Onboarding Feedback Milestones

The People Team wants to support new teammates and managers by opening a two-way conversation between them throughout the onboarding process about what’s on track and what needs action, both on the new teammates’ contribution and how well they’re living our shared values.

Feedback check-ins are part of the onboarding process. We want to help teammates succeed by having structured monthly feedback sessions with their managers during their first 3 months.

This will help teammates understand their performance and how well they’ve been adapting to their new role. Teammates who understand what’s expected of them and can have conversations with their managers about how to improve are more likely to have a better experience. Managers should use these feedback milestones to guide the new teammate, reinforce good work practices, and better set them up for success. During these meetings, managers will help new teammates understand their role in the team and company and what’s expected of them.

In order for this to work, managers must define expectations, goals and responsibilities for each role before the new teammate starts. The new teammate must know about them and if any change at any point, they must be notified. This will set a guide for both the teammate and the manager on every meeting. If the expectations are not up to date, talk about them. (Do you think these changes are appropriate? Should this goal be modified?). Managers should go through the set goals, tasks, expectations set for the 30/60/90 days and provide positive feedback and talk about opportunities for growth

These conversations should take into consideration onboarding expectations, onboarding experience, and onboarding effectiveness.

Purpose of each milestone

Feedback Milestone: Month 1:

  • check in on onboarding and get a sense for how they’re feeling
  • normalize two-way feedback
  • open conversation and build trust

Feedback Milestone: Month 3:

  • check in on OKRs/expectations tracking and get a sense for how they’re feeling
  • normalize two-way feedback
  • open conversation and build trust
  • get a feel for if they’re going to succeed and action if they aren’t (keep in mind teammates should be participating in projects by month 2 and owning projects by month 3)

Lattice reviews

The manager and the direct report will receive a review to complete 25 and 85 days after start date. The questions for these forms are different, but the answers will be shared with both parties after it’s closed.

Once the reviews are complete, manager and direct report will meet synchronously to talk about what is going well, what needs attention, and what the next steps are. You must complete both reviews before meeting.

New teammate: What to expect

During the new teammates’ first week with us, new teammates will find a task in their Process.St checklist called Growth at Sourcegraph. Visit your (or your direct report’s) Process.St checklist to read more about it.

New teammates are responsible for scheduling the meetings in Google Calendar.

New teammates will receive a review form 1 month and 3 months after joining. They will have to complete and submit the questions in Lattice. The question will not be private and new teammates will see what managers have written and managers will see what their direct reports wrote too.

Teammate prep

  • check onboarding checklist
  • have examples ready
  • think about examples of what your manager can do to support you better

Managers: What to expect

To help facilitate these onboarding feedback milestones, we have developed check-ins in Lattice that will be active at the end of month 1 and 3. You will be given structured questions that serve as a guideline for you to have those important conversations pertinent to the onboarding process. The onboarding feedback milestones serve as a conversation guide and the answers serve as notes that you can reference to assess their onboarding success.

The question or topic notes will not be private and new teammates will see what managers have written as the reviews will be shared with the teammate. It is important to note that summaries are not required at the end of your review.

Keep in mind managers may define expectations differently to fit the team, the most important thing is that teammates should feel they know what is expected of them, whether that is done through a 30/60/90 framework or other means.

Manager prep

  • check onboarding checklist
  • have examples ready
  • think about the project in which the teammate is participating and their performance

Review Questions

New teammates questions

Month 1

  1. How is onboarding going for you?
  2. How can we improve the onboarding experience for you and future teammates?
  3. Is your manager providing you with continuous feedback and guidance as it relates to your performance?

Month 3

  1. Did the onboarding process meet your expectations? (In the comment section please expand on what went well and what we could have done better)
  2. Do you have any questions or concerns about your role, expectations, or next steps? (Please elaborate in the comment section)
  3. Are there any gaps or areas we could improve the onboarding experience for future new hires?

Manager Questions

Month 1 and 3

  1. What is this person doing well? What are their growth areas (if any) and how are you working with them to improve?
  2. I would hire this teammate again if given the opportunity (not visible to new teammate)