A full welcome mode for new employees! Onboarding tackled together

What is onboarding?

An all-out effort to get them to become our "teammates" smoothly and quickly.

Before technology, share values.

The term originates from the English word "on-board," meaning "on a ship or airplane." It refers to educational initiatives aimed at helping new employees (crew members) who have joined the company quickly become familiar with the organization's values, culture, rules, and workflows, thereby maximizing their performance. Simply put, it's an organizational support activity to ensure a smooth transition from acceptance to retention and integration into the workforce. In Japan, terms like "new employee training" and "OJT" are common, and onboarding is often mistakenly thought to be similar. However, true onboarding involves understanding the company's core values, such as its philosophy and vision, as well as the company's work style and team relationships that are linked to these values.Information provision"or"Sharing of valuesThe emphasis is placed on "[...]."

Steps to quickly get them to become your "teammates"

Even for new graduates, and even for those hired with the expectation of being immediately productive, it's not easy for them to perform smoothly from the start and thrive within the organization. From the company's perspective, it's a waste of time and money if new members, whom they've invested in hiring, stumble for reasons unrelated to their individual abilities, leading to resignation or decreased motivation. Onboarding should be considered a collective effort involving not only the individual but also their superiors and colleagues. While approaches vary from company to company, the goal is not only to quickly integrate new employees into the workforce, but also...An important step in quickly getting them to become your "teammate"Therefore.

Onboarding Cases at Lionheart

The first day is important

"The attitude of being on the welcoming side," a lesson I learned from a former employee.

Whether you're a new graduate or an experienced hire,For new employees, their first day at work is special.It's a day filled with a mix of anxieties and expectations: will I be able to fit in with my new colleagues in this new environment? Will I be able to learn the job properly? Even if you've forgotten the fresh feelings of being a new employee, try to recall how you felt when you transferred schools, joined a new local club, or first joined a business association. Above all, you were probably very concerned about the attitudes and words of the people who welcomed you, weren't you?

For us, new employees join us every year or every few years. They're just another stepping stone, but for them, it's different. The impression they get of the company on their first day is their true first impression of the company. At the very least, it's important that they think, "I think I can manage here," and even better, "I'm so glad I got a job here! It'll be tough, but I'll do my best!" That's what's important for the company. To that end, Lionheart puts all its efforts into creating a welcoming atmosphere throughout the entire company.

This is something I learned from a former employee who joined us through a referral. They were trusted by our employees, highly experienced, and skilled, and we had the highest expectations for them when they joined. We were so confident they would be immediately productive that we wanted them to be involved in a project from day one. We didn't realize how much of a burden this would be on them, being the only newcomer surrounded by long-serving employees. When they left, they told us, "You talk about 'creating smiles,' but your welcoming attitude towards newcomers is so lacking." They added, "No matter how much experience you have, you worry whether it will translate to the company's processes and rules. And to think, I'm taking a leap of faith to start on my first day, and there's no welcoming atmosphere at all."

I certainly thought that was true. At that time, we hadn't been doing any recruitment for a while, and the company was made up of long-serving employees, so we lacked the consideration to even think about what it would mean to have "new people coming in." Lionheart's philosophy isSmile CreationThe code of conduct is "Respect, Honesty, Self-blame"I decided to honestly accept the lesson I learned from that person, whom I had caused to suffer and leave the company, reflect on my actions with self-reproach, and change my behavior."The attitude of the welcoming partyThis is an improvement.

One of these was created to break down the problem of new employees feeling hesitant to ask questions out of consideration for others.Company wikiThere is a tool called "[Name of tool]". It's exactly what its name suggests: a tool where all company information is compiled by all employees working together. ...But that's a story for another time.

basic education

At Lionheart, we provide basic training to all new employees, regardless of whether they are recent graduates, mid-career hires, full-time employees, or part-timers. This basic training covers the company's philosophy and guidelines, which are the most important values for a company managed by its values, as well as our approach to work, our workflow, and the nature of our work itself.

Philosophy/Guidelines

On the first day, the founder and chairman himself will spend about two hours explaining the company's origins and history, the story behind the creation of its philosophy, and its guiding principles and their meaning.Welcome interview by the presidentThe executive officers also communicate the details in their own words during the contract signing.

