#  Hiring

#  Advertising a Role

When advertising for a role on Social Media, engagement is improved (and therefore, we reach a higher audience) with custom social tiles.

We can add URLs to our site that provide a nice tile, whilst then redirecting to the job advert on Greenhouse. This was introduced here.

#  Adding a new role to the website

  1. Add the job as a redirect in src/_data/site.json under "openings"
  2. Add a new <job-short-title>.njk file to the /src/jobs directory (use an existing job as a template)
  3. Update the redirect URL in the njk file to match that added in Step 1.
  4. Open an Art Request to have a new Social Tile designed & attach it to the relevant page

#  Otta Integration

We have an automated integration setup with Otta. When a job is posted to our Greenhouse account, it should appear on Otta within 24 hours. If it does not, raise a support ticket with them, and it should be addressed an made public very soon after.

#  Referrals

To participate in FlowFuse's employee referral program, kindly send all referral resumes to the People Ops Manager. If your recommended candidate gets hired and successfully completes 3 months, you will receive a $100 reward. Alternatively, you can choose a charitable foundation of your liking, and we will double the referral amount donated to that organization.

#  Sharing an Existing Role

The URLs for the existing roles we have on the website are any files found in here. The URL will be structured accordingly: /jobs/<job-short-title>

#  Interviews

When a candidate applies, they will undergo three interviews with three different interviewers before receiving a job offer. The initial stage will involve an interview with the PeopleOps Manager, who will assess the candidate's alignment with our company values. The second interview will focus on competency and technical skills. Lastly, the candidate will participate in a STAR interview for the final round.

When conducting interviews to hire new team members, prioritize value-fit over culture-fit. Prioritizing value-fit enables individuals to contribute to the company culture, promoting diversity and inclusivity.

#  STAR interviews

By utilizing the STAR framework andidates will be interviewed to share their past experiences. This approach enables us to assess their actions and achievements, aiming to predict their future performance.

For the interviewer a template is available with the STAR questions to make a copy of.

#  Extending an offer

When a candidate goes through the full hiring process an offer might be extended to them. At such a time it's good to understand that the offer at that time is conditional on background checks. If the offer includes an equity component, this part is conditional on board approval of such a grant. Be sure to be explicit about these conditions.

Please use this template to stage an email.

#  After an offer is accepted

Onboarding on our EOR provider, Deel, takes at least 2 to 3 weeks. The start date for a new employee should be at least 2 to 3 weeks out. When a conditional offer has been accepted you should immediately:

  1. Create an onboarding issue on the admin GitHub project
  2. Invite the prospective employee to join Deel, assign them to their designated department, and deliver their offer letters through the Deel platform.
  3. Add their stock options to the stock option request spreadsheets

#  Background Screening

FlowFuse will utilize Deel to conduct background checks on individuals in the United States. These checks are essential for compliance purposes, particularly for employees located in the US.

#  Tax Residency

During the onboarding process on our EOR provider platform, candidates must either be citizens of the country where they will be working or possess a valid visa. Any requests for changes in tax residency should be communicated to the HR department and CEO at least 2 months in advance. This includes changing States within the US.

#  Onboarding

Just before your first day of work at FlowFuse, you will receive an email requesting your GitHub username and preferred company email address. An issuewill be created on our [internal issue tracker][issue-tracker] with steps for you and the team to complete once you start.

On the day you start, a message will be sent to your personal email address to grant you access to your FlowFuse email address. This process ensures that all new joiners receive access either on their first day or up to 24 hours before their official start date.

Upon setting up your password, it is essential to turn on the 2-Step Verification. Failure to do so may result in being locked out of your account after a few days, requiring assistance from an admin to regain access.

Once your FlowFuse email is set up, you will have access to invitations to other services and platforms, including 1Password. Set this up as soon as possible to add a security layer to all your FlowFuse accounts.

On your first day, once your email and 1Password accounts are set up, it is important to prioritize gaining access to Slack, the FlowFuse GitHub organization, and completing your onboarding issue. Additionally, your manager will assign tasks for you to begin working on during your first week.

#  Greenhouse

#  Opening a Job

When opening a job post, you'll need a couple of things:

  1. A draft Job Description
  2. Verifying the availability of the approved role.
  3. Set up the role within Greenhouse. The CEO will provide support in case any custom alterations to the job post are required.

Once these elements are in place, the CEO will proceed to design a pipeline for the hiring process.

#  Pipeline design

A pipeline needs to be designed, meaning; you'll need to define all stages of the hiring process. For each stage of the hiring pipeline scoresheets must be filled out. Each scorecard must include all values, and job requirements.

#  Accepting applications

Applicants for a job are required to submit their resume, and it is optional for them to include a cover letter. Additionally, it is recommended to include one or two acceptance questions that are relevant to the specific position. These questions should be thought-provoking, yet not overly time-consuming, and they should allow skilled candidates to provide a response within a minute or two. For example, for a developer position, a question could be: "What happens if someone types 'https://flowforge.com' in their browser and presses enter?" The intention is to engage candidates and assess their problem-solving skills.

