Russ Unger: "Onboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought" DesignOps Summit 2017 • November 6-7, 2017 • Queens, NY, USA http://designopssummit.com

1. ONBOARDING:
THE ECOSYSTEM,
NOT THE AFTERTHOUGHT.
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT

2. ONBOARDING?
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT
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3. A REASONABLY TYPICAL PROCESS?
Form Email for
First Day
Corporate
Onboarding
Paperwork
1st Day Lunch
Wait for
Computer, etc.
Paperwork
Training Videos
Wait for Work
Meet (& forget) a
bunch of people
Wait for Work
Wait for Work
Wait for Work

4. ONBOARDING?
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Like product or project management,
diving right in can slow the system down
and throw it off track.
Proper planning for onboarding can
bring about something much more fluid
and more productive for employees &
teams.
We have to slow down to speed up.

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6. THE ECOSYSTEM
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT
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7. A REASONABLE ECOSYSTEM
Performance
Profiles
Interview Guides
Internal Projects
The HR Hand-off
Pre-boarding Call
Day 1
First Project
Interviewing
The Buddy
System
Bots
“About Us”
Classes
Handbook /
Intranet
1:1s

8. CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE > EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

9. THE ECOSYSTEM
PARTS OF THE WHOLE - BEFORE START
▸ Performance Profiles
▸ Interview Guides
▸ Structured Interviews
▸ Post-Offer Staying-In-Touch-so-the-Candidate-
Doesn’t-Feel-Abandoned Time
▸ Pre-boarding
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10. THE ECOSYSTEM
PARTS OF THE WHOLE - AFTER START
▸ Day 1: Commencement
▸ The Buddy System
▸ Internal Projects
▸ First Project
▸ Feedback
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11. PERFORMANCE
PROFILES
(NOT JOB DESCRIPTIONS!)
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12. HOW TO: WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION
Search “Job Title”
Find One That’s
Close to Yours
Copy / Paste
Replace
“Company Name”
Send to HR
KIDDING, OF COURSE!
(NO ONE DOES THIS, RIGHT?)

13. If you want to hire superior people, first define
superior performance. You must get everyone
to agree to what the person taking the job
needs to do to be successful, not what the
person needs to have in terms of skills.
Lou Adler
PERFORMANCE PROFILES
Ref: Lou Adler - https://www.ere.net/performance-profiles-the-key-to-hiring-the-best/

14. Ref: Lou Adler - https://www.ere.net/performance-profiles-the-key-to-hiring-the-best/

15. PERFORMANCE PROFILES
THE PERFORMANCE PROFILE WORKSHOP
▸ Why did they resign? (5 minutes)
▸ Why was they get fired? (5 minutes)
▸ Why did they get promoted? (5 minutes)
▸ Vote / prioritize the top reasons why people would
get promoted.
▸ Write detailed descriptions of the top 5 reasons for
promotion.
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17. SAMPLE PERFORMANCE PROFILE OBJECTIVE

18. PERFORMANCE PROFILES
PERFORMANCE PROFILES
NOT
JOB DESCRIPTIONS

19. INTERVIEW GUIDES
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20. INTERVIEW GUIDES
LEAD EVERY INTERVIEW THE SAME WAY
▸ Provides a consistent framework for interviewing
▸ Aligns interview questions to Performance Profile
objectives
▸ Provides insight into strong answers and warning
signs.
▸ Shows a candidate the attention to detail they can
expect from you to and for them
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21. SAMPLE INTERVIEW GUIDE

22. SAMPLE INTERVIEW GUIDE & INTERVIEW GUIDE

23. SAMPLE MAPPING

24. INTERVIEW GUIDES
INTERVIEW GUIDES
NOT
EVERYONE ASKS
WHATEVER THEY WANT

25. STRUCTURED
INTERVIEWING
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26. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
THINGS TO CONSIDER
▸ Are you doing a portfolio review?
▸ When and why?
▸ Are you doing design exercises?
▸ Why?
▸ Live, or as an assignment?
▸ Are you compensating for the effort?
▸ What do you hope to learn?
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27. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
INTERVIEW APPROACH (YMMV)
▸ Director / Supervisor (30m)
▸ “Tell me your story about how you got here; the
stuff that’s not on the resume in bullet points.”
▸ “Tell me about a project you’re most proud of, and
what was your explicit role? What would you do
different today?”
▸ “Why are you interested in working with us?”
▸ “Do you have questions about working with us?”
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28. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
INTERVIEW APPROACH (YMMV)
▸ Teammates, in pairs (3 rounds)
▸ Assess technical skills (Hands)
▸ Evaluate problem solving abilities (Head)
▸ Identify if driven by company mission / if a culture
add (Heart)
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29. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
POST-INTERVIEW REVIEW
▸ Facilitate the team to a decision
▸ Have everyone who interviewed provide feedback
▸ Cross-check facts that have been shared
▸ Ask team for a decision
▸ Provide feedback for recruiting team to help the
candidate understand why they are or are not
proceeding.
▸ Quickly run a retro on the candidate and process
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30. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWING
NOT
WHY ARE MANHOLE COVERS ROUND?

