5 Ways to Welcome a New Employee to Your Company
New employees can feel like strangers in your office on their first day because they’re unfamiliar with your company culture, work processes, or team dynamics.
This uncomfortable transition period is natural and necessary for growth as a business. The key to helping new employees feel comfortable quickly is to lead them through this process intentionally and effectively.
You can do that with ice breaking sessions, or even with gifts for employees who have just joined. Feeling welcomed is important to begin with efficient work.
1. Communicate the Company and Culture Basics
New hires need to know the basics of the company and its culture so they can feel like they belong and are contributing effectively from day one.
For example, if you have clear company values that all employees are expected to uphold, be sure to share those with new employees. For instance, if your company’s values are collaboration, innovation, and integrity, new hires will know how to make practical contributions that align with those values.
This doesn’t mean you have to share every detail of your company and culture, but you should address the basics so employees can hit the ground running.
2. Introduce New Hires to Their Team
The best way to make new hires feel like they’re part of the team is to introduce them to their team members.
This is more than a quick meet-and-greet in the break room or a round of introductions at a weekly team meeting.
You should plan a short meeting with each relevant team member, in which you can talk about their projects, tasks, and responsibilities.
Your team members can also help the new hire understand how their work contributes to the organization’s overall success. This meeting can be as simple as a one-on-one discussion between the manager and the new hire.
3. Awards
While it’s essential to provide ongoing coaching and feedback to employees, it’s also a good idea to recognize employees’ achievements as they happen.
Doing so can help employees feel appreciated and connected to the company, which in turn helps make them more effective team members.
You can do this to help welcome a new hire to your company by highlighting an achievement or successful milestone they reached in their last role.
Or you can recognize accomplishments they’ve achieved so far at your company. Awards can take many forms, like a trophy, custom plaques, or even a gift card to a restaurant. What’s important is that they’re personalized to your new hire’s interests.
4. Provide a Brief Overview of Processes
New hires need to know how your company operates and how its departments function to do their work effectively and efficiently.
For example, if your organization uses a particular software program, new hires should understand how to use it.
This doesn’t mean you have to provide a complete training course on the software, but you should give new employees a brief overview of how it works.
This will help new hires feel more comfortable using the software. It will also help them know how to contribute effectively using that software.
5. Offer Summaries of Previous Meetings and Discussions
If your company has a weekly team meeting or frequent one-on-one meetings with team members, you likely have discussions about projects and initiatives.
This is a great way to communicate with your team members, but it also means there are probably some discussions that new hires weren’t present for.
For example, if you’ve discussed a new project with your team, but the new employee wasn’t present for the meeting, they couldn’t contribute to the discussion.
This can make the new hire feel left out or even left behind. To help remedy this, you can offer a summary of any recent meetings or discussions for which your new employment wasn’t present.
This simple gesture can go a long way in helping the new hire feel comfortable in the organization and on their team.
Conclusion
A successful transition period will help your new hires feel comfortable and confident as they begin their new roles with the