The first day at a new job is full of new experiences, new names and new routines. You’d rather not have to spend time trying to log in to your computer, get your mobile to work or find your email. When the basic tools play up, the new employee is left standing around waiting for help, whilst IT support has to answer the same questions over and over again. In a large organisation where new staff join on an ongoing basis, this affects both the employee’s start and the time available for support.
At the City of Helsingborg, the IT Support Centre within the Digitalisation Department has found a way to make the initial period easier. Using an onboarding portal in InfoCaption, they have brought together everything new staff need to know to get started with their computers and mobiles, all in one place and in the order in which the tasks need to be completed.
The portal guides staff through the first steps in the digital workplace. First, they need to set up their mobile and log in to their computer. This is followed by setting up multi-factor authentication and other everyday tasks, such as adding printers, connecting via VPN when working remotely, getting started with Outlook, and installing programs and apps.
Each step has its own button, and a short welcome message explains how the portal works. This makes it easy to find your way around and proceed step by step.
This means that new staff do not need to know the name of a particular function or where to find the information. The portal guides them and helps them get the basics sorted without having to ask a colleague about every single step.
The City of Helsingborg’s onboarding portal brings together the initial IT steps for new staff, with guides covering, among other things, computers, mobiles, MFA, VPN, and Outlook.
One of the portal’s strengths is its design with the actual user in mind. The design is calm and minimalist, with clear illustrations and large buttons, each leading to a specific task. Rather than being overwhelmed by a lot of information all at once, new staff can focus on one step at a time.
The portal also serves as a gateway to the city’s other IT guides. Once the basics are in place, help is still available for any questions that may arise later on. At the bottom of the page, there is also a clear path to support, both for those who need further assistance and for those who notice that something in a guide needs updating.
Many of the questions that arise during the first few days are recurring and can be answered in a guide. When information is well-organised and easy to find, new employees can get started at their own pace without waiting for a colleague to become available. At the same time, IT support has more time for issues that require personal assistance.
The fact that security measures, such as multi-factor authentication, are in place from the start is an added advantage. It helps new staff get into the right routines from day one.
The project has also sparked interest in other departments within the City of Helsingborg, which wish to continue developing guides, training courses and videos.
“Last spring, we launched an initiative focusing on short, simple and educational video and text guides. One of the first guides was on two-factor authentication, as it was among the most common queries received by support.
With the onboarding portal, we’re building on the same idea. There, we bring together everything a new employee needs to get started with their IT environment, so they can sort things out for themselves, at their own pace and when it suits them. We’re constantly adding new guides based on the queries we receive. The feedback has been positive, and we see the portal as an important tool for giving new colleagues a good start at the City of Helsingborg.”
– Oscar Rehn, Head of IT Support, City of Helsingborg
The City of Helsingborg is receiving this award for an educational and well-designed onboarding portal that helps new staff get started independently and frees up IT support’s time for other tasks. Congratulations to Niclas and everyone at the IT Support Centre!
Every month, we at InfoCaption select the ‘Guide of the Month’ – a guide we particularly want to highlight because of the value it brings to the organisation. As a thank you to the person or people behind the ‘Guide of the Month’, we donate SEK 1,000 to the organisation Hand in Hand Sweden, which fights poverty by creating more jobs in vulnerable countries. Hand in Hand operates on the ‘help to self-help’ model, which aligns with InfoCaption’s mission to make it easier for colleagues to help one another.