Developer Lifecycle: How to ensure your developer onboarding is smooth like butter

Welcome to our article series on mastering the developer lifecycle. From recruitment to offboarding, we'll explore how to create an exceptional developer experience at every stage.

With a well-established lifecycle, developers can be more productive and happier, lowering developer turnover. This therefore saves you not only from nerves but also a lot of money.

Don't expect any official studies from us, but rather our tips that have been proven to work and are developer-approved.

Although we focused on developers, most of the content will benefit any employee over time.

Introduction

Think about it: how effective is your onboarding of new developers? And is it a good experience for newbies?

Ineffective onboarding not only prolongs the development process but also costs you money. It's also one of the things that developers hate to do when it's not done correctly, and it can ruin your reputation right from the start.

How you introduce yourself as a company right from the start can play a crucial role in how quickly a new developer is able to integrate effectively into the workflow, but also whether they decide to stay with you long-term. Last year, 20% of people dropped their jobs in the first 45 days. First impressions definitely matter here.

In this article, we've put together essential tips for quality onboarding that are often overlooked. We've divided our advice into non-technical aspects, which can be handled by HR, and technical elements best provided by your team leaders or senior developers.

Non-technical tips

These tips can be useful for onboarding anyone, not just developers.

1. Maintain pre-onboarding communication

Bridge the gap between offer acceptance and the first day. Try to maintain a conversation with the newcomer during the whole time. Among other things, you can prevent them from leaning towards another offer before onboarding. In the meantime, you have the following options:

• Invite the newcomer to an informal meeting with the rest of the team.
• Find out all the information you need about them for onboarding.
• Provide your newcomer with information about the company so they can study it beforehand.

Having a better understanding of what they are getting into before onboarding day could be a relief.

2. Provide a full onboarding plan

Assume that for most people, job changes can be stressful. Letting the newcomer know in advance exactly what to expect on onboarding day will help alleviate their stress. It's best to plan your agenda for the entire first week and let the newbie know in advance. This way, you and the company will look organized and avoid the confusion that onboarding sometimes brings, such as not having someone to focus on the newcomer.

3. Get ready for onboarding

Make sure all necessary accesses, such as building entry cards and corporate email, are prepared before the first day to avoid any productivity obstacles. Make sure you cover everything you can up front; this will both make the newcomer feel welcome and help them get up to speed more quickly.

4. Create an onboarding checklist

Make a list of things to go over with the newcomer so that neither you nor they forget them, and onboarding is stress-free. Moreover, you can divide the checklist into what the newcomer has to accomplish on the onboarding day, in a week, or by the end of the probation period. Again, you can provide everything upfront and make sure the newcomer knows exactly what their goals are.

5. Centralize company information

Establish a single source of truth for company-related information, from what your company values are to how to use the coffee machine and who has what position in the company. This way, you can pass on any misunderstandings, and the newbie can come back to everything at any time and feel more confident in the early days. You can't expect them to remember everything you tell them during onboarding.

6. Onboarding isn't just paperwork

Remember, onboarding should be all about welcoming the newcomer and making sure they have everything they need to hit the ground running. Handle administrative tasks using document management software beforehand, allowing the new hire to review materials at their convenience.

7. Implement ongoing support

To ensure new developers have continuous support, pair them with an experienced colleague who can act as a "buddy" and answer any questions they may have. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone from HR; it can be a team leader or another colleague.

Remember that onboarding should not be the end of your support; it's just the beginning.

8. Schedule regular feedback sessions

This is important for everyone, but for newcomers extra. Proactively check in with newcomers, especially during the first month. You'll get a chance to see how the newbie enjoys their time at your company and respond immediately to any issues. At least for the first month, you need to proactively check the situation. Check:

• Does the newbie have everything they need to get the job done?
• Do they have enough work?
• Does your newbie have any questions about how the company works?
• How does the newbie enjoy working with the team?
• Does your newbie have a mentor or colleague to lean on?
• Does your newbie have clearly set goals and milestones?

Technical tips

1. Follow common SW development practices

• Ensure each repository has a well-structured README (consider using the template at https://github.com/RichardLitt/standard-readme).
• Establish clear conventions for contributing, including PR and Issue templates, as well as a CONTRIBUTING.md file.
• Implement code review processes for all changes.

This approach helps newcomers adapt to your practices from day one.

2. Provide technical documentation

If a newly onboarded developer works with multiple repos, provide at least one document that describes the relationships and responsibilities of each repo. Ideally, simplify technical setup as much as possible — use Docker and Docker Compose to simplify setup of complex services.

3. Start slow

Give the new developer some simple and quick tasks that introduce them to your environment and code. Set a balance between not overwhelming them and ensuring they have enough meaningful work to engage with.

4. Improve over time

Allow onboarded developers to enhance the processes, primarily the READMEs and Notion pages. It gives the developer a nice introduction to the topic, and you also get valuable, fresh perspectives.

5. Develop a project roadmap

Create a Wiki project or similar resource that serves as a one-stop-shop for newcomers. Outline all necessary details, such as:

• project ownership and responsibilities
• technology used
• security measures to be taken
• guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence and open source, etc.

6. Onboarding with the team lead

Onboarding should not only take place with HR but also with the technical team lead, where the newcomer is best introduced to the project.

Conclusion

The importance of a properly set up onboarding process should definitely not be overlooked. Every detail matters when recruiting developers.

With effective and enjoyable onboarding, you can save a lot of money, as the developer will sooner become an effective member of the workforce and ensure that you make a good impression on the new developer on your team. According to a Brandon Hall Group study, great onboarding can improve employee retention by 82%, and that's well worth it.

Focus on both the technical and non-technical parts of onboarding; one won't work without the other. And most importantly, remember, onboarding is not a one-day event but an ongoing process that requires attention, support, and regular feedback.