Imagine navigating a ship without a compass, map or knowledge of the sea. It’s doubtful this ill-equipped, uninformed captain would successfully reach their desired destination.
For new hires, without the proper tools, knowledge and connections, the onboarding phase can feel a bit like being lost at sea.
Recent statistics on onboarding illustrate why it should be a top priority. New hires who experienced poor onboarding were eight times more likely to be disengaged. Meanwhile, 41 percent of employees who leave a job within 90 days do so because their day-to-day roles fail to stack up with expectations.
Despite onboarding being essential to employees’ long-term success and retention, many employees have reported their companies lack a thorough training process. In a Gallup survey, only 12 percent of respondents said their employer does a great job onboarding new hires.
So, what does great onboarding look like?
At five currently hiring LA companies, quality onboarding helps employees connect and learn from their new colleagues and start their journeys with their best foot forward.
Here’s what team members had to say about why they were attracted to their companies, how they were set up to succeed and more.
Golden Hippo is an employee-owned, direct-to-consumer marketer of health, beauty and pet care brands.
At what point in the interview and hiring process did you realize that your now-current employer was the company for you?
I joined Golden Hippo in 2022. I honestly knew right at the beginning after chatting with the senior TA, Ruby. An interview process alone is already terrifying, but Ruby was able to put me at ease and the conversation was just so natural. A lot of the important things I was looking for in my next career were already checked off prior to the call, so I went into it wanting to learn about culture and if I could see myself here long term.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
My onboarding was pretty neat as I got the chance to spend time with each person on the team. Each person allocated their own time to set me up for success and go through training with me.
Not only that, but I made a point to also go around and connect with my other fellow colleagues because, at the end of the day, we all are a team, so I wanted to get to know them.
I got the chance to spend time with each person on the team. Each person allocated their own time to set me up for success and go through training with me.”
Looking ahead, what do you hope to accomplish with your team?
I see a ton of possibilities and growth opportunities. Every day is a chance to win, and I’m constantly chasing it for myself and for the company. I push myself to learn something new every day, strategize differently and think outside the box. On a personal level, I’d love to eventually have my own team and grow from within.
SHEIN Technology is a global online retailer offering consumers in more than 150 countries a wide selection of fashion, beauty and lifestyle products.
At what point in the interview and hiring process did you realize that your now-current employer was the company for you?
I interviewed in August of 2022 for a senior security engineer position. The hiring manager, who held the role of head of global infrastructure and technology, provided a comprehensive overview of the opportunity, company objectives and work culture, as well as their security and IT strategies. I was impressed by SHEIN’s cutting-edge work model, advanced IT strategies and extensive global presence, all of which aligned seamlessly with my career aspirations.
Consequently, I enthusiastically accepted the offer and officially became a part of the SHEIN team in September 2022.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
Undoubtedly, being part of a worldwide fashion enterprise like SHEIN exposes one to an extensive array of sophisticated IT tools and technologies. While certain tools were unfamiliar to me, my colleagues took proactive measures to ensure a smooth onboarding experience. Abundant digital resources were available, supplemented by numerous technical sessions involving both my immediate team and cross-functional groups. This comprehensive support structure positioned me for success, allowing me to swiftly grasp processes and procedures. Consequently, I was able to make rapid contributions to the company’s IT advancement.
This support structure positioned me for success — I was able to make rapid contributions to the company’s IT advancement.”
Since joining your company, what’s your favorite success story?
One of the most significant achievements during my tenure of 11 months at SHEIN revolves around the Black Friday sales event in 2022. I had the privilege of collaborating with a global team that meticulously readied SHEIN’s IT and security infrastructure for a paramount yearly sales event. The event culminated in resounding success, a testament to the thorough preparation of all involved parties. The event spanned multiple days and thanks to the preparedness of everyone involved, we managed to steer clear of any issues or downtime throughout its duration.
Thrive Market is a subscription-based marketplace that connects users to sustainable and healthy products. Every paid subscription is matched by Thrive and donated to someone in need.
At what point in the interview and hiring process did you realize that your now-current employer was the company for you?
There are very few companies out there that are true and passionate about their mission. Thrive Market is one of those rare companies that is truly mission-driven. The North Star mission is to make healthy living easy, sustainable, accessible and affordable for all. After my introductory call with their in-house recruiter, I had a strong sense of Thrive Market’s mission. I have always wanted to spend my time working for a company that is associated with a strong cause, and Thrive Market’s mission-first culture was embedded from the first few moments of the interview. Additionally, when I spoke to the engineering leadership, I was thrilled to hear their strong vision and got a clear sense of what the goals are for scaling membership and orders and growing aggressively in the coming years.
I gleaned insights into the challenges and areas that needed streamlining, marrying with my own areas of expertise. All that got me really excited to join Thrive Market, as I felt confident that I could drive a big difference in engineering excellence and efficiency, and joined the company in December 2022.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
Thrive Market did an excellent job of onboarding me. On day one, I got the necessary access to systems and tools, along with documentation that I spent the next few days perusing and getting familiar with the system and architecture. As part of Thrive Market’s onboarding process, I was paired with one colleague as an onboarding buddy, which helped me ramp up quickly. The onboarding buddy would spend some time every day with me going over the architecture, tools and processes that we have in place and would answer any questions that I had as I ramped up.
