<aside> 💡 A few weeks ago, Bo Lu (Clipboard Health’s COO) approached me with a new project: Rewriting some of our onboarding documents from the ground up.
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Our current documents, he said, had a flaw: they had mostly been written by people in the company who were well past the onboarding process. In effect, they had to some extent forgotten what it was like to be a new employee in our workplace - and once everything seems normal to you, it’s hard to focus on the important differences between our company and other workplaces.
I think he’s right. I come from a non-conventional work background, and some of my former workplaces placed very different levels of value on things like independence, curiosity, and effective communication. For me, everything here is a little different and I know firsthand that it can take more than a bit of energy to get used to a new culture and a new set of expectations.
For some of you, this will be your first time working in a start-up environment, so it’s really relevant to know that start-ups don’t survive unless they have speed and flexibility in a way that most established or traditional companies just don’t have. This means a lot of communication - you will need to be more in other job roles and departments than you might be used to. It also means that job roles tend to be less defined, and you will find yourself touching a wider variety of projects and roles than you ever have before.
For some of you coming from start-ups this might be a more familiar environment, or it might not. Not every start-up is a well-run utopia - there are plenty of bad management techniques and bad internal culture to go around. It might be that you have to unlearn some old knowledge or pick up something new to be effective here.
Everyone’s onboarding ramp is a different length - mine is very long. I’m having to learn a lot of things. I’m having to change the way I think about how I go about my job. You might start out closer and have fewer things to learn or change, but there’s still always going to be a need to adjust - not only during onboarding but as the company changes and evolves as well. You might start even further from where you need to be than I am, but let me tell you: that’s not a downside here. There’s time and support to get you where you need to be - your job is to take advantage of that.
This document is intended to pull together some of the most critical information we have about who our company is, what we do and you will ultimately be successful here. We require all new hires to read this information as part of their onboarding because we believe in transparency and telling you exactly what we expect right out of the gate so there are no surprises down the road. For each section, there are some bolded questions for you to answer. Please complete each question as you complete the reading to ensure you can leave thoughtful, detailed responses. These responses help us gauge not only your own understanding of what you have just read, but also help us to continually improve our onboarding process.
We look forward to reading your responses, and most importantly, we want to welcome you to our team!
<aside> 💡 These readings should be completed as part of your New Hire training path in Leapsome, and need to be done within your first 10 days (this is when it will be most impactful 😃).
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This document takes a look at various writing from both inside and outside the company that we feel does a good job of letting you know who we are, what we value, and what kind of values and behavior will work best to help succeed at Clipboard Health. Don’t just read them, though - each section includes space for you to express your thoughts on the ideas you’ve just absorbed. Writing about what you just read will not only help you organize your thoughts on us, but it will help us learn a little bit about you and how we can help you feel comfortable, prepared, and effective.
Almost every workplace at least talks about company culture. What they mean varies place-to-place, ranging from “the exact way we expect you to behave at all times” all the way down to “sometimes, we have Taco Tuesday events”. Knowing exactly what “company culture” means and how it affects you in your day-to-day work is a big deal, and it’s something you will want to get a handle on as soon as you can.
What is Culture? by our CEO Wei Deng explains exactly what we mean when we say “culture” at CBH, and gives some insight into what motivates the culture we have and want to build.