Summary: Starting a new job is an exciting, and sometimes intimidating experience. Learning everyone’s name, the social norms and of course – the job itself, can build a steep learning curve. Luckily, Intranet Connection’s employee onboarding process gave me the wheels to comfortably speed up the road to my new role as product manager.

After having spent the last three years working as a marketing manager for a local start-up, I got to the point where I felt extremely comfortable at my job. It no longer challenged or excited me.  I decided it was time for a career change, and I accepted a job at Intranet Connections.

Completing the transition to a software company, especially to one in a growth stage such as Intranet Connections, was the exciting ride I was looking for.  In the idle time in between the two jobs, I started to think about the new opportunities that this new journey would bring me, both professionally and socially.  However, a mix of fear and uncertainty started to take over and I began to second guess my skills and abilities, and how they would transfer to a new career and work environment.  I wondered if I would be able to blend in, learn the names of my new colleagues (which has never been my strong point!), and quickly learn about the job and corporate culture.  And what about those awkward  questions such as: “what is the company dress code?”, or even “what is the bathroom etiquette?”.   I was struggling.

And then, the day came. I walked into my new office and greeted the head of human resources with a confident smile on my face, but deep inside I was still shaking.  To my surprise, my lovely HR new colleague sat next to me and had me log in to the Intranet Connection platform. First, a people directory with the pictures and the names of all my colleagues (including the one sitting next to me whose name, in my typical fashion, I had already forgotten) showed up.  We then clicked on the “onboarding” section and a large variety of useful information showed up on my screen. Suddenly, the answers to all of my questions were just one click away.

I was able to learn almost everything about my new company and most pertinent, about the software I was about to work on as a product manager. The knowledge built in the past by people that worked in the company before me was not gone with them. Instead, it was available and presented in an easy and accessible way. I could not have been more lucky.

There was also an onboarding checklist for me to review and check off once each task was complete. It was very helpful to guide me through the first week so I didn’t have to navigate through my day asking what to do next each time I finished a project.

Thanks to Intranet Connections’ onboarding feature, I already felt up to speed after only a few days at my new job. I could talk with my colleagues, I knew exactly where to find any document or file I needed, I had my station set-up and running, I knew how to use the phone and, most importantly, I felt already part of the team.

Do you have any questions about how we can improve our employee onboarding process? Leave us a comment below!