Welcome to Team CSIRO

Hello, and welcome to CSIRO. It’s great to have you join us. You are now part of an important community tasked with solving the nation's greatest challenges through innovative science and technology.

As Australia’s national science agency, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of research and innovation.

Our collective strength lies in our shared purpose. From addressing climate change to enhancing food security, the work we do here is collaborative and grounded in a deep sense of responsibility for Australia’s future. Your role is vital, no matter where you contribute.

As you start your journey with us, I’d like to offer two insights that I have found useful over my first year here.

First, BE CURIOUS – whether it’s about the research we do or our ways of doing business – get to know your colleagues and the organisation. That can happen by diffusion, but that’s slow – speed the process up by asking questions, reflecting on the answers and engaging in ongoing conversations where it makes sense.

Second, CSIRO IS A DIVERSE ORGANISATION – we have people working on 48 sites in many hundreds of buildings, across a spectrum of functions in Enterprise Services and on an incredible array of research projects that bring incredible benefit to the community in almost every area of life.  While there are wonderful qualities that connect us – like the desire to collaborate, a respect for each other, a pride in what can be achieved together – there are things that make every corner of CSIRO different and distinctive. So, whether you have been at the organization for 5 days or 50 years – don’t assume you know how EVERYTHING works. Stay curious.

I’m grateful and excited that you have joined CSIRO. I am eager to meet you and to hear about the contributions you are making – so please introduce yourself if you see me around your site.

If there is one thing I am certain about, it is that TOGETHER we can make a difference in the world – which is after all, why we joined CSIRO. 

0:01
Hi there, I'm Sarah Eqbal, Onboarding Experience Manager at CSIRO or Siro as we like to call it.

0:07
Many new starters who join CSIRO often ask what happens in my first six months?

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Knowing the key milestones and important conversations ahead can greatly enhance your onboarding experience and set you up for success.

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So let's have a look at a snapshot.

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Onboarding experiences, as you can imagine, can vary greatly at CSIRO because each new starter's role is different and what they need to learn depends on the team, the unit, and types of work they're responsible for.

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There are, however, some important onboarding activities to be aware of that apply to most, if not all, new starters at CSIRO.

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So let's have a look at some of these things.

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Here's a snapshot showing a timeline from day one to the first six months.

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You can see at day one, the first thing that you'll have is a welcome from your team or your buddy or someone else who will support your onboarding.

1:02
Now, running across the first six months are a series of mandatory induction modules that you will complete through People Hub, which is our platform which looks after our mandatory induction modules and other things.

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So in green, you can see a list of those items to complete and approximately when you need to complete them by across the six months.

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In pink, you can also see some CSIRO events we run throughout the year.

1:30
Then across this timeline, there are different activities and conversations that will happen throughout your onboarding.

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So at week one, you're going to be getting your identification pass, you'll be meeting your leader and your buddy if that's been organised.

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You'll be setting up your laptop and logins, and you also can set up your CIRO profile so others at CIRO know who you are.

1:53
At month one, you can join orientation sessions and at any time these are promoted on our intranet called MyCSIRO.

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You can go there to register for any or all of the sessions that are relevant to you.

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You can also say hi to the 90 Day Club, which is a community on our platform called Viva Engage, where all new starters are invited to get together, ask questions and connect with one another.

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Also, around month one, you can start to plan your API if the timings are right.

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At month 3, this is where you have a probation check in and your leader will talk to you about this and what it involves.

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It's also a great time to discuss your APA objectives, an APA standing for your annual performance agreement.

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At month 5, you'll have another probation check in to see how you're tracking and then once you've completed that, you've done your first six months and it's time to celebrate your achievements.

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So that's just a little snapshot of some cyber wide activities and conversations that happen in the first six months of your onboarding journey.

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This resource or this snapshot is available in the new Starters Guide and the Leaders Guide.

3:05
And this is all part of our onboarding toolkit.

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You can find the onboarding toolkit by going to MyCSIRO or going to the 90 Day Club Viva Engage page and having a look at the pinned resources there.

3:18
Hope that's been of help.

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If you need any other support as a new starter at CSIRO, make sure you reach out to us through People Connect and log a ticket or at any time you can call the number 1300 4 CSIRO and click the People Connect option there to talk to someone and get live help.

3:39
See you soon.