My first days at acondas
The first days matter most. The onboarding is essential in determining how successful the transition into a new company for an employee will be. The introductory days offer a first intensive impression of the new working environment. They should not only submit specialized knowledge and methodologies and be a chance to get in touch with new colleagues, but also teach about the values and professional fundamentals of the new company.
In February of 2020, I started at acondas. acondas is the fifth company of my professional career, which is why I have gone through a number of different ways to do an onboarding. For the onboarding at acondas, I traveled to Düsseldorf from my office in Munich, to take part in a three-day onboarding event. During this time, I got to know the company, met a number of my new colleagues and learned about regular processes. Before coming to Düsseldorf, the Office Team had already provided the entire IT equipment and organized numerous meetings with other colleagues on specific topics. Thus, it was ensured that the first days would be efficient and interactive.
Every onboarding typically consists of an introduction into fundamental processes and work equipment, such as IT and laptop, time recording or accounting processes. Many companies ensure the introduction by giving a checklist with information and links to the new employee to work through on their own during the first day. At acondas on the other hand, a colleague took time out of their day to explain a specific topic, answer any questions and do a run-through together during a face-to-face meeting. Additionally, to the “standard topics” such as filing systems or time recording, many content-driven topics were also discussed that go beyond the typical spectrum. Topics included project management at acondas, what values and fundamentals the company has and discussed focus areas, project opportunities and functional/methodological questions together with the company management.
After these intensive first days, I was quickly able to take on new tasks by myself, such as topics regarding e-mobility and digitalization. Here, the agile project management of the teams was a new experience for me, which I quickly learned to appreciate.
The acondas onboarding was the best introductory phase that I have gone through during my professional career concerning arrangement and execution. It is unusual that a new employer has taken so much time to work me in to all the new processes. However, it is even more unusual that a so large number of colleagues and even the company management have taken so much time to explain everything around my new job to me. By doing so, I felt welcome and valued immediately.