#  Initial Review

The initial review will check the aforementioned question for validity, the resume, and the cover letter. Check for:

  1. Alignment to Values
  2. Capabilities align with the requirements for the role
  3. Previous retention at companies
    • We'd like people to join the company for the long term, if their previous roles suggest the candidate will not join for the long term please reject them

For each candidate we'd like to move forward with, a scorecard needs to be filled out based on the available information so the interviewer for the next stage can prepare and focus if the strengths are indeed strong, and the same for weaknesses or uncertainties.

The resume review should reject over 50% of all candidates.

#  Screening Call

The initial screening call is intended as an additional filter for FlowFuse, but also for the candidate. Screening calls are held on a video call, and the candidate should have plenty of time to ask question and understand if this role is right for them. During this call FlowFuse should understand:

  1. Alignment to Values
  2. The candidate is enthusiastic about the company and the open role
  3. Compensation range for the candidate
  4. Notice period, or time from offer to start

For all candidates that are moved on the next stage a scorecard needs to be filled out.

After this stage no more than 25% of the total number of candidates should remain.

#  Skills assessment

For each role a skills assessment will be performed. This stage will be different for most roles. This is the main stage to asses the capabilities.

This round will again result in a scorecard, but also an indication what level this candidate would suit in. For example intermediate vs senior for developers.

When in doubt, reject the candidate.

#  STAR interview

After the skills assessment, the last round includes a behaviour interview. STAR interviews are aimed at discussing the candidates past performance in certain situations, and hopefully predict the way they acted is in line with FlowFuse expectations.

Again, a scoresheet will be filled out.

#  Offer stage

First, read about extending offers.

At the offer stage all scorecards will be re-evaluated to understand what the candidate strengths and challenges are. Before the peopleops team extends an offer, explicit approval is required from:

  1. A peopleops manager
    • Check we hire in their location
    • Notice period aligns with internal processes
    • Total compensation is in FlowFuse's range
  2. The new manager of the candidate
  3. CEO

When a candidate accepted an offer, proceed to onboard them.

#  Closing a job

As soon as there's a pipeline that would support at least three strong candidates for the open position, take the job posting offline. Candidates applying for a job that's no longer available is a waste of their time and a bad experience with FlowFuse and hurts our reputation.

#  Offboarding

The purpose of the offboarding section in the handbook is to provide a clear and structured framework for employees at FlowFuse to follow during the offboarding process. The offboarding process is managed by the People Ops Manager in close collaboration with the CEO, Reporting Managers, and Deel for Payroll at FlowFuse.

When a team member or contractor decides to leave FlowFuse, they will receive a detailed email before their final date of employment. The email will include information regarding the impact on benefits coverage, stocks, final pay, and the process for returning any company assets.

#  Voluntary Resignation

If a team member decides to leave FlowFuse they're expected to continue working to facilitate a smooth handover and enable us to find a suitable replacement. Please note that we generally expect the team member to work for the entire notice period.

If you are considering resigning from your position at FlowFuse, we highly recommend discussing your reasons with your manager or the People Ops manager. We are always open to improving and making changes that benefit our team members. While we understand that sometimes leaving is the best option, we encourage you to explore all possible solutions before making a final decision.

Once you have discussed your concerns with your manager and the People Ops team and determined that resigning from FlowFuse is the only option, please notify both your manager and the People Ops team of your intention to resign via email. Afterward, we will commence a discussion to establish the steps required to ensure a seamless handover.

#  Involuntary Resignation

When a team member is being let go, it is usually due to either performance issues or a change in the company's needs that no longer justifies their role. If the decision is due to performance issues, we will have already provided feedback and given the team member an opportunity to improve. Unfortunately, if the issues cannot be resolved, termination of employment may be necessary. In most cases, we will ask the team member to stop working immediately. The final payment will be made according to the terms of their employment contract.

#  Communicating Departures

When a team member voluntarily departs, we may ask if they would like to share their plans with the team. If the departure is involuntary, reasons of the departure will be at the sole discretion of the FlowFuse management.

#  Offboarding process

We will send an email to the departing employee covering the following points:

  1. Final payment
  2. Return of company property
  3. Reimbursement of business expenses

At FlowFuse, we conduct Exit Interviews for employees who choose to leave the company voluntarily. This provides us with valuable feedback on their experience, reasons for leaving, and areas for improvement. Their manager schedules these interviews during the employee's last week to ensure they have an opportunity to share their insights. Our aim is to use this feedback to enhance our workplace culture and practices. Please follow the predefined questions to guide the conversation.

#  Offboarding Issue

The People Ops manager will create a new off boarding issue for each instance of a team member leaving. The template maintained on GitHub, create a new issue though this link.

#  Final Pay

Final pay consists of the statutory minimal payment dictated by our payroll provider Deel, and an optional extra severance package. Such a package might be dependent on on business requirements, standing of the employee, among other factors.

#  Business expense

We will reimburse any outstanding expenses that comply with our handbook's reimbursement section.

#  Contractors

All new contractors are to be employed through Deel to standardize contracts and aid with providing a consistent experience for all contractors. Either milestone based payments or being paid for month is supported.