Our global supermarket partners don't stop serving customers just because we're working from home, so our team of hot-shot computer vision experts has to keep going too. And what a few months it's been. We've successfully onboarded 12 people remotely in the last quarter, helping our engineering, marketing, sales and operations teams to grow and deliver great retail tech products to our partners and offer them continuous service.  

So how do we make remote onboarding work? We asked our killer HR team to share their tips.

Communication  

Our Talent Acquisition team does an awesome job communicating with candidates from the first contact. Once the candidate is handed over to People Operations, they keep the ball rolling.

A week before the new starter starts, the People Team send them a welcome email providing information on what to expect on their first day and an onboarding checklist.

To add that personal touch, we ask the new team member to share a photo, fun facts, obsessions, and hobbies with the Tiliter team. This works as a conversation starter, especially when our people find they have common interests with other Tiliter employees.

Being organised - having equipment ready before day one

Before the employees first day, they have their laptops, equipment and company swag sent to them. Got to get that Tiliter t-shirt on for day 1!  

The People Operations team works closely with the Operations team to ensure we deliver on time, so everything goes smoothly.  

On their first day, the first hour is spent on laptop set up to ensure they have access to what they need.

Meeting the team

New starters are set up to meet each department head, regardless of their seniority. We find that this helps them become familiar with the different teams and roles within the business. The feedback from new hires on these meetings has been great — they feel appreciated and part of the team from week one!

HR Onboarding 

HR onboarding is usually on the first day and helps the new starters become familiar with the company purpose, mission, vision and values. We also go through other important company information such as the perks and benefits, plus more insight into the culture before they experience this for themselves.

 Following the new starter's first week, they'll have a 1:1 with the CEO and Co-Founder Marcel Herz to discuss their first week and how their experience has been so far. They are allowed to ask any questions and also start to build a relationship with the CEO. A great start!

Each employee also has 1:1 catch ups with the HR team to check in on how they are going. These are done in their first one month and six months.

Connecting new starters with the team

On the employees first day, we introduce them on Slack to the whole company, where they are welcomed through emojis and employees directly reaching out to them.

The culture at Tiliter makes it easy for new starters to feel like they fit in from day one! Tiliter is growing fast, and there are always new employees, so you don't feel like the new kid on the block for long.

To assist new starters in settling into the company and immersing themselves in the banter and fun, each fortnight, we hold a Kahoot trivia session hosted by different members of the Tiliter team.

 We also hold a fortnightly all-hands meeting. These are on alternate weeks, so whenever a new starter starts, there's always a team event that they can join within their first week.

We've also introduced buddy chats to help us connect with others across the company.

In these chats, we pair up two people from different departments or regions randomly to allow the teams to bond cross-functionally on an individual level.

As we span across other regions and work from home, we've lost the opportunity to connect more personally in the office, so this is our way to get to know each other better.

Feedback  

We gather feedback from every individual on their onboarding experience as we are always looking to improve upon the process and make everyone feel welcome.

After two weeks on the job, an onboarding survey is sent out to each new starter to see how we are doing.

The team recently achieved a score of 95%, which we think is pretty amazing! 

If you're an expert at what you do and want to work at the cutting edge of retail tech (with a great bunch of people!), check out our careers page today.

‍