First Impressions Matter: How These Organizations Make Onboarding an Unforgettable Experience

It’s no secret that first impressions matter — even beyond the hiring process. The way a business onboards its employees has a direct impact on an employee’s impression of their workplace.

Beyond employee satisfaction, great onboarding is also great for business. Having a structured onboarding process that aims to integrate new employees into the business, prepare them for their day-to-day work and give them the confidence they need to be the best they can at their new role has long-term, positive consequences.

 

 

Tech organizations that invest in new-hire experiences are likely to experience a serious return on investment in a longer-lasting, more productive and overall more satisfied employee base. 

Built In Chicago had the opportunity to check in with new hires at two organizations with outstanding onboarding experiences. At Caterpillar, Lead Digital Project Manager Dimple Morandia experienced a mix of useful product knowledge and cross-functional relationship-building. For Brian Solmos, a graduate trader at IMC Trading, close proximity to his leadership team helped him grow into his role quickly and confidently — with an international, eye-opening training experience as the cherry on top.

 

Caterpillar’s digital and technology arm, Cat Digital, brings digital capabilities to help customers build a better, more sustainable world.

 

Tell us about your onboarding experience. What steps were taken to make you feel ready to make an impact in your role?

My experience going through Caterpillar’s onboarding program has been amazing. I was provided a very detailed 30-60-90-day onboarding plan from my supervisor that helped me to integrate into the company culture and understand my job. A colleague within my team was assigned to me to help me cross-train with new processes and connect me with cross-functional teams and stakeholders across the company. I also attended introductory sessions with senior leaders within the first few weeks of joining.

I benefitted from regular check-ins with leadership, expert-led knowledge sessions about various departments and in-person gatherings with fellow new hires led by division leaders to better understand how my work connects to the broader enterprise. These are just a few things that stand out to me about my onboarding experience.

 

What is an early win you experienced or a goal you crushed shortly after joining your team? How did this win set the tone for working at your company?

Cat Digital is using the latest digital technologies to improve the customer experience and enable our partners. To best serve Cat customers and dealers, we must understand their habits, needs and preferences, especially in e-commerce platforms. This is where data plays a key role in driving strategic decisions.

Not long after joining Caterpillar, I was fortunate to be a part of a project that put data in the driver’s seat to support our customers and achieve our critical objectives.  

In this project, I was given the opportunity to work with multiple teams, independent Caterpillar dealers, and leaders to learn the current challenges, project goals and roadmap, which I found extremely valuable as a newer employee. Gaining that exposure to multiple stakeholder perspectives so early in my Caterpillar career has helped me better understand the complexities and significance behind the work I do and the role I play within the broader enterprise. It’s also such a thrill to say that I have already been part of a project that plays such an essential role in enabling my company to achieve its most critical objectives. I look forward to many more in the years to come.

 

How are relationships and a sense of community built for new hires? How have these relationships impacted your confidence, productivity, or general work experience?

I believe that culture is formed by behaviors, mindsets and ways of working, so having events that spark collaboration and connection can teach new hires a lot about the culture in a learning-by-doing fashion. New hires are invited to attend a two-day, in-person onboarding event within their first quarter on the job.

Together with my fellow new hires, I enjoyed facility tours, got up close and personal with Cat machines and heard from multiple speakers who gave a deep dive into each department within my division. I also attend regular happy hours to socialize and make connections with those who work in my office building. I have enjoyed getting to know folks more personally, and I’ve made some good friends. Having these intentional opportunities to bond with and learn from my colleagues has helped me feel more connected to my company and the work I do, which has positively impacted my confidence and overall sense of belonging.

Having these opportunities to learn from my colleagues has helped me feel more connected to the work I do.”

 

 

IMC Trading is a proprietary trading firm and market maker in various products listed on exchanges globally.

 

Tell us about your onboarding experience. What steps were taken to make you feel ready to make an impact in your role?

My first few weeks at IMC involved traveling abroad for about two months as a part of their “Global Traineeship.” I learned about the world of trading through various trading games, team projects and lectures while in a group of my peers from across all of the offices. This also happened to be my first time outside of the United States, and the after-work and weekend events planned for us were a great way to dive into local cultures that I had never experienced.

My favorite part was that we would have a new batch of full-time traders every one to two weeks who would be there to teach and mentor us. All of them offered slightly different perspectives on what made a great trader at IMC, and the amount of fun trading stories they all had seemed never-ending. The whole experience set me up to succeed in local training as a full-time IMCer, and I never thought that I would be able to do that while traveling the world.

 

 

What is an early win you experienced or a goal you crushed shortly after joining your team? How did this win set the tone for working at your company?

This was on a smaller scale, but a few weeks after I had joined the desk, my mentor was going to be out for a week on vacation. I was still just getting acquainted with what the job was like on a day-to-day basis, so I was a little nervous to immediately be more independent for the time that he was out.

That being said, there was no reason that I should have been nervous. All the traders that I interacted with were super helpful in teaching me new things, and I was able to lead a small trading investigation on my own over that week, sharing my conclusions with the whole desk. While this was a pretty small win in the grand scheme of things, experiences like this gave me the confidence I needed to start my career strong at IMC and counter some of the imposter syndrome that can come with taking on new challenges.

Onboarding experiences like this gave me the confidence I needed to counter some of the imposter syndrome.”

 

How are relationships and a sense of community built for new hires? How have these relationships impacted your confidence, productivity, or general work experience?

The community at IMC has been amazing. I first experienced it during my internship where all of the trainers and my mentor made me feel welcome and were always willing to help me when I needed it. It’s been great to see that working here full-time has been no different, and honestly, even better than the internship. I currently work with three other traders on my subteam and all of them have been incredible resources I can utilize as I get more familiar with the system and build my trading knowledge.

Relationships play a large role in building confidence and ultimately succeeding at IMC. Everyone that I have met and worked with here has always been willing to help me out. For example, when I first made it to the desk after training, I was a little intimidated as I was sitting next to or across from the head of trading, the desk lead and my current manager. These were some of the most tenured people on the desk who had many competing priorities, but they were always willing to help me out no matter what. I had heard a lot about how IMC was a “flat organization,” but that really proved it, and building those relationships early on helped my confidence a ton.