You ask and we deliver. Our audience wanted to hear more about onboarding — the good, the bad, the tried, and the true — so we decided to interview one of our new remote work hires, Gabrielle Cohen, on the Transform Your Workplace podcast. Check out some snippets of our conversation below. Hopefully, you can take what worked and avoid what didn’t as you hone your new-hire onboarding experience.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
The Job Search
“I graduated in June of 2020, three months after the pandemic hit, and I started doing online job searching. It was pretty daunting, for sure. […] Not only was it new for me to be looking, but I think it was new for a lot of employers to be searching for employees remotely. When I first started looking in June, you could tell that there were a lot of hiring freezes. So not only was I ‘cold applying’ to places where I would just find a job listing on their page, on LinkedIn, or on one of the search engines I was using, but I was also doing some networking and contacting people that were working at those places. I was interested in doing some informational interviews.”
“A lot of what I was getting was that companies were unsure of the future and when they were going to be hiring again. And I think that as I went along in the process, and we got more used to the online work, things definitely got better. Companies had a better understanding of what they were asking for and were more clear about how they were going to hire.”
The Frustration
“I would say some of the worst application experiences involved companies that asked you to input your email and send in your application, but you wouldn’t get a confirmation email that they received it. So you wouldn’t ever know if it had gone through. Another frustration was companies that gave no timeline at all. You’d submit something and they would tell you they got it, but then maybe you wouldn’t hear back for two months. And then the third thing that I didn’t love was sometimes you would hear back, but because it was such an employer’s market, the reasons for being removed from the selection pool would be things that just weren’t even listed in the job postings.”
“For example, there was one entry-level job that I applied for, but they automatically sorted all of the candidates out who didn’t have any previous experience with their specific CRM. I found this frustrating because it was an entry-level job, and I know I could have learned the necessary skills.”
In-Person vs. Remote Interviews
“I liked my remote Xenium interview better than in-person interview experiences that I’ve had because there were so many elements [of an in-person interview] that would usually make me nervous, like driving there, sitting in the parking lot, and waiting. With a remote interview, I got to set up my space. I got to decide what my environment was going to be like for the interview. I didn’t have to go anywhere.”
The Xenium Difference
“When I sent in my application to Xenium, I immediately got an automated email saying that my application had been received. And once I clicked ‘submit’ on the web page, there was an automated message that said that I would hear back within three weeks, which was a better and more upfront timeline than any other company had given me. And then, throughout the whole process, everyone that I worked with told me what the next step was and how long it was going to take, which just felt like going above and beyond.”
“Under-Promise, Over-Deliver”
“At the end of my first interview with Kathleen, she told me the next step was interviewing with you. And she thought that she would connect with you sometime in that week. She had told me that I would hear back by the end of the week, approximately, and that she was going to recommend that you meet with me. And then she emailed me about two hours later, which was really exciting. This reminded me of a motto from my Nordstrom background. They have a little saying — ‘under-promise, over-deliver.’ She said I’d hear back within the week, and then she got back to me two hours later.”
Managing Expectations
“I think the experience of finding out that I was being offered the position and figuring out some of the logistics was pretty smooth. I think you were really respectful and accommodating of my comfort level around coronavirus and the precautions we’re taking. Xenium had a gift basket for me which was so nice. In the ‘swag basket,’ there was a water bottle and a mug, which I have used every day since. And there were two books, a notebook, a notepad, mints, and chapstick. I definitely appreciated immediately having some sort of company pride stuff. It makes you feel like you’re instantly part of the team, right?”
Training Time
“I had a lot of fun with that because it was probably the most socializing that I’ve done in months. It was so cool to meet different people from each department, each team, because it really helped me build out my mental map of what was happening at the company. I think being able to talk to someone from benefits and someone from payroll and someone from the HR side really helped me understand what all those teams are doing, who’s in all of those teams, who takes on what responsibilities. And so it was sort of a benefit. I also now have a better understanding of the structure of the company and what the different teams are doing day-to-day.”
New Employee Needs
“As a new employee, my needs are building relationships with my team, my manager, my coworkers. And I think that we’ve been doing a really good job of that. I think another need is training on new systems, new projects, and processes. And I think that both you and Julie have done a really good job going through how to do something with me more than once. I think the second week, Julie and I did a lead rotation training where she showed me how to do it. And she said, ‘You’re not taking this on yet. I’m going to keep doing this, but we’re going to train again on this in two weeks, and then you’ll take it on.’ About two weeks later, we did the same thing, and she went through putting in the lead and rotating it and then it became my responsibility.”
“The kind of environment that is going to help me succeed is the kind of environment that allows me to have my autonomy, but then also be able to ask questions and make sure that everyone’s on the same page and that I fully understand the processes that I’m doing.”
Some Constructive Feedback
“Even though I met a bunch of people from different teams during onboarding, everyone I met with was in an executive or managerial role. And so I pretty much met people at the top of their department and I didn’t really meet anyone who is in a contributor role. Outside of the all-teams meeting, it would’ve been nice in general to meet people outside of our department who are at varying levels of the company.”
Learning From Our Latest Hire
It was nice to do something a little different with this episode. We’re thankful that our new hire, Gabrielle Cohen, was willing to give us an honest take on Xenium’s onboarding process so that we can continue to improve our methods. We also hope that this interview gives you valuable insight into your own process. To hear more about Gabrielle’s experience, listen to the full podcast HERE.