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Onboarding at TextNow: A New Hire Perspective

Terance

Terance

 

April 5, 2022

Onboarding at TextNow: A New Hire Perspective

Hi! I’m Terance and I’m on the People & Culture team. Building out a comprehensive onboarding program and ensuring that employees feel welcomed and included in a virtual environment is no small feat. As a recent new hire, I became impressed with the team’s approach towards creating an inclusive onboarding experience and including current employees on the ride. Here are the top 4 themes that made it memorable:

Networking + Engagement:

Donut Chats: We employ the donut app in Slack which matches employees at random to connect via Zoom and get to know each other. Within my first 2 weeks, I connected with people from different parts of the company and started to build my network.  

Slack: I logged into Slack and noticed a #NewHireWelcome channel after I got set up with IT. I discovered it’s a chance for managers to post a picture of new hire(s) and share their bio/fun facts (I’m a sneaker fanatic and instantly connected with someone who is too) with the entire company. I saw a post that my manager made, and a wave of employees welcoming me to the team.  

Textnovian Orientation:

I’m now officially a TextNovian — and it’s only right that I get decked out in swag! My orientation was fun and informative. I onboarded with a small group of colleagues and learned about their interest and roles. In addition, I received a high-level overview of the business strategy, mission, culture and values, and benefits. Throughout the week, new hires received follow up emails (bite sized and digestible) with links to resources and action items with their onboarding.

TextNow Functional Overview:

As part of the onboarding journey, I had the opportunity to attend TextNow functional learning sessions to gain a deeper understanding of how different teams operate across the organization:

  1. Customer Care
  1. Data & Analytics  
  1. Engineering  
  1. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
  1. Engineering  
  1. Finance  
  1. Legal
  1. People & Culture  
  1. Product  
  1. Recruitment  

This was an integral part of my experience because it helped me connect how my role fits within the broader puzzle and start building relationships.  

Manager + Team Support System:

My manager and team have been very supportive during my transition into the organization. We have recurring meetings to talk through current processes and allow me to ask questions at every step of the way. It’s refreshing to have a team that’s invested in my success and gives me the autonomy to take ownership of projects that spark my interest.  

Overall, onboarding plays a critical part of a new hire's experience. Everyone in the company plays a role in making it come to life. While there’s always room to strengthen the process here at TextNow, the company has the right approach towards onboarding, and the foundation to make onboarding even better.

If you'd like to join TextNow, check out our current open positions here!

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