A UI/UX Designer’s New Hire Experience within a Global Biotech Company

It is vital for companies, particularly the global ones, to engage new hires before their first day on the job. It’s not only to build excitement and enthusiasm for the role but it can also ease any anxiety or uncertainty new hires might have about starting their new job.

This can be particularly important for large corporations, as the sheer size of the company can be intimidating for some.

Overall, engaging your new hires before their first day on the job helps to ensure a smooth transition into the role and can set the stage for a successful long-term employment with the company and allows them to hit the ground running on their first day.

First Days On The Job

“During the first days, I was doing the courses and was just learning about the company – the top of the Iceberg. It was not about my department but the company as a whole. And then I was given the project. It was quite stressful because I didn’t feel like I knew the company that much, even if I had done all these courses. But I was given the project to create a new illustration style for this global corporation. As a student assistant on my first days, I felt quite stressed out about it, but the buddy that I had, she was very comforting. I’ve never had a buddy from my previous jobs, and that was nice.”

Providing a buddy for new hires is extremely beneficial for both the new hire and the company. For the new hire, a buddy can provide a valuable source of support and guidance as new hires navigate around their new role. Buddies and mentors can answer questions, provide advice, and introduce the new hire to the company’s culture and practices and everything else that you can’t find in the employee handbook. 

This can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed or alone that many new hires experience. More-so, it can also increase the chances of your employee retention because new employees who feel supported and integrated are more likely to stay longer in the company.

The Challenges of Starting a New Job in a Global Biotech Corporation

“I felt like even if I took all these courses, it’s still a jungle. It’s a huge corporation and there’s so many different departments. The product is complex, it’s in so many different industries, and I always felt lost.

This was because the courses are made for every single employee in the company, and not particularly for me, I felt like I did not get a thorough explanation of even my department. I didn’t know for the first three months or something that I was a part of a team within the department that was called something. I didn’t know that because nobody told me that. I don’t know what to ask when I don’t know what exists. I just thought I was a part of the design team, but apparently I was a part of a sales team as well. I just didn’t know better. So I feel like they just forgot to tell me those things because there’s a lot of that, especially with big corporations. It took me months to figure out who was the manager and what the head of this team did.”

The Journey to Reaching Full Productivity

“I think it took me a couple of months to reach full productivity. I felt insecure for a long time, but I don’t think it’s the company’s fault. I think it was actually COVID. I felt super distant to my team and I didn’t understand the culture for the longest time. I didn’t understand how it would be to reach out to people because I never met them in person and I was lucky that I could meet them on my first day. So I’d say it took me half a year because I felt insecure asking questions because I felt so distant and disconnected.

But then after that half a year I was on top of my game and reaching out to whomever and doing my work.”

The time it takes for a new hire to become fully productive can vary depending on several factors, including the complexity of the role and services the company offers, the new hire’s level of experience and skill, the company’s size, and the effectiveness of the pre & onboarding process. 

The effectiveness of pre & onboarding can minimise all the above factors and bring the following advantages instead: the productivity of the new employee increases; the company becomes attractive to other candidates, the organisational culture becomes more solid, increases the retention rate, and most important the employees achieve their goals faster.

According to Harvard Business Review, a newly hired employee typically takes eight months to reach full productivity (this can vary significantly depending on the specific circumstances). So it’s a wonder why, according to Abeerdeen, only 37% of companies extend their onboarding programmes beyond the first month. 

A new employee in a company, even if he/she has worked in such a position before, will not know precisely what he/she must do. However, it takes time for the employee to get acquainted. And in the period of integration into the new team, a mentor to guide and teach him is essential.

Simply providing a thorough and well-organised pre & onboarding journey can help your new hires become more productive and hit the ground running even from day one. Some strategies include assigning a mentor or buddy to provide support and guidance or setting clear goals and expectations for the role. You can find more in our article: 10 Steps to Build a Successful Employee Onboarding Process

There’s no company where these things come by themselves; they come with an effort from management, buddy/mentor, entire team, so before you ask new hires for results, make sure you think about what you’ve done to make them feel safe and integrated.