Demystifying New Hire Onboarding at Salesforce

Welcome to the world of Salesforce! Whether you've just accepted your offer (congrats!) or are simply curious about how Salesforce sets new hires up for success, this guide is for you.

We know that joining a company of 72,000+ may, at first, seem intimidating — but, at Salesforce, we've got the tools, teams, and processes in place to ensure you have a smooth and enriching onboarding experience.

“Your first day of onboarding is the first impression of the rest of your Salesforce career,” shares Jenny Simmons, Salesforce's VP of Onboarding and Employee Learning. “It's critical that we create an experience that makes everyone feel welcomed, engaged, and prepared.”

Feedback shows that the work Jenny's team is doing is working: nearly 90% of new hires agree that, after their first week at Salesforce, they have the information and resources they need to ramp up successfully.

”It's so fulfilling to help new hires find that sense of belonging and purpose, and to help them see how they can directly impact our company and our customers,” says Jenny. ”You'll leave with the knowledge and resources you need to excel in your role and contribute to our shared success.”

Salesforce Orientation: The First Week

Salesforce offers different onboarding experiences based on two factors: 1) your location; and 2) your role.

All employees start by participating in a first week of general programming, called Discovering Salesforce. Employees close to a Salesforce Tower experience these five days in-person, while others join in virtually. Connecting with fellow new hires and local employees is a major part of Discovering Salesforce, and even those onboarding from home are invited to their closest office for a celebratory networking event.

During this general orientation, new hires will delve into the very essence of Salesforce, including:

• Our Core Values: These foundational elements define who we are and guide our every action.
• Salesforce Culture: Not just words on a page, but how we come together through Equality Groups, events, and volunteerism.
• Giving Back: Salesforce's mission to make the world a better place for the communities in which we work and live through volunteering and giving.
• Technology: How the #1 AI CRM gets work done. Hint: Less email, more Slack.

Get a head start and learn about our core values now.

Once you’re introduced to how we work together and how your work makes an impact, you're added into local Slack social channels to see what your colleagues are sharing (anyone looking for a Tuesday night pickleball partner?).

At the end of the week, every new hire logs their first hour of Volunteer Time Off (VTO), whether in person or virtual, through a group activity. Plus, no need to wait to use the rest of your VTO hours — you'll get all 56 hours on Day One.

When formal training has concluded, you’ll then gain an in-depth understanding of our cutting-edge tools, products, and services through Trailhead, our gamified learning platform. Salesforce is renowned for its game-changing AI solutions, and you'll get full access to explore how our offerings revolutionize customer experiences on your own time.

Once you complete general Salesforce onboarding, you’ll transition into role-specific onboarding. Let's take a closer look at our three largest onboarding programs— Sales, Customer Success, and Tech and Product:

Sales Onboarding at Salesforce

Our Sales onboarding programs are role- and experience-specific — for anyone from a new grad to a senior leader — and are thoughtfully designed to build connection, collaboration, and an understanding of our products and processes.

For instance, we offer onboarding specifically for our Business Development Representations to learn how to pitch our products, and for senior Sales leaders to discover Salesforce's approach to people leadership. The programming includes simulating customer scenarios as a team, pitch presentations, product learning sessions led by subject matter experts, fireside chats with leaders, and shadowing a more tenured salesperson.

The Sales program closes out with each individual earning their onboarding Sales certification — a benchmark that they are ready to start building their own relationships with prospects or customers as a trusted advisor.

Take a closer look at the Sales Onboarding experience.

Customer Success Onboarding

After completing Discovering Salesforce, every new hire aligned to the Customer Success Group (CSG) is automatically enrolled in an organization-specific Bootcamp. This is a 3-day experience allows all Customer Success new hires to build key working relationships and become familiar with the CSG operating model, roles and functions, and enablement tools through instructor-led sessions, panels, and executive fireside chats.

The bootcamp offers product certifications, training, and development opportunities to empower new hires with the knowledge and skills required for success. These include on-demand learning modules, hands-on workshops, and resource libraries covering topics from product functionality to Salesforce acronyms.

CSG new hires can also participate in self-paced asynchronous role-based or skill-based curriculum that deeply prepares individuals to become customer ready.

During Customer Success onboarding, new CSG team members will gain an in-depth understanding of their roles, the value that CSG provides, and the essential tools available to them. They’ll start their customer success journeys ready to connect with our customers and build successful careers at Salesforce.

Tech and Product Onboarding

Salesforce enables our Tech and Product (T&P) new hires to develop a deep understanding of Salesforce technologies, their roles, and our culture of innovation — no matter what their learning style — through several unique programs.

Similar to CSG, T&P new hires first participate in a general “get to know T&P” program, a four-day learning experience that includes both interactive elements and asynchronous, self-paced modules that engage new hires with each other, our subject matter experts, and the content they need to support the start of their careers.

Afterward, T&P new hires will participate in a role-specific program focusing on their team’s specific processes and tools. This could include taking workshops on building workflows and bots in Slack, to overviews on Agile methodology, to building and testing your own service.

By the end of the T&P onboarding process, new hires will have a baseline of best practices, know where to find information when they need it, understand the support they have from their larger team, and feel ready to make significant contributions to their team.

Five ways to set yourself up for success as a new hire

Now that you’ve taken a look at role-specific onboarding, we hope you’re feeling energized and ready to start! Here are some tips to help you make the most of your first few weeks in your role:

1. Build relationships with your team members. Get to know your colleagues and learn about their roles and responsibilities. This will help you build a strong support network and make it easier to collaborate on projects. Bonus: Every new hire is assigned a Trail Guide, an informal mentor who will help guide you through your first few months!
   
   
2. Set goals and objectives. Work with your manager to set clear goals and objectives for your role. This will help you stay focused and motivated, and ensure that you are making progress in your career.
   
   
3. Take advantage of Salesforce's learning and development resources. Salesforce offers a variety of learning and development resources to help you grow your skills and knowledge. Use these resources to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies, and to develop the skills you need to be successful in your role.
   
   
4. Seek out feedback and be open to coaching. Ask for feedback from your manager and colleagues, and be open to coaching and development. This will help you identify areas where you can improve and make progress in your career.
   
   
5. Celebrate your successes. Take time to celebrate your wins to help you stay motivated and focused on your goals. Don’t forget to document them in a “wins” folder! At the end of the year, you’ll be able to look back and see how much progress you’ve made since day one.

At Salesforce, we know that the first few weeks of a new job can set the tone for the next chapter of your career. We're dedicated to making that process fun, organized, and accessible.

So, will we be seeing you at our next onboarding session? Check out our open roles and apply now!