My manager had a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan ready when I joined, which greatly streamlined the process and was comprehensive. There were regular check-ins scheduled with my manager to go over my weekly progress on my 30-60-90-day plan, which helped me be focused on the challenges and expectations that were asked of me. Overall, I really enjoyed the onboarding process and felt effective and familiar with the processes, systems and tools pretty quickly.
My manager had a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan ready when I joined, which greatly streamlined the process and was comprehensive.”
Since joining your company, what’s your favorite success story?
Since I joined Thrive about nine months ago, I have driven and been involved in a number of wins that I am proud of. If I were asked to pick one, I would pick the success story of optimizing the performance of the core e-commerce backend engine, which led to improved scalability and site stability and reduced infrastructure costs. Every member interaction at Thrive Market, whether in the browser or on the iOS or Android apps, invokes backend API’s behind the scenes. The API does most of the actual processing and falls under my team’s purview. I worked with my talented platform engineering team and engineering leadership to align and enforce strict SLA standards for each API and ensure a streamlined member experience.
We started measuring key metrics and KPIs around things like response time and error rates to name a few —and dived in wholeheartedly to improve the API throughput, reduce latency and improve robustness and stability. As a result of our work, we have been able to bring about a significant increase in the responsiveness of our site and the stability of our member experience.
Sunbit offers a next-generation, no-fee credit card that can be managed through a powerful mobile app, as well as a point-of-sale payment option available at more than 16,000 service locations, including one-in-three auto dealerships, optical practices, dentist offices, veterinary clinics and specialty healthcare services
At what point in the interview and hiring process did you realize that your now-current employer was the company for you?
The smart and dedicated Sunbit team impressed me during the recruiting process. What convinced me to join Sunbit was reading the many positive customer reviews of Sunbit on Google. So many people recounted their emergencies, whether they were dental needs or car repairs. I was very impressed by how many reviews expressed gratitude towards Sunbit and that resonated with me.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
During my first few weeks at Sunbit, I met with people from throughout the company to gain an overview of the entire business. I then spent time focusing more specifically on the areas I’m now responsible for, shadowing a number of merchant activations and joining the team in the field. Throughout this process, colleagues were great about setting up time with me to ensure I got up to speed on the ways of working at Sunbit.
Throughout this process, colleagues were great about setting up time with me to ensure I got up to speed on the ways of working at Sunbit.”
Looking ahead, what do you hope to accomplish with your team?
The second half of this year has exciting things in store. I’m particularly eager to unveil our new Sunbit portal for merchants, a centralized platform where they can connect with customers, improve their success with Sunbit and effortlessly manage their accounts without needing to speak to someone.
Second, I’m excited to begin delivering additional products and features that will allow us to significantly increase our merchant network and our engagement with them, which will in turn allow us to help more customers get what they need. Learning about and joining the Sunbit network, when we’re done, will look a lot different than it does today.
PickTrace provides enterprise farms with workforce and harvest management software solutions.
At what point in the interview and hiring process did you realize that your now-current employer was the company for you?
I joined PickTrace in March 2021 and there were several things throughout the interview process that made me realize it was the company for me. Everyone I spoke to during the interview process was kind, open, respectful and genuine. I could tell that the company culture was positive and inspiring and that the employees truly enjoyed working there. It was also evident that the team was extremely passionate about what they were working on and about the vision and mission of the company. The excitement was contagious and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it too.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
This was my first time onboarding at a fully remote company and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was really impressed at how organized and engaging the virtual onboarding process was at PickTrace. There were training sessions scheduled over a two-week period where I got to learn all about the company, the industry and the product from leaders across each department. After that, my manager and teammates continued to help me get acclimated by pairing with me on tasks and everyone was always willing to answer any questions I had.
There were also many “Meet the Team!” meetings set up throughout my first month that gave me an opportunity to connect with the entire team — each meeting had three or four people in it — and get to know them by answering some really fun discussion prompts like “If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?” or “Tell us about your most regrettable haircut. Bonus points for photos.” Overall I had a really positive onboarding experience and I was able to form strong connections — both on a work-related level and on a social level.
I had a really positive onboarding experience and I was able to form strong connections — both on a work-related level and on a social level.”
Since joining your company, what’s your favorite success story?
One of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on since joining PickTrace has been the launch of our onboarding product in 2022. Collaborating closely with an exceptional team, we were able to turn this idea into reality. We conducted meticulous research and dove deep to understand the challenges our customers were facing in order to build an innovative solution that addressed these concerns.
When it came time to unveil the product, we took a proactive approach and ventured into the field to engage with users directly and capture their candid feedback. It was a blast seeing the product in action and making those quick iterations based on user input. The entire team has continued to work relentlessly and has stayed committed to making it even better with each round of improvements. I’m super proud of how we came together, tackled challenges head-on and turned a vision into something that makes a real difference for our customers.
