The significance of a contractor onboarding process
Companies usually worry that a contractor could encounter difficulties inside the first few weeks — even when they interviewed brilliantly. However, when hiring a contractor via a market or outsourcing company, the responsibility for onboarding and retention still falls on the employer. This is because they need to familiarize the brand new engineer with the project code to make sure effective teamwork.
From day one on a new project, onboarding straight impacts the developer’s effectiveness. Therefore, corporations should allocate time to involve the contractor within the workflow and organize Q&A and feedback sessions. That method, they’ll really feel engaged and have a clearer understanding of the corporate’s requirements.
This article gives a guidelines of actions that may assist an organization overcome challenges throughout onboarding. It additionally discusses how the Customer Success division at You Workforce helps companies and contractors overcome challenges, build relationships, and complete projects on time.
Remote developer onboarding checklist
Preparing for a contractor’s first day
It can be embarrassing not to have a workstation or training directions for a contractor’s first day on the workplace. Programmers who work remotely could also be less aware of “gaps” through the first few days of onboarding. However, they could still notice a scarcity of account access or technical documentation.
Here’s a guidelines of onboarding activities to prepare for a new contractor:
- Prepare a information with the corporate’s most vital data. This could include blog posts about company milestones, the CEO’s video diaries, an online onboarding portal, or a glossary of company acronyms.
- Choose a dedicated mentor who’ll be accountable for the developer’s onboarding. A new contractor who isn’t but aware of all the firm departments is more comfortable asking their trainer questions.
- Consider a developer’s goals for the first 30, 60, and 90 days of work.
- Prepare technical documentation.
- Set up a new email account for the new hire and provide access to company software and communication tools like skype, zoom etc.
Onboarding
Welcome emails and photos for new workforce members are generally accompanied by an awesome variety of introductory calls and technical documentation. An “all at once” approach can usually intimidate a new crew member — it’s best to pace the method to avoid frightening off the newcomer.
Regular feedback helps new contractors really feel heard and appreciated. Furthermore, addressing uncertainties and misunderstandings early on can prevent more severe issues from growing. The following checklist will assist organize the primary few weeks of working with a new developer:
- Introduce the contractor to the team.
- Schedule a video call to show shows of the corporate and the project.
- Introduce the developer to the project code with a technical specialist.
- Divide team roles and tasks. Sometimes, existing crew members could really feel threatened or jealous that a new hire may take over their duties. Therefore, it’s good to make clear the new contractor’s position with different crew members whose work is carefully associated. This will enhance interaction and help deal with the project.
- Tell the developer what is expected of them throughout their training interval and for the first few months. The developer’s targets could include acquiring a more profound familiarity with the stack and operational footprint — designing, implementing, and releasing new features to the corporate’s platform/product. For newly hired developers, employers should set milestones.
- Begin with easy tasks in order not to overwhelm the developer with data and consider their work regularly.
- Organize pair programming classes to make sure the developer stays on observe.
- Arrange regular Q&A and suggestions classes throughout onboarding (not just at the end of the trial period but throughout the method).
You can also ask current remote workers to share their onboarding experiences and answer specific questions about how to make the process smoother for new contractors.
Post-onboarding actions
- Get regular feedback from the contractor and in-house crew. This can motivate and encourage the developer to improve teamwork and perform better over time.
- Be honest with the contractor about long-term goals. Be aware of the developer’s mood before monotonous work forces them to change projects. For instance, possibly the data structures and algorithms they practiced for a 12 months to join the project are all forgotten inside three months of doing upkeep and attending conferences.
- Schedule regular meetings to verify how duties are going and modify the developer’s workload.
