Employee Onboarding Programme in IT Companies: The Case of Saint Petersburg Development Centre

Peculiarities of Russian IT labour market, such as severe lack of qualified personnel, various backgrounds of IT workers, high qualification and skills demand when entering different projects, partnerships of IT companies with universities to assist the differences in higher education and business demand, spread of Agile methodologies of project management, changes in business models, digital transformation all lead to the need in talent management, talent acquisition, and retention in IT companies. Employee onboarding is a key process in facilitating fast and effective work integration, future productive performance loyalty, engagement and retention. The aim of the study is creating and implementing a systematic effective onboarding programme and its management plan for the IT company Saint Petersburg Development Centre. To assist such aim, expert interviews with key stakeholders in the company were conducted. This step of the research includes collecting current issues and future expectations regarding recruitment and onboarding. Next, the social survey among workers was organized to measure organizational loyalty as a criteria of successful onboarding. Also social survey was sent to recently hired employees in the selected IT company to collect their feedback regarding Onboarding Day training as a key element of onboarding practices. As a result of the research, the systematic customised onboarding programme was created and offered to the Saint Petersburg Development Centre IT company. Recommendations regarding implementation and management of onboarding practices include organizing meetings on new employees with top-management of the company, creating an individual development plan for the onboarding period, training managers on their role in recruiting and onboarding. To effectively manage onboarding process, IT companies need to use technological tools.