13 December 2024
That feeling you get when starting a new job is something we all know well — excitement, anticipation, and (let’s be honest) a smidgen of nervousness, all rolled into one. In fact, we’re sure you’d agree that embarking on a new career is one of life’s defining moments.
Without a doubt, the first few months of any new job are filled with some of the most memorable moments in your career. It’s a whirlwind period, where onboarding is the order of the day. With days spent bouncing from one training session, presentation, or virtual coffee date to the next, it’s an opportune time to get up to speed with the ins and outs of the role, and connect with new colleagues. But, thanks to the current coronavirus-induced WFH situation, smooth and structured onboarding processes have been thrown into chaos. For many companies, giving new hires a warm welcome now requires an extra splash of creativity.
In the pre-pandemic days, smartclip newbies had the chance to get to know their new colleagues away from the desk at regular (and dare we say rowdy) social events. With that option now well and truly off the cards, our HR team put their heads together and organised a virtual after-work social for all employees who joined us recently. The aim of the game was to rally together and raise a glass to all new members of the smartclip crew in a relaxed setting.
And since no work social is complete without a cold beverage (or three) and a decent serving of snacks, our rookies each received a box of tasty treats to tuck into during the event.
After cracking open a drink and getting cosy in front of the computer, the evening was officially underway. Kicking things off, our smartclip HR team took to the stage with warm words and personal insights, and gave our rookies the chance to share a few fun facts with the help of some quick-fire questions and colourful (if not bizarre) props.
Yes, you guessed it — green objects were used to answer “yes”, and red objects for “no”. Who’d have ever imagined responding to the question “Do you have a dog?” by furiously waving a broccoli in front of the webcam. With the evening (and drinks) in full flow, our newbies spoke candidly about their personal challenges and successes on their smartclip journey so far. Our CEOs also got in on the action, leaving out the customary company presentation and lifting the lid on their own personal story in a casual chat with our new smartclippers.
To end the evening on a high, we revealed the results of our recent new hire satisfaction survey. And the good news is, an overwhelming majority of our rookies had a positive onboarding experience, and are happy with their day-to-day work.
While we know that a virtual get-together will never quite match up to a real-life rendezvous, our rookies event put smiles on faces (believe us, they were beaming), and was the ideal way to toast our talented troup of new hires during these testing times.