Preboarding is everything that happens between the moment the candidate accepts our offer and their first day at Digital Science. Welcoming a new colleague effectively kicks off before their first official day.
The preboarding phase is your opportunity to:
Make them feel valued
Reduce first-day anxiety
Set clear expectations
Start building engagement and trust
When |
Manager actions |
People team actions |
IT actions |
Other stakeholders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
48 hours after offer acceptance |
Coordinate an announcement in the relevant Slack channels (e.g., team Slack). You can use this template or personalise it |
Prepare employment contract and onboarding documents, confirms start date and coordinates signatures |
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After signed contract (≥ 3 weeks before start date) |
No action - You are notified when the new joiner completed the onboarding workflow |
Create new joiner profile in Bob and invite the joiner to complete personal details and choose equipment Triggers IT ticket for hardware order |
Start hardware shipping process |
New Joiner: Receives invitation to Bob, completes the onboarding form by adding personal details, and selects their preferred hardware from the Group IT Standards list |
2 weeks before start date |
Plan new joiner first week using Week one agenda template Send a Welcome eCard from the team to add a message for the new joiner. Encourage team members to add short, warm, and personal messages Assign a buddy and brief them on their role |
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Finance: Set up finance systems, issue DS credit card if requested by the manager Global Ops: Sets up Salesforce if applicable Marketing: Orders and ships DS swag box |
1 week before start date |
Review the checklist above and complete your tasks Send Welcome letter to the New joiner. You can either personalise it, either use this template. Schedule a Day 1 meeting Ensure any necessary trainings/meetings are scheduled Request IT to grant access to specific tools from the Software Catalogue. |
Send Community induction pack to the new joiner Invite new joiner to global People induction (held on Wednesday at 14:00 UK time) |
Create Google account and provisions DS systems |
New joiner: sends the “Working with me” guide to the manager (template provided by the People team in the Community induction pack |
Can’t find what you are looking for? Contact us via People Team Support ticket.