Building a Better New-Hire Experience

Congratulations to our first graduates of BDN Bootcamp 3.0!

At Black Diamond Networks, we believe our biggest asset is our team. As such, we think that our investment in our employees should begin the moment they start their career with us. Part of our commitment to providing our new hires with a cutting-edge onboarding program means continuously investing in the training and technology that creates successful employees. We’re proud to announce our first two graduates of our new and improved employee onboarding program, Bootcamp 3.0.

What is BDN Bootcamp 3.0?

Bootcamp 3.0 represents the continued evolution of our technology-driven training strategy that combines e-learning, self-paced learning, classroom instruction, and video conferencing to create a dynamic program that sets our new hires up for success.

Our new program changes the onboarding process from a 5-week training class to a 3-level program. In each level, every new hire has a set of targets to achieve that, when completed, allow them to advance to the next level or graduate from the program. Each level runs a full calendar month, except for level one, which depends on the new hires’ start date and can run up to six weeks.

In each stage, new employees are co-managed by both their manager and Black Diamond Networks’ Director of Learning and Development. One of the main benefits of this co-management structure is that it allows our sales and recruiting managers to focus on best practices, their market segment, and their teams, while our Director of Learning and Development teaches new employees our business and manages their initial performance. This way, by the time a new hire completes Bootcamp they’ll have internalized the skills and behaviors they’ll need to be successful at Black Diamond Networks.

Bootcamp 3.0 also uses daily 15-minute check-ins with new hires to review results from the previous day, analyze the health of their pipelines, and go over their call activity. Meeting with our new employees daily allows our Learning and Development team to give feedback on a near real-time basis. These daily check-ins are conducted virtually and bring together new employees from all offices to promote knowledge sharing, transparency, and to break down the geographical silos that separate our corporate offices. Tom Stammberger, Black Diamond Networks’ Director of Learning and Development, says, “One of the benefits of the daily virtual check-in meetings is that they give our newest employees the sense that they’re part of a much bigger team than just the groups in their local offices.”

Stammberger likens Bootcamp 3.0 to flying an airplane, “in Bootcamp 3.0, you come in on the ground. We’ll give you a plane, engines, the instrument panel, gas, and we’ll teach you how to fly. You are the pilot, and you’re in control. Whatever work you put in, that is what you will get out of the program.”

From all of us at Black Diamond Networks, we’d like to congratulate our first graduates of Bootcamp 3.0! We’re excited to see what your career at Black Diamond Networks holds.

Interested in working at Black Diamond networks? We’re hiring both Account Executives and Technical Recruiters for our offices in Andover, MA, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and Phoenix, AZ. Check out our open positions and apply today.