7 Best Practices for Salesforce Developer Onboarding

Salesforce developer onboarding is the process of hiring developers into your team’s ecosystem and equipping them with the necessary tools, org-specific knowledge, and resources to start contributing effectively. 

Simply put, it is a strategic approach that helps developers to quickly adapt to your organization’s workflows and unique Salesforce CRM setup and provide value from day one. 

Before onboarding, it’s important to make sure you’ve found the right talent, starting with understanding all the key factors in how to hire the right Salesforce developer.

Now this blog outlines the best practices for Salesforce Developer onboarding so you can ensure you get the most results from your investment.

Salesforce Developer Onboarding Best Practices 

1. Access and Tool Setup

Grant the developer access to appropriate Salesforce orgs: 

• Provide access to the right Salesforce org environments, such as production, sandbox, or developer org, based on their role and project requirements. 

For example, if the Salesforce developer works on new functionality, provide them access to a sandbox for testing.

Equip the developer with the essential tools and credentials: 

• Salesforce CLI: A command line interface for automating development tasks like retrieving metadata, deploying code, running code, etc. 
• Visual Studio Code (VS Code):  A code editor with Salesforce extensions for debugging Apex code, creating and managing Lightning Web Components, and visually building & running SOQL queries.
• GitHub/GitLab: Version control systems for managing code repositories, facilitating collaboration, and development. 

2. Introduction to the Salesforce Environment

Provide a walkthrough of your Salesforce org to the developer by:

• Explain the unique configurations or customizations, and data architecture (key objects, relationships, and data flows). 
• For example, give an overview to the developer about how the Account and Opportunity objects are related and how data flows through the sales process. 

Share documentation of the existing codebase:

• Provide documentation on Apex classes, triggers, lightning components, and integrations.   

3. Training and Documentation

Provide training on any custom features, apps, or integrations to developers:

• Train your developer on custom-built features or third-party apps specific to your Salesforce org. 
• Share documentation on coding standards and deployment processes or provide developers with guidelines on how code should be written, formatted, and deployed. 

Encourage developers to pursue relevant certifications:

• Encourage developers to take training from the Salesforce Trailhead module and earn certifications like Platform Developer I or II. 
• For example, you can provide Trailhead access to developers and reimburse their certification exam fees. 

4. Development and Deployment Processes

Explain how your team tools help developers understand the deployment process:

• Show the developer how existing teams use version control systems like GitHub or GitLab for managing code changes.
• Explain how to use tools like change sets, Salesforce DX, and CI/CD pipelines for deploying code. 
• Introduce them to your team’s code review process (checklist) and coding standards. 

5. Security and Compliance

Share your organization’s data security policies with the developer: 

• Explain how to handle sensitive data while following Salesforce development security best practices.
• For example, you can train developers on how to encrypt sensitive data fields and utilize Salesforce Shield for advanced security.

Introducing compliance requirements is essential in developer onboarding best practices:

• Ensure the developer understands compliance standards like HIPAA and GDPR.

6. Team Integration

Introduce the developer to the existing team:

• Introduce the developer to the key members, provide access to communication tools like Slack, and add the developer to the team’s Slack channel.

Assign a mentor: 

• Pair the developer with a mentor who can guide them through the onboarding process. 
• For example, assigning a senior developer to help new hires navigate the Salesforce org and answer any doubts, ensuring seamless collaboration.  

Pro Tip: IT staff augmentation enables you to scale your team with pre-vetted Salesforce developers who can deliver value from day one with minimal guidance.

7. Setting Performance Expectations and Clear Goals

Define the key performance metrics (KPIs):

• Set clear goals for the developer’s role, such as delivering code with (x)% test coverage or completing deployment on time. Or you can track metrics of the number of bugs resolved or features delivered per sprint. 

Set timelines for project deliverables and onboarding milestones:

• Create a roadmap for the first month, second month, third month, and so on. 
• For example, make a roadmap that includes how much time the developer has to complete training and start working on a small project. 

Following these steps ensures you have a seamless Salesforce developer onboarding experience. 

Conclusion

By following the Salesforce developer onboarding best practices, organizations ensure that new developers can easily adapt to their organization’s Salesforce environment and start delivering value. A well-planned onboarding process not only accelerates productivity but also reduces errors and improves retention. So, whether you are hiring junior developers or senior experts, following the onboarding checklist ensures maximizing potential and achieving better results.