Empirical investigation of pain points in the onboarding process at L-Mobile for software developers : causes and solutions

Abstract

Effective onboarding is critical to employee satisfaction, performance, and retention. This empirical research addresses the pain points faced by new employees during the onboarding process at LMobile and aims to identify their causes and propose solutions to minimize the feeling of overwhelm and increase overall satisfaction. Through semi-structured interviews with ten software developers who are currently onboarding or have recently completed the process, qualitative data analysis was conducted to uncover pain points in the onboarding process, focusing on factors that contribute to feelings of overwhelm. The results reveal significant concerns about the lack of satisfactory documentation for the codebase, largely due to the legacy nature of the application. Participants expressed a need for more comprehensive and detailed knowledge resources to support their onboarding, a desire for a shorter, more specific, and targeted onboarding process, and emphasized the importance of training that is aligned with their roles and responsibilities. This study not only presents findings from participant interviews but also integrates suggestions and frameworks from existing research. These findings provide actionable recommendations for L-Mobile to improve the onboarding process by addressing these specific pain points, resulting in increased satisfaction, and reduced feelings of overwhelm.