"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." — Will Rogers

Purpose: Own the setup. Prepare the team, handle access, assign a buddy, and give the new hire clarity on their role and onboarding. Early alignment unlocks early impact.

Pre-Onboarding

Immediately after the candidate accepted the position, send them a “Welcome to the team” message. If the start date is far out, endeavour to keep in contact every couple of weeks, by sending an email with anything that is new, or simply checking in to see how they are. The goal is to make them understand you are preparing for them and enforce the relationship, to minimise late drop outs.

2 Weeks Before Start Select an onboarding buddy and together with Alex from the People Team, make sure you have reviewed the onboarding tasks and expectations before the new hire’s start date, and they have clear instructions on how to support the new joiner.

1 Week before Start

Send the new joiner the plan for their first week.

If there is any documentation that might help them settle in faster, send it now so they can familiarise themselves with the info.

First week :

Set a meeting with the new joiner after the daily. Establish rapport, discuss the schedule for the first week. Share their first task.

Have quick check ins during the week, mid week and end of the week, to check on blockers. It can be even a 15 minutes check in, it is important to offer this time at the beginning

Second week

Share the 30/60/90 days Onboarding Journey with the new joiner. Adapt it to their specific role and agree on deliverables, for clarity across the board

Set meetings in the calendar for