The First Weeks With a New Professional: How Onboarding Works
Once you have chosen a professional, Tunga arranges the contracts and agrees the start date; with notice at their current work, that is often one to two weeks later, and sooner when both sides can move fast. Before day 1 you set up accounts and access and tell Tunga your security and device rules. In the first week a delivery manager joins the kick-off and checks with the professional at the end of that week whether access, tasks and the team are working. The first weeks are high-touch; after that, check-ins are at least monthly. In the first 4 weeks either side can end the engagement at one working day's notice.
Before the first day
What Tunga arranges:
- Contracts. The agreement with the professional, or a new scope of work for someone who has worked through Tunga before, and the start date.
- An onboarding call with the professional about their internet connection and equipment, your device rules, how check-ins work, time off, and how to work well with your team.
- The device security checklist, signed by the professional before the start.
What you arrange:
- Accounts and access to the systems, code and tools the professional needs, ready on day 1.
- Your security and device rules, shared with Tunga before the start, such as a managed laptop or a device that has to be wiped.
- A point of contact in your team, and enough work for the agreed hours.
The first week
- Kick-off. The professional joins your team's kick-off, with the delivery manager and account manager. Time off, time zones and communication channels are agreed there.
- End of week 1. The delivery manager calls the professional: is access complete, are the tasks clear, how is the team working together? Anything that needs fixing on your side goes straight to your team lead.
Weeks 2 to 4
The first weeks are high-touch: the delivery manager is in close contact with the professional and has regular calls with your team lead. In these 4 weeks either side can end the engagement at one working day's notice. If the match isn't right, Tunga finds a replacement at no extra cost.
After the first month
Check-ins continue at least once a month with the professional and with you, and more often when needed.
What most often slows a start
- Access that isn't ready. A professional who can only attend meetings while accounts, repositories or licences are being sorted loses the first week. Having access ready on day 1 makes the biggest difference.
- Device rules that come up late. Requirements such as a managed laptop or wiping a device take time to arrange; tell Tunga before the start.
- Hours and progress. Agree from week 1 how hours are logged and how progress is shared, so it doesn't come up only at the first invoice.
Where Tunga fits
Tunga takes the staffing side off the plate of companies that need digital professionals: software engineers, AI operators, product managers and other digital roles, from across Africa. The client directs the work. Tunga handles finding and vetting, contracts, payments and compliance, onboarding, keeping people, and replacing them when someone leaves or it isn't working. The professionals are independent freelancers contracted by Tunga and work remotely from their own country; the client has one contract, with Tunga, and a delivery manager who checks in with both sides. In 2025, about 1 in 56 placements ended because the professional left for another job. Founded in 2015; 3,500 professionals across 38 African countries and 300+ client companies, as of September 2026.
Tunga is not the right fit when the role has to be on site, when the work means talking to your clients in a language other than English or French, or when saving on cost is the main reason you're looking.
Need capacity now?
Tell us what you're looking for. We'll get back to you within one working day.
Tell us what you need