My First Week at Click & Mortar
Here we are: Friday afternoon, the first week at my new job in the bag. In hindsight, the stress, insecurities and anxieties I had before my first day at Click & Mortar now seem entirely unwarranted.
Sure, on Sunday night my imposter syndrome was at an all-time high, I didn’t know how I would fit in with my new teammates, or whether my new work environment would live up to the first impression and expectations I had built up in my head since being hired.
Spoiler alert: barely was I halfway through my first day that I knew I’d made the right decision in joining Click.
Thanks to their detailed onboarding and training schedule; both one-on-one and team-setting introductions; and how Click & Mortar lives and breathes its core values, I was made to feel right at home.
Onboarding
As a company that still works almost completely remotely, Click has clearly learned how to onboard new teammates over the past 18 months.
In all fairness, my nerves weren’t as bad as they might have been. For new employees coming in, we are contacted two weeks before our start date to get a pulse on what material we may need in order to work effectively and comfortably from home. Available items include a computer, double-monitor screens, office chairs, computer mice, keyboards, you-name-it!
Fast forward a week, we are provided with our various online accesses. This includes email, Google Drives and Asana (our project management tool) amongst a slew of others. The purpose, of course, is to be able to hit the ground running on Day 1. For me, going into my first day knowing that I had all the equipment and accesses needed to do my job right from the start was super relieving.
Now, to be clear: when I say “Hit the ground running on Day 1”, I don’t mean undertaking client meetings and getting your hands dirty right off the bat! Instead, Click & Mortar have implemented a 3-month long program whereby new employees can “take the time to take their time, to avoid losing time”. What is meant by that is, to take the time to learn and integrate within the business’ culture, understand the methods and processes, and, in turn, manifest those core business values during client interactions.
As such, my first week was filled with scheduled training sessions. There’s been a pleasant balance between sessions given by teammates who have the opportunity to share from their specific areas of expertise (such as Copywriting; SEA; Social Media Marketing, etc.), and other individual readings. Coming from someone who, admittedly, has a lot to learn, it’s been absolutely amazing!
Meeting your team
Meeting new teammates can be a daunting affair for many. It’s not only the prospect of meeting new people individually, but the thought of joining an already formed collective of different personalities can also be scary! The question always beckons: where will I fit in amongst everyone? Thankfully, the management and leadership teams at Click have also thought long and hard about how to integrate new teammates within their new teams.
As your first day begins, you are immediately introduced to your Team Lead who makes sure that your accesses are in check and that you’re truly set up for your first day and first week. Your Team Lead then segues into introducing you to the team. As I joined my first team meeting, my awkward, polite smile only lasted a few seconds. I was quickly welcomed into a team that was just shooting the breeze and laughing (on a Monday morning!?). Before I even knew it, my smile was absolutely genuine and I was laughing alongside my new teammates! I met my fellow copywriters, graphic designers, performance marketing strategists and all-around great people! “This is going to be so much fun!”, I thought to myself.
Something that can oftentimes be problematic in various organizations is the expectation, or perhaps the assumption, that new employees will fall into the rhythm of ongoing tasks and get a hang of their responsibilities on their own. This can leave some people feeling anxious, confused, and even exasperated. Here’s one way to look at it: where some businesses push their employees into the deep-end and expect them to learn how to swim immediately, Click allows us to dip our feet in and play around the shallow end until we’re ready to tread water and swim. Along with a detailed catalog of onboarding and client files to learn from, Team Leads use every opportunity during meetings to include their new employees and provide context wherever possible.
Lastly, something that has completely blown me away has been the 20 minute “Speed Dates” that are already scheduled into your agenda when you start. These speed dates are done in small, intimate groups with every single employee from the company. They are an awesome opportunity to meet your colleagues and get to know one another on a more personal level outside of the context of work. That’s how I learned that we’ve got a bunch of sports fans, Marvel geeks, and book lovers on the team!
Click’s fundamental values
During the interviewing process, it can oftentimes be difficult for the applicant to get a clear and objective impression of the company that they are applying for. While researching, one could navigate through the company’s website and various social media platforms to get a sense of what the culture is like. As we know, there can oftentimes be a disconnect between what is posted online and how things are in reality.
It’s been incredibly refreshing to join the team and immediately recognize a work environment that truly reflects the business’ core values. Indeed, through integrity, pedagogy and goodwill, Click & Mortar truly elevates itself in not only serving its clientele but also in ensuring that every employee can become the best version of themselves.
Click’s work culture was evident from my very first introduction. With serious emphasis put on hiring based on cultural fit and complementarity (rather than perhaps skill and expertise alone), what you’re left with is a close-knit group that genuinely cares about one another. I mean, every week when we meet, we take the time to talk about something we’re grateful for in our lives. If that’s not caring, I don’t know what is…
Furthermore, I was tremendously impressed by how helpful and insightful all my teammates were when I joined. Make no mistake, this is absolutely by design. When considering that Click’s co-founders are now Professors at HEC Montreal, it would be ironic not to place significant emphasis on the value of continuous learning, but as it is, pedagogy has played a huge part in Click’s success so far. Indeed, the notion of educating not only your employees but your clients alike ties in with Click’s last, and perhaps most important value: Goodwill.
The notion of goodwill is quintessentially what makes Click & Mortar what it is. It is what drives us to include new teammates when they join the team and immediately make them feel at home. It’s taking the time to educate our clients about the services we provide. At the end of the day, every interaction – whether it’s a client meeting, Lunch & Learns amongst ourselves, or mentorship opportunity – is based on providing the most value possible.
Although I was excited to start a new chapter in my professional career, I was also very nervous coming in for my first day at Click & Mortar. By lunch, my worries were all but forgotten about as I was warmly introduced to the team and quickly made to feel comfortable and welcomed. As I shut my laptop at the end of the first day I thought: That was awesome! Throughout my first week here, I was encouraged to find out about all of the learning opportunities and processes already in place at Click that would allow me to get up to speed and further develop my skill set. Above all, I can already feel this incredible sense of belonging and empowerment to be the best version of myself and can’t wait to see what next week brings.
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m so excited for Monday!