LH method

The LH method isQuestion the purpose of everything you do, and choose the best course of action to achieve that purpose.This methodology is what we use at Lionheart, and we utilize it in our actual work as the key to effective interviewing. It's an important way of thinking for all job roles, so we share it with every new colleague without exception.

The origin of the business

What does a customer mean to a company? We will explain the fundamental function of a company—that is, what do customers gain by purchasing services and products? As the essence of business,What is our company's purpose for our customers?By considering this, we can find meaning in the existence of all our customers. This perspective is important not only for branding but also for content creation for tools such as websites.

Workflow

Even among production companies, different companies have different clients, different attitudes and approaches to work, and completely different methods and workflows. Here, we'll explain the general workflow at Lionheart.

Job Descriptions

Our work encompasses a wide range of roles, including designers, coders, directors, planners, and sales representatives. The specific responsibilities for each role vary from company to company, so we'd like to explain the different positions available at Lionheart and what each role entails. We believe that understanding and respecting the roles of others is crucial, as all our work relies on teamwork.

Efforts to get people to join us

We are undertaking various initiatives to foster a flat, open environment where employees can freely exchange opinions, transcending barriers such as length of service, age, gender, career, and position. These initiatives are updated as both employees and the company grow, but here are a few examples.

Everyone must attend at least one lecture.

At Lionheart, when a new employee joins, every employee is assigned to give a "lecture" to each new employee. The content varies, including basic training such as the workflow and the essence of the business mentioned earlier, as well as customer service, telephone etiquette, information about each job role, information about our group company LH&c, and how to use the various tools used at Lionheart. Once the number of employees has grown, there will be colleagues with whom you don't interact much at work and rarely talk, soBy having everyone communicate with each other one-on-one or in a near-one setting from the beginning, we can help them quickly become teammates.This is a clever way to achieve that.

Furthermore, it's a learning experience for those doing the teaching, as they have to consider, "How can I explain this in a way that's easy for the new employee to understand?" We believe that the significance of onboarding lies in all employees thinking about and acting in the best interests of new employees. It also helps to prevent specific tasks within the company from becoming dependent on individual employees.

There are many other things as well

nickname

We generally address each other by our first names or nicknames. This applies even to the president, chairman, and other executives. This is a result of readily accepting a suggestion from a former employee, who explained that in their previous workplace, calling each other by nicknames regardless of position or age fostered a more level playing field and created a culture where people could freely express their opinions. Some members were initially embarrassed, but now they're even thinking about what to call new members.

One of the very first tasks for new employees is to call their colleagues by nicknames. And in turn, they will be called by nicknames themselves, becoming part of the team.

Morning meetings and daily reports

Lionheart has many morning meetings. There's a company-wide morning meeting every Monday, a "Morning Meeting Lite" every morning at 9am, and morning meetings for each team, such as engineers and designers.

Every Monday morning, everyone takes turns being the speaker. The meeting involves sharing a topic from the company's internal wiki, which compiles all kinds of company information, and also a time to hear from randomly selected members on the topic of "We want to hear from you."Morning Meeting LiteWe have an initiative where everyone freely shares memorable episodes from the daily reports they wrote the previous day. Since Lionheart has remote staff, these small daily interactions help prevent feelings of isolation. Also, because we generally focus on talking about "what's great about this person," it's an opportunity for everyone to start the day on a positive note.

In the morning (and evening) meetings for each job function, members review their tasks, resolve any issues, and the style is flexible. Also, anyone can participate in these morning meetings, so directors often join to discuss things like, "I want to talk to the designer about this design," or "I want to ask the engineer how to do this."

If you are interested in morning and evening meetings,This articlePlease also see the following.

Free address

We don't have assigned seats. You can choose where to work each day depending on your mood. You can intentionally sit near someone you'll likely need to talk to or consult with that day, choose a seat on the side when you want to concentrate, or have your team sit near a new employee you'll be mentoring a lot—there are many ways to use the space. No matter where you sit, you're always close enough to join in on a conversation. We've created a system where no one feels isolated.