Software Developer Onboarding Process: 9 Hidden Mistakes

Without a software developer onboarding checklist, it's easy to screw the process up and scare off new hires. No wonder 22% of engineers start looking for another job if they were not properly introduced to other team members or the company's rules. The employee onboarding process does work like the acid test, immediately revealing the weak spots of the entire enterprise, that is why, it is so essential to organize it in the best way possible.

What NOT to Do When Onboarding New Developers

Do you remember your first day at work? Sweaty palms, lots of new faces, awkward small talks, document signing, multiple guidelines… Or maybe you were lucky enough to smoothly plunge into the unknown environment without epic fails or funny stories?

Anyway, when being on the other side of the hiring process and creating a developer onboarding plan, it's always good to recall your own experience as an employee and put yourself in the newcomer's shoes. The analysis of onboarding mistakes may also come in handy and help you better understand the new engineers' expectations, as well as boost retention rates. So let's get started right now and learn how to avoid the major pitfalls.

Mistake#1. Underestimated Hiring Process

Very often, employers forget that onboarding starts way before the first work day and encompasses all the hiring procedures. And although candidates understand that impressions gained at a job interview may be misleading, it doesn't mean you should let it drift.

But don't get us wrong: we don't recommend overloading potential employees with the onboarding package during the interview rounds. We simply suggest you do the utmost to come across as a reliable, successful company with a friendly and highly-productive atmosphere and impactful projects. In this way, not only will the candidate feel excited about a possible offer, but also get the motivation to quicker integrate into the local development environment.

Mistake#2. Accelerated Onboarding

It's hard to believe that some employers consider a step-by-step onboarding plan unnecessary and minimize the process to “Hi! This is our new junior developer. Any questions?”. On the bright side, in the IT field, such a practice is rather the exception, not the rule, but still, the onboarding process remains underestimated and in most cases lasts less than a month.

At the same time, we understand your desire to involve a newcomer in a full range of projects asap. But don't you want to build a long-lasting relationship and decrease the turnover ratio? Just calculate the hiring expenses, and you'll see that they equal or even surpass 2–3 months of developer's work at a low or average pace. It means that sometimes, it's better to set a budget for prolonged onboarding and finally extend the team with a competent employee than waste resources on a vicious hiring circle.

Mistake#3. Lack of Socializing

The onboarding practices have been enhanced significantly over the past decade. Welcoming packages, branded merchandise, memorable team buildings, and colorful events — it all had seemed to be only the beginning of something bigger and even more fascinating. Just until the pandemic knocked on our doors, bringing political and economic instability that still persists.

Today, we have millions of companies with remote workers scattered across the globe that have never seen each other in person. And those enterprises that fail to keep up-to-date and elaborate the system of virtual meetings and team-bonding activities lag behind and lose brilliant developers. Don't want to follow their lead? Pull your socks up, move the onboarding process to the digital space, and foster the team spirit with virtual beer meetings, online game championships, regular meet-ups, and other fun activities.

Mistake#4. Tons of Red Tape on the First Day

When onboarding developers, employers often try to settle all the formalities on the first day, imposing dozens of documents on the newcomers. And according to research by the Human Capital Institute, 58% of organizations are well aware of this mistake but find it insignificant and don't make attempts to avoid it in any way.

Such an approach neither boosts the productivity level nor promotes a better corporate image. Therefore, we strongly recommend you to dedicate a big chunk of the first day to socializing activities and work guidelines and explain the company values and goals to the newcomer.

And yes, paperwork is also essential. But you'd better prioritize the documents and send them to junior developers in several steps during the first few weeks (the major papers should be signed on the first day, and all the others can wait). If you onboard software development teams remotely, take advantage of e-signature tools like PandaDoc, Adobe Sign, or DocuSign.

Mistake#5. Inconsistent or Vague Guidelines

The ability to set precise guidelines and clearly answer questions is the backbone of an effective work process. And today, when there is no opportunity to provide remote junior engineers with offline mentors, it is especially crucial to save and perfect it.

A detailed, well-structured e-handbook with timely updated information may come in handy at this point and help the entire team keep up with any changes and rules. Sure, its creation and maintenance require efforts and resources, but this job will definitely pay off in the long run.

When creating this life-saving guidebook, don't forget to explain to a newcomer how to keep records in project management systems like Jira, Trello, or Assana in compliance with the internal policies, if your company employs them. Besides, include into it the information about all the communication channels used across the enterprise (messengers, video conference tools, etc.), as well as the examples of different types of request letters. 

Mistake#6. No Mentor or Pair Buddy

Although a digital handbook is an excellent solution, it's just a complementary tool aimed to simplify, not substitute, the work of mentors.

That is why, when onboarding a new specialist, make sure they have an experienced developer to talk to during one-on-one meetings. Also, don't forget to organize pair programming sessions, as it's a good way to upskill a newcomer and help them understand team workflows.

Pair Programming Types

Mistake#7. Last-Minute Workplace Setup

The research by Talmundo & Vlerick Business School reveals that 108 out of 250 newcomers had to wait for over a week to get all the basic equipment and couldn't do their jobs effectively. Such a situation is totally unacceptable if you want to maintain the company's reputation and keep the employee.

To make an impression of a reliable enterprise with well-established processes and meet newcomer expectations, organize a comfortable, fully equipped workspace ready to be employed from day one. And if you deal with a remote specialist, think through workstation logistics in advance.

Mistake#8. Unstandardized Technical Documentation

Although in most companies, the development process unfolds under a similar scenario, the tools and approaches may differ from team to team. To help a newcomer catch up with the others and better understand the workflow, adjust the technical requirements to the common standard and create detailed guidelines on how to set up the local development environment.

And one more piece of advice: while planning onboarding, don't forget to provide new hires with access to company software and internal resources, project documentation and source code, production database, and API keys.

Mistake#9. No Feedback

Keeping track of onboarding successes and failures and discussing them with newcomers during a one-on-one meeting is also a valuable practice. It may help new developers look at their job from the outside perspective and set the right goals.

And it's even more essential to collect feedback and ask employees to evaluate the HR performance, as it allows managers to enhance operational processes. Thus, research by Gallup indicates that only 12% of US remote workers are satisfied with the onboarding they had. Don't you think the number could be much higher if the companies conducted polls and gathered feedback?

Software Developer Onboarding Checklist

Now that you know all the pitfalls by sight, it's time to roll up your sleeves and create a step-by-step onboarding plan. For a starter, you may take our time-tested strategy and simply adjust it to your workflow specifics.

1. Before plunging into the hiring activities, pool the efforts around the company handbook and technical guidelines.
2. During the job interview, try to come across as a trusted employer and encourage a tech-savvy specialist to accept the offer.
3. Once the offer is accepted, discuss workstation logistics with the developer, and send them the first-work-day instructions and the documents that can be already signed (discuss possible e-signing options with remote specialists).
4. Ensure a friendly welcome for a newcomer, introduce them to the teammates (in person/chat and with a welcome letter), send the company handbook and branded merchandise, and guide them through the office, if possible.
5. Make sure that the employee gets access to all the required resources and technical guidelines, as well as have a mentor or pair buddy.
6. Let the new hires sign the rest of the documents throughout the first week, organize pair programming sessions and basic team-building activities, and make sure they get answers to all the questions.
7. Conduct one-on-one meetings, either online or offline, to exchange feedback and turn the onboarding period into a pleasant and valuable experience for both parties.

Wanna skip the turmoil of the hiring process and find rock-star developers ready for a smooth, hassle-free collaboration? Contact us, and get well-versed specialists with minimum onboarding efforts.