• determine where it’s better to involve new co-workers.

At this stage of remote developers’ onboarding, newcomers should be able to ask for more details about the team they join.

5. Training new employees

Here, newbies begin to learn the nuances of app development. So, at this step, managers or team leads should draw up a program explaining the work process. If the company has an LMS, it’ll be much easier. In this case, managers will only need to create an account for the newcomers and assign them the necessary courses. Otherwise, team leaders have to recommend specific platforms where the newbies may get, e.g., Python, JS, SQL, or PHP assignment help.

6. Testing new team members

Among software onboarding best practices, this one is probably one of the most important. Here, business owners determine the future fate of the newcomer. It’s essential to give newcomers feedback on their work regularly. This motivates newbies to put in more effort to achieve success. At the end of the probationary period, management should conduct another video interview with the new employees.

Onboarding Features for In-House Employees

The concept of the adaptation process here is similar to the procedure for remote specialists. However, office workers can get help with C#, C++, etc., by direct asking more experienced colleagues.

Also, business owners should provide new stationary employees with PCs as well as allocate a workplace for them. Respectively, meeting and communication between team members and a newcomer is carried out in real life in an office.

Brief Software Engineers’ Adaptation Checklist

Considering the information above, the onboarding process for IT development should include the following:

• preparation of necessary instructions, equipment, and workspaces for newcomers;
• adding new employees to work chats;
• appointing a mentor and introducing newbies to the team;
• newcomer training (including attending courses as well as the possibility to consult with colleagues);
• newbies progress checking.

Managers can find more information on developer onboarding best practices in thematic blogs (e.g., on the Programming Assignment official website).