31. POST-OFFER
STAYING-IN-TOUCH-
SO-THE-
CANDIDATE-
DOESN’T-FEEL-
ABANDONED
TIME
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32. Insert yourself / key contacts into the
process to compensate for others in the
process who may not be as candidate-
centered.
Amanda Schonfeld
POST-OFFER STAYING-IN-TOUCH-SO-THE-CANDIDATE-DOESN’T-FEEL-ABANDONED TIME

33. POST-OFFER STAYING-IN-TOUCH-SO-THE-CANDIDATE-DOESN’T-FEEL-
ABANDONED TIME
AFTER THE INTERVIEW, BEFORE THE START DATE…
▸ Provide all the necessary points of contact
▸ Give permission to reach out!
▸ Share relevant news & communication about team
and accomplishments
▸ Be available & approachable
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34. POST-OFFER STAYING-IN-TOUCH-SO-THE-CANDIDATE-DOESN’T-FEEL-ABANDONED TIME
POST-OFFER
STAYING-IN-TOUCH-SO-THE-
CANDIDATE-DOESN’T-FEEL-
ABANDONED TIME
NOT
THE HR HAND-OFF

35. PRE-BOARDING
CALL
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36. PRE-BOARDING CALL
THE WELCOME BEFORE THE WELCOME
▸ Invite all the right people
▸ Supervisor
▸ Lead
▸ Project/Product Manager
▸ Buddy
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37. PRE-BOARDING CALL
THE WELCOME BEFORE THE WELCOME
▸ Discuss all the right things
▸ What happens on Day 1
▸ Point(s) of contact
▸ General work expectations
▸ Systems of Support (humans, HR, intranet, etc.)
▸ All the culture
▸ Especially the quirks!
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38. PRE-BOARDING CALL
THE WELCOME BEFORE THE WELCOME
▸ Answer all the questions!
▸ Give them the floor
▸ Let everyone else answer; encourage other
perspectives
▸ Encourage / welcome all follow-up questions
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39. PRE-BOARDING CALL
THE PRE-BOARDING CALL
NOT
JUST A FORM-LETTER
WELCOME EMAIL

40. DAY 1:
COMMENCEMENT
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41. COMMENCEMENT

42. DAY 1: COMMENCEMENT
THAT FRESH, NEW JOB SMELL
▸ Let the natural order of HR-planned events take
place as scheduled
▸ Triple-check new employee items are where they
should be (computers, phones, office supplies, etc.)
▸ Make time to welcome to the team
▸ OR make it easy for teammate to leave when they’ve
wrapped up the HR-planned events
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43. DAY 1: COMMENCEMENT
DAY 1: COMMENCEMENT
NOT
DAY 1: NOW WHAT?

44. THE BUDDY SYSTEM
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45. THE BUDDY SYSTEM
MY BUDDY & ME!
▸ Emails new teammate with basic contact information
& first meeting
▸ Gets bio / brief information for announcement
▸ Provides team orientation (different than company)
▸ Guides into systems, explains meetings, acronyms,
etc.
▸ Daily and as-needed check-ins
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46. THE BUDDY SYSTEM
MY BUDDY & ME!
▸ Explain systems like time keeping, travel, etc.
▸ Explain company-required trainings
▸ Introduce to other teammates, as available
▸ Introduces to Buddy Handbook / Guide / etc.
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47. A BUDDY GUIDE / HANDBOOK / DOCUMENT
Ref: New York University - https://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/hr/documents/managerguides/BuddyGuidelines.pdf

48. THE BUDDY SYSTEM
THE BUDDY SYSTEM
NOT
GOOD LUCK, CHECK THE
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK & LET US
KNOW IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS

49. INTERNAL
PROJECTS
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50. INTERNAL PROJECTS
IF YOU HAVE TIME TO LEAN, YOU HAVE TIME TO CLEAN
▸ Great opportunity for new teammates to get to learn
how the team works before they work on a project
▸ Helps to identify what the work looks like, where the
work lives, and who to ask for support in the work
▸ Provides a safe space to fail, or at least to not
succeed
▸ Helps assess/self-assess a reasonable workload for
the teammate
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51. INTERNAL PROJECTS
INTERNAL PROJECTS
NOT
THROWN IN THE PRODUCT/PROJECT
DEEP END

52. FIRST PROJECT
(THE REAL JOB)
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53. ONBOARDING
FEEDBACK
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54. ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT
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55. ADDITIONAL
OPTIONS / IDEAS
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56. ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
THERE’S ALWAYS MORE WE CAN DO
▸ Informational Classes
▸ Chatbots
▸ Team Coffees / Coffeebot
▸ Intranet / Handbook / Online References & Guides
▸ Onboarding Calendar
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57. RECAP
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT
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58. RECAP
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TRY THIS NOT THIS
Performance Profiles Job Descriptions
Interview Guides Everyone Asks
Whatever They Want
Structured Interviews Why Are Manhole
Covers Round?
Post-Offer Staying-In-Touch-so-
the-Candidate-Doesn’t-Feel-
Abandoned Time
The HR Hand-off
Pre-boarding Just a Form-letter
Welcome Email

59. RECAP
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TRY THIS NOT THIS
Day 1: Commencement Day 1: Now What?
The Buddy System Good Luck, Check the
Employee Handbook
& Let Us Know If You
Have Questions
Internal Projects Thrown in the
Product/Project Deep
End
Feedback Repeat a Broken
Experience

60. ONE LAST THING . . .

61. THANK YOU!
NOVEMBER 3, 2017 - DESIGNOPS SUMMIT