Welcome Aboard

The hosts introduce the episode as a New Year reflection on onboarding new employees, with insights from Ashley Bowie at Basecamp and Karen Catlin of Better Allies. The episode aims to explore effective onboarding practices and fostering inclusive workplaces.

Ashley Bowie shares how Basecamp's customer support team (Team OMG) conducts onboarding, emphasizing structured modules that cover company history, team integration, product knowledge, and ongoing support. They value in-person training for tone recognition and psychological safety, and they adapt their training timeline to accommodate remote work realities, including a dedicated third week for applying knowledge at home.

The importance of hands-on, discussion-heavy training is highlighted, alongside the use of a shared glossary for team language to foster inclusivity and clarify internal jargon. The support team utilizes a comprehensive onboarding checklist, ongoing case review, and encourages new hires to participate at their own pace, ensuring they're well-supported as they adapt to their roles.

Karen Catlin discusses how onboarding can integrate diversity and inclusion efforts, citing examples like transparent interview processes and explicit affirmations of belonging to combat imposter syndrome and tokenism. She advocates for early, clear communication about diversity initiatives and creating inclusive social and mentoring programs, especially for underrepresented groups, to build a welcoming and effective culture.

The discussion recognizes that traditional mentoring, especially in the context of recent #MeToo concerns, faces barriers that might hinder relationship-building necessary for inclusion. Strategies to raise awareness about these issues and ensure mentoring remains a tool for belonging and support are emphasized. The importance of adapting onboarding and mentoring approaches to reflect current societal shifts is underscored.

Practical recommendations include normalizing pronoun sharing, inclusive social activities, and transparent communication about organizational goals related to diversity. Examples like sharing favorite professional books during onboarding foster connection, but with sensitivity to personal comfort levels. Overall, the focus is on creating options and recognizing individual differences to build a genuinely inclusive culture.

The episode concludes with references to additional resources such as links to Basecamp support, Karen Catlin’s book, and other relevant articles. The hosts encourage feedback and ideas from listeners to improve future episodes. The importance of ongoing evaluation and improvement of onboarding and workplace culture to support underrepresented groups is reinforced.