A week in the life of a new Dialogue employee

T Minus 5 Days

I interviewed, presented my case study, interviewed again, and accepted the offer. The first week of my new professional chapter at Dialogue was nearing! Before my start date, access to my new email address and various tools were set up, I was provided with administrative forms to fill out, my calendar was populated with onboarding meetings with various team members, and my manager circulated a welcome email announcing my imminent arrival to my future team members. My colleagues replied, taking the time to express their excitement about having me on board. What a relief to know what to expect and to already feel a part of a great team.

Day 1 at Dialogue!

On my first day, Dialogue’s Office Manager, HR Coordinator, and my manager all greeted me at the beautiful Old Montreal office space. I was introduced to the other new employees, and Cherif, the Co-Founder and CEO, provided us with an enlightening presentation on Dialogue’s mission, vision, values and culture. He relayed Dialogue’s obsession with customer experience and need to recruit top talent in order to reach ambitious goals.

I was given an office tour and noticed employees working collaboratively in various open areas, The kitchen is the heart of office and it’s fully stacked with healthy snacks. Dialogue employees never have to worry about bringing a lunch; healthy meals for the week can be ordered from a caterer. So long last night’s leftovers, it was nice knowing you.

My workstation was waiting for me with my laptop, office supplies, a Dialogue branded t-shirt, as well as a postcard with handwritten welcome messages from a dozen of my new colleagues. How thoughtful! Reading materials were provided to discover more about virtual healthcare and Dialogue’s inner workings. Lunch with my manager was next; we discussed communication styles, expectations, objectives and we took the time to informally get better acquainted.

The rest of the week consisted of meetings with different internal stakeholders. The discussions allowed me to understand roles, goals and how this all related to my own mandate. After meeting with our Customer Success, Medical Ops, Product, Data, Sales teams and more, it was evident we all share a common purpose: the drive to use our skills to help democratize healthcare across Canada.

Why Invest in Onboarding?

New beginnings can be overwhelming, even for the most seasoned professional. However, research has shown that there are various levers for successful onboarding and positive short term outcomes:

• Self-efficacy
• Role clarity
• Social integration
• Knowledge of culture

Dialogue is an excellent example of leveraging concrete actions to maximize the onboarding process:

• A structured onboarding plan provides new hires with the resources required to start working on day 1
• Reviewing role objectives provides the self-confidence to quickly begin bringing value to the organization
• Multiple meaningful gestures allow employees to feel welcomed and integrated
• The high level of communication enables a connection with colleagues and to life at Dialogue

Studies have demonstrated that effective onboarding can increase job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance levels and career effectiveness, much like health and wellness benefit investments (*cough services like Dialogue cough*).

While time and costs can deter employers from developing onboarding programs, the aforementioned benefits ultimately help mitigate losses related to turnover, stress and poor productivity and performance.

Currently, the Dialogue HR team is working on employee checklists, video training for more complex tools/processes, and using continuous feedback tools. However, we’re always looking at ways to improve and build our onboarding program. We want to hear from you! What are some of your memorable onboarding experiences? What kind of onboarding does your organization offer and how can it improve?