Vic's learnings: Long-term engagement

From a warm welcome to a warm bath

Appical's onboarding app gets new employees involved in the organization even before their first day. They get a sense of belonging right away, and they get a clear message that the company is happy to have them. They deserve a warm welcome. But once someone has started, the warm welcome should turn into a warm bath.

Onboarding is not only the responsibility of HR, but rather of all employees. Think of the receptionist who is ready to welcome the new employee at the entrance, the facility colleague who has already set up the laptop and the team in which the employee will be working. When starting at Appical, you will get to know various departments during your first weeks. To receive training from colleagues about the platform, privacy, data, and onboarding, for example.

Not every learning path is the same

An important next step after the onboarding is staying in touch and being open and honest with each other. An annual cycle with three evaluation meetings about your development is outdated in my opinion. Not all employees start in January, and development is something you have to keep discussing constantly. Every employee has his or her own learning path, and some take steps faster than others.

Recently a management position opened up within the company and someone asked me: "Vic, wouldn't that be something for you?" I have been in my current role for some time so it was a logical question. But I believe that you can't compare the most senior person in a team with a good manager. Those two positions are very different. Always hire a manager specifically because of their excellent managing skills. That's why I personally chose not to respond to it. I know that my strength lies elsewhere.

Development and engagement are not temporary things. Every development path of an engaged employee is different. And development does not always means climbing higher up in the tree. Employees grow in many ways!