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It's something I've been struggling with. It would be nice if there were a one-size-fits-all onboarding script. The company I work for has grown from 3 (founde
by elric 6y ago
It's something I've been struggling with. It would be nice if there were a one-size-fits-all onboarding script.
The company I work for has grown from 3 (founders included!) to over 30 in the time I've been there. When you're tiny, and someone new joins, there's no need for formal onboarding, osmosis sort of does its thing. This worked reasonably well until we reached ~10 butts in seats. Unfortunately, this 10 people mark was also where pressure started to ramp up. More customers, tighter deadlines, bigger workloads, and a struggle to survive -- because at this point the first round of financing was spent, and we needed to prove our worth to future investors. Everyone was stressed and overworked. Basically, there was no time for onboarding. Which is stupid, because it's an activity that pays dividends in the sort-of-short term.
Once we reached the 30 people mark, we were able to breathe a little easier in regards to workload. We're still growing. Onboarding is starting to become a thing. Where things aren't automated, they're being documented. We at least try to make time for introductions. It's far from perfect. It needs to improve. But it's hard. And I should probably take a moment to apologize to hire ten through thirty for what must have been a shitty first few months for them.
- HenryBemis 6y agoI will repeat from another point of view: when you were 10 we had enough workload for 15 but we didn't get the extra 5 until we got to the "need 20" (or whatever number). So you have always been overworked and overworking your staff and you preferred that they all work on 120-140% instead of 80-90% that would give space for better quality. I get it that numbers are ruthless, but workload, quality, documentation (not speaking only about onboarding documentation) etc. also got "numbers" on them if one cares to measure. It is only the £€¥$ numbers matter.
- elric 6y agoOh yes you're absolutely right. And while I'm only an engineer and have no "real" say in how the company is run, and no remuneration except for my monthly paycheck, I've definitely been part of the problem. I work crazy hours, I'm totally addicted to the problem-solution "high" feedback loop. There have definitely been times when I've thought some people weren't pulling their weight. But with the passage of time, I've mellowed a bit and I've come to realize the importance of downtime and all those hard to quantify things. For the most part, my employer has treated people pretty well. Workload has been high, but flexibility has always been high as well. Along with $$$. Working here has definitely given me an appreciation for the hard work it takes to get a company off the ground.