How we do employee onboarding

featured-image

Don’t miss an article.

Every Pleo hire – full-time, part-time, student worker or full-time remote worker – starts as a “Brick”. That’s what we call our newbies; we’ll explain why shortly. Simply put, we want to set every new Pleo employee off to the best start possible when they join us. So we’ve designed a programme to take everyone from day one Brick to fully-fledged Pleo’er in three months.

“Bricks week confirmed all of my suspicions about Pleo! The people are welcoming and kind, the environment super inclusive, the tech stack amazing, and the organisers always make sure we enjoy being there. I wouldn’t change a thing about my experience at Bricks!”

Evie Prasser, Senior Product Analyst (Brick, June 2022)

Two Pleo employees on a sofa working on laptops

It’s all in the name.


We’ll cut to the chase: Why is our employee onboarding programme called Bricks? Actually, there are two good reasons why.

To start with, we really believe that everyone at Pleo is building something together. Each day, we add a little extra on top of the foundations put in place by our co-founders.

Our other inspiration for Bricks? Well, our first investment came from the LEGO family’s office, and they’ve been behind us ever since.

What do you get when you match the world’s favourite kid’s toy with truly inspiring colleagues? Pleo Bricks, of course!

“What I love about our Bricks programme is that we truly live up to our company vision: to make everyone feel valued at work. Whether you’re a new executive or intern, you sit through the same onboarding programme, getting to know all corners of the business, the contribution every team makes, the collaboration we foster and, ultimately, how the Pleo sausage gets made.”

Luke Richardson, Senior Director - Brand & Communication (Hiring Manager)

What actually happens?

We aim to make sure every Pleo employee has what they need to build both Pleo as a company and to build themselves up too.

an illustration of a timetable

Imagine it’s day one, you’ve headed into your local office (if you’re near one), or you’ve received your laptop and some goodies to your home if you’re logging on remotely (office folk, pick yours up there).

Here’s an example of what your first day could look like during Bricks Week (disclaimer: sometimes sessions move around days).

9.30am - Welcome to Bricks. This is your introduction to the programme, where we walk you through what will happen over the next few days.

10am - IT Checklist. Time to create your logins and get acquainted with the platforms we use here at Pleo. Notion, Slack and Zoom are about to become commonplace in your work vocabulary.

10.30am - Icebreaker. With the logistics and tech sorted, time to meet your fellow Bricks properly.

11am - Pleo Vision. Find out why we exist, what we’re currently doing and where we’re going next in one fell swoop.

12pm - Lunchtime. If you’re at home - Pleo it! If you’re in an office, lunch differs from location to location but rest assured, it’s on us!

1pm - Ways of Working. (or “how we get stuff done”.) During your interview process, you may have heard words like “domain”, “competence” and “Lighthouse” ; they all make up parts of our Operating System, which gets explained in detail here.

1.45pm - Break. Whew! A pretty packed day so far. Stretch those legs and have a bit of a refresh

2pm - Team Podcasts. You’ll meet in a virtual world where you can wander around, interact with your fellow bricks and find short podcast-style snippets on our different teams. Go for the information; stay for the theme tunes!

3pm - Remote culture. With team members from over 44 countries, we must set everyone up for success. Here, we share our approach to asynchronous communication, documentation, meetings and planning your day.

4pm - that’s quite enough for one day! Rest up and get ready; tomorrow we go again.

The bricks programme is made up of a mixture of live sessions, podcasts, recordings and meets and greets. Over four days, we get new Bricks up to speed with all the essentials: our company values, business mission, how the team is structured, how Pleo works, the software we use, flexible benefits, and sure, how to book your holidays.

“It is a very comprehensive onboarding experience, an amazing week! Bricks is so carefully thought-out. It makes everybody go from 0 to Pleo’er while getting us in touch with passionate people, inspiring values and projects in a family environment. I was amazed by how everyone instantly feels part of the drive towards being remarkable that is so present in the company culture.”

Vinicius Soares, Senior Product Manager (Brick, May 2022)

The “Aha” Moment

We love a lot about the bricks onboarding programme, but there’s one thing in particular we think is extraordinary. And unique to us.

Making your first purchase using your very own Pleo card.

Each Brick is issued their own Pleo card so they can get firsthand experience of the product that’s at the heart of everything we do.

Whether it’s a drink with a new colleague or a remote office setup paying for something with your own Pleo card feels pretty cool. So cool that we call it an “aha moment” – and when you experience your first one, you’ll know why.

We make sure everyone gets their “Aha moment” during bricks. Trust is at the core of our values, so if you’re remote, we'll get a Pleo card sent to you so you can experience it too – wherever you are.

“When we’re growing fast, inducting new joiners to the company culture and values can be challenging, especially with remote workers too. Attending Bricks makes it easier for new joiners to quickly absorb the company culture and easier for managers to convey the basics of what it looks like to work for Pleo.”

Maite Espinosa, Senior Manager - Business Development Associates (Hiring Manager)

Whether you’re currently looking for a new role ( we’re hiring! ), or you’ve already signed on the dotted line to join Pleo. We hope this has given you a taste of life at Pleo right from the very beginning.

Want to know more about working at Pleo?

Learn more about how we hire, and the magical teams that make Pleo what it is today.

Get the Pleo Digest

Monthly insights, inspiration and best practices for forward-thinking teams who want to make smarter spending decisions

Powered in the UK by B4B partnership