Onboarding buddies are crucial to making the onboarding experience for a new GitLab team-member a positive one. New Job Anxiety is a reality for many people, and the adjustment to GitLab might be particularly challenging for new GitLab team-members who may not be used to our all-remote culture. That's why it's important that all new GitLab team-members be assigned a buddy who is ready, willing, and excited to assist with the onboarding process.
Not only are buddies helpful to someone that has just started with GitLab, but also to a team member transitioning to a new role within GitLab. When someone migrates to a new team / department, it is highly recommended that managers assign a Career Mobility buddy in the issue to help support the team members that are busy migrating.
#new_team_members
or relevant team channel. Encourage them to write a little personal note, and if they're comfortable, include a photo or two!Introduce them to Slack. Slack may seem like it's ubiquitous, but that doesn't necessarily mean the new GitLab team-member will have had experience using it before. Since it's a central part of how we communicate at GitLab, consider showing them around, and give them some pointers about how we use it.
#remote
Slack channel to reach out and answer questions.#git-help
Slack channel to reach out and offer a tutorial.#content
Slack channel to reach out and offer support.In an effort to recognize buddies who go above and beyond to support new / transitioning team members and help them feel welcome, we have implemented a Buddy Program. Once every quarter, the People Experience team will evaluate the onboarding / career mobility buddy feedback provided in the Onboarding Survey or Career Mobility Surveyfilled out by the team members after their first 30 days at GitLab or 14 days after transition to the new role. To qualify, the buddy needs to receive a score of 3 or higher to be entered into a raffle at the end of the quarter.
The People Experience team will randomly select 3 winners. giveaway link to order a prize from our swag collection (approx $25 value).
Buddy assignation is the new team member's manager's responsibility as outlined in the onboarding issue as the very first Before Starting at GitLab
manager task. If you have been at GitLab 3+ months and are interested in participating in the Onboarding Buddy Program, please express your interest to your manager.
That's all there is to it! Thanks for your help welcoming the newest GitLab team-member to the team and getting them on board. If you have questions that are not answered on this page, please reach out to People Ops!
Onboarding Buddy Raffle Names
spreadsheet in Google Drive for the respective quarter and add the relevant onboarding buddy names.To update the swag code for the next quarter winners;
Once a Winner/Winners have been identified post a message to the Whats-happening-at-gitlab
channel and tag the winner/winners.