Onboarding new employees during Covid-19

Career | Publish date: 17 Aug 2021

When you are a new employee, it is always special when you start your new job, but it is perhaps even more challenging at the moment because of Covid-19. At Softronic, we have continued to recruit and welcome new employees, who have been completed almost their entire onboarding process digitally.

In this interview we meet Anna Hammarberg, Managing Consultant, and Martin Blomqvist, a developer and ‘returnee’ to Softronic, who share what onboarding at Softronic has been like recently.

Martin worked for Softronic previously between 2015 and 2019, and has now returned to Softronic. He was a recent graduate when he started working for the company the first time and completed Softronic’s trainee programme, so obviously he needed onboarding a lot more back then.

Martin Blomqvist, Developer

“Last time, for example, there was another colleague, in addition to my manager, who gave me some extra help at the start, but I didn’t need that now. This time round it also felt like everything was more organised and centralised. For me, the fact that we did all of this remotely hardly had any effect at all. I went to the office to pick up what I needed in terms of physical equipment, but apart from that, I’ve been able to do everything I’ve needed to do from home. The customer I started working for also has effective processes and tools for us to do everything remotely, so right from the start I’ve been sat at home and I’ve never been to the customer’s office.”

Anna Hammarberg is Martin’s manager at Softronic and tells us that she has onboarded four people over the spring and summer.
“In Martin’s case, it was a simple process, as he’d already worked for Softronic, the team and the customer, so the onboarding process was simple and seamless. But you do need to meet the employees on their first day to make sure that our new and returning employees can get started and get the work equipment they need, such as their computers and phones. Every employee receives our onboarding material, where we go through most of what you will come into contact with as an employee at Softronic. As a new employee, you also need to pass an environmental course and an information security course, which is also done through e-learning materials.”

Martin explains that he thought it was an advantage that he had worked here before, particularly when familiarising himself with his tasks and joining a team.
“As we’ve been doing most things remotely, I think it’s been an advantage that I’d met most of my colleagues before and already understood how most things worked. It didn’t take me long to get on track and start checking in code. I don’t think it makes any difference whether you are a brand new employee or not when getting started with the equipment, systems and processes during the onboarding process. I actually think it could be the other way around, as there are old accounts that could haunt you, for example. Everything you need as a new employee is there for you, or easy to get hold of. And you always have your manager and/or someone else at Softronic, who can help you get started.”

Anna explains that in her role as a manager, it is important to make sure that the new employee gets off to a good start by always being on hand if they have any questions. She also has to make sure that they get in contact with the right people, which mostly involves scheduling meetings so that the employees can hit the ground running and begin doing the work they have to do.”

Anna Hammarberg, Managing Consultant

Anna says:
“At the moment, when we spend most of the time sitting at home and working, it’s even more important for me to keep in regular contact with the new colleague, preferably via Teams or by phone, to make sure that they get up to speed and feel confident about what they have to do.”

She thinks the reason why onboarding has been successful is that Softronic already had an effective digital process in place for everything involved in onboarding.
“What has been challenging is that some of the employees who are stepping into new roles are having to do this by meeting colleagues and customers digitally. This means that it takes slightly longer for them to get up and running in their new job.”

The main reason why Martin decided to come back was that he had enjoyed working here so much the last time.
“But what I didn’t have was something to compare it with, and I didn’t have an understanding of what I wanted to do. Now I do, and I’ve decided that I want to work more with my portfolio of experiences, Full Stack. I also want to do more work on turnkey solutions and collaborative work, preferably in teams with people from Softronic.”

He adds:
“Job security is also important for me in my new role as a father, and the opportunity to be able to think in a long-term perspective. Knowing that I could do this again, added to the fact that I had such a good time with my former colleagues, managers and assignments the last time, meant that coming back definitely felt like the right thing for me to do.”

If you are also interested in taking on new challenges this autumn, check out our job vacancies here