Building your business and scaling up your organization brings a lot of challenges. Recruiting is one of them, how do you find the right talent? And how do you make new employees feel like they belong? We have discussed the topic with our own PeOps Generalist Isabel!
Isabel is our People Operations Generalist and you could describe her as one of the cornerstones in our recruitment strategy. So who better to tell you about it than her?
If you look at a recruitment process, the main focus is always trying to find the right candidate. You put out your job ad, read through applications and you invite candidates to several interviews before you make your decision. But then what?
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"It’s not uncommon for candidates to feel forgotten after they’ve signed the contract. As a candidate in a hiring process you normally get a lot of attention as the spotlight is put on you. But after the contract is signed you easily fall out of the loop. In some cases, it can take up to several months before a new hire can make the transition and so much can happen during that time", says Isabel. .
The key to make the new hire feel welcome is to keep in touch. Right after a new hire signs the contract you have to start to see them as your new coworker – even if their start date is far away. One way to do this is what Isabel calls a “preboarding":
"We have a process in place that we called pre-boarding. It basically means we include our new coworker in everything we can before they arrive. We regularly keep in touch about details and practical information as well as invites to our company and team events, after works and kick-offs. We do this to make sure that our new coworkers feel comfortable and included".
When the time comes for your new hire to do their first day the real work starts. When you’re scaling up, as mentioned, the most challenging part is to maintain, communicate and convey the existing organizational culture. To be successful, a good start is to have a proper onboarding strategy.
"During the first few weeks, we divide the onboarding in two parts that runs simultaneously where you as a new hire get introduced both to your new role and your team, and the company as a whole", says Isabel.
It is the introduction of Meetio and how it is carried out that really makes the difference when it comes to learning about the entire company and the culture.
"The goal of having all new hires getting to know all parts of the company and all key people is to really understand the business, what Meetio is and our purpose. It all kicks off your first day when you get a welcome introduction from either Andreas or Johannes, two of our founders as well as company heads. After that we narrow it down day by day and you will get introduced to all our products and teams."
At Meetio we also focus a lot on introducing our products. Since we are a product company, many of the things we do tend to revolve around product development, how we sell our products and how we value our products. That’s also included in the onboarding sessions", says Isabel.
It might seem very intense and a lot of different things to process in a short while. But, a key point to a successful onboarding is to let information sink in and not rush through. For that reason, Meetio’s onboarding is spread out over two weeks.
But before you can get through the pre- and onboarding sessions you first have to pass the recruitment process. When applying to Meetio it’s important to reflect on where you want to go and why you want to come here, says Isabel.
"You don’t have to have an elaborate explanation to exactly why you applied to Meetio. But we have noticed that the best match arises when someone can describe how they want grow and what company culture they are looking for.”
The perks and challenges of entering a scaleup are that you will be working in a changeable environment. Coming to Meetio at this stage means that you will be working with enthusiastic people who like to get things done. Isabel explains:
”If you join Meetio now you will have a chance to not only take part of Meetio’s growth journey, but you will also get to build and define your own role. What that in reality means is joining the Meetio team means being heard and having a great influence on the way we work and the decision that is being made. It is truly great”
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