End to End Onboarding
Why is onboarding important at Vizz?
The main purpose is to make sure everyone feels welcome and valuable as soon as they accept their job offer. We will consider you part of the team straight away after you say "I accept to work for Vizzuality", and you will start experiencing your Onboarding Plan a lot earlier than the day you formally join us ("your day 1") and you will be Onboarding all the way to 6 months depending on your specific needs.
There are 4 Key Areas you will experience when Onboarding at Vizzuality
It's important that our new colleagues understand our culture, can integrate socially, have clear expectations, and have all the tools for them to add value as from day 1.
Culture
How do we do things here? Which are the things we value and care about? Which type of behavior will help me add value? Which are the key practices and processes I need to learn first? What do I need to do to fit in?
These are some of the questions we know you will have when joining Vizzuality. All these things (values, behaviors, processes, etc.) represent our very own Vizzuality culture.
We want to help you from the very beginning of your journey to learn more about our Culture, and these are some of the things you will get to experience during your Onboarding:
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Playbook. Our Playbook describes the agreed practices that govern our work. The purpose of having a Playbook is two-fold. First, for new joiners provide the knowledge required to understand how things work here. For existing staff, the Playbook serves as a reference when you need guidance or when making a decision.
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We are a Self Managed Organization. We will help you get a better understanding of what we mean when we say "we are a self-managed organization", how we make decisions in a distributed way, how we foster autonomy whilst keeping ourselves accountable, and also how we can all grow our careers.
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Welcome Pack. Includes the Handbook (information about our culture, values, meetings, etc.), your technical equipment (laptop, keyboard, mouse, etc).
Social & Community
We are a remote company, and because of that we recognize the importance of social connections in the workplace. There are some of the things we do to help you become part of the community and build relations.
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Vizz Buddy: will assist the new joiner in getting settled into the company and will act as the primary point of contact for any issues or doubts while providing guidance. They will also assist in developing a sense of community, providing tips on how to best integrate to the team, an d navigate the culture.
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Team Buddy: The buddy is a member of the new employee's functional area. You will be working with you “Team Buddy” on “project work and technical stuff” from day one and will interact frequently during the first few weeks/months at Vizzuality to gain an understanding of upcoming projects, expected contributions, collaborative processes, access to relevant documentation, etc.
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Meet the team: Within the first six weeks of joining, the new employee will have introductory meetings with the leads of each Functional Area (FA) at Vizz. These meetings serve as an opportunity for the new joiner to gain a better understanding of the company's structure, as well as meet new colleagues. During these meetings, the new joiner will also meet with the Executive Team for one-on-one meetings, to gain greater clarity about the company's values and direction.
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Sharing is Caring: We have found that learning from the experience of others is really beneficial for the new joiner's integration into the company, therefore we allocate a space for sharing experiences and tips with recent new joiners. They will give helpful tips on how to navigate the company culture and ask for assistance and their insights on what to do (or not to do) during onboarding.
My role, responsibilities and expectations
The main objective of the Functional Area is to help new joiners to understand a bit more about:
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In which project(s) I will be working?
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Who works on those projects? Who will be supporting me to onboard the projects?
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Which technology/tools/languages do we use?
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Where can I access some more context and resources about them?
The Functional Area team will create an onboarding plan for the new joiner to learn the projects and ways of working in the smoother way possible. Based on the current project pipeline a project will be chosen to be the one for your onboarding, and in the following months you will be working closely with your Team Buddy to get used to the ways of working, tech tools and projects. The new joiner will be meeting all the people that work in the FA, other teams that work closely, and depending on the project's needs, with the external partners or clients from the start of the project lifecycle until the end.
The New Joiner will also meet with the People & Culture team periodically to check how the onboarding is going. Here we’ll be discussing what went well, not so well, learnings and support needed. These meetings aim to help the new joiner feel cared for, listened to, and supported throughout their onboarding journey. The objective is to guide them through the challenges that are typically associated with the onboarding process, while also helping them to become more focused and goal-oriented. Other new joiners have shared that these meetings are an informal yet valuable moment to reflect on their experiences and identify solutions.
How am I doing? Finally, you will also be having periodic catch-ups and check-ins during your Onboarding process, especially during the first 3-6 months to make sure you are progressing with your plan and tasks, are receiving appropriate feedback, talking about growth, and also to make sure you have everything you need to do great work.
Tools
One of the first things that the new joiner will do is to receive the Laptop and other technical equipment (monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.) that is needed. Then, the People & Culture team and your Tech Buddy, will help you set up all the different tools that we use at Vizz to communicate and work.