Cultivating Company Culture from the Onboarding

In today's highly dynamic and rapidly evolving technological environment, the first day of work for a developer is often full of enthusiasm and expectations. However, it can also be overwhelming, especially when it comes to understanding company culture and how to integrate into a new team.

At SparkFabrik, we believe that cultivating a solid company culture is essential for both employee satisfaction and productivity. Let's see how we do this from the first day of onboarding and the lessons we've learned along the way.

The Importance of Company Culture

Company culture is more than just a buzzword; it's the foundation of how employees interact, work, innovate, and grow together. At SparkFabrik, our culture is based on three pillars: quality, transparency, and commitment to excellence.

These values aren't just words on a wall; they're reflected in every interaction and decision we make. We prioritize creating an environment where employees feel valued and empowered to make meaningful contributions.

As a company founded by developers, we wanted to create a workplace that felt like home, free from the inefficiencies we had encountered in previous roles. This desire shaped our approach to onboarding and employee engagement, emphasizing the need for a supportive and inclusive atmosphere.

How We Improve the Onboarding Experience

Onboarding is a critical phase where new hires interact with company culture for the first time. We recognized the importance of making this experience as smooth and insightful as possible. Here's how we approached it:

1. Sourcing Phase: Transparency from the Start

Our approach to recruiting reflects our core values, with the specific aim of ensuring cultural alignment.

• Internal Recruitment: We manage recruitment internally, avoiding headhunters and ensuring a personal touch in every interaction.
• Proactive and Transparent Communication: We try to anticipate candidates' questions and concerns, providing them with all necessary information in advance.
• Playbook Availability: Our company playbook isn't just for new hires; it's a resource for everyone, detailing our processes and values.

2. Screening Phase: We Evaluate If There's Mutual Understanding

During the screening process, we try to discover if both the candidate and the company are right for each other. It's not a one-way assessment. We send detailed information about our culture and ask candidates to evaluate their skills based on concrete evidence, rather than self-rated scores.

3. Technical Interview: Attitude More Than Knowledge

In the technical interview, we prioritize how candidates approach problems rather than what they know—that is, their attitude toward problem-solving. This is achieved through practical challenges, real assessments that allow them to demonstrate their thought process and their teamwork and collaboration skills.

4. Onboarding Phase: An Enabling Process

Once a candidate becomes an employee, we focus on integrating them into their new role without overwhelming them, adopting an onboarding system that facilitates gradual insertion into the organizational system.

• Virtual Company Tour: While setting up the new hire's accounts and devices, we proceed with a step-by-step virtual tour of the company, from tools to processes to people.
• Good First Issues: We assign important tasks but without rigid deadlines, allowing new hires to settle in without pressure.
• Email Pill System: Information provided on the first day is further broken down into "pills," strategically shared via email over several weeks, ensuring that new hires can digest the information without feeling overwhelmed.
• Welcome Kit: Our welcome kits include a manual that provides historical and cultural context, remaining at hand, right next to the keyboard.

Challenges and Growing Pains

As we continue to grow, we face new challenges. The transition from a small, tight-knit team to a larger organization can create barriers to communication and culture. Here's how we're addressing these challenges:

1. Maintaining Open Communication
   In a remote work environment, keeping open lines of communication is crucial. We use various clear and accessible communication tools to ensure everyone feels connected, regardless of their physical location.
2. Clear Responsibilities
   As teams grow, defining clear roles and responsibilities becomes essential. This helps prevent confusion and ensures everyone knows what's expected of them.
3. Teaching Risk-Taking
   Encouraging innovation requires a careful balance between delivering "state of the art" and taking risks on something new. We're currently working on developing a performance evaluation system that rewards innovation and clarifies company expectations.

The Future

Looking ahead, we aspire to further refine our onboarding process. We are committed to cultivating our company culture, ensuring that it evolves alongside our growth.

Like any evolutionary journey, our journey never ends. Onboarding is the first step on a journey toward excellence, and the onboarding process itself is constantly evolving.

SparkFabrik is committed to creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to give their best. Everyone is called to support each other in pursuing continuous learning and focusing on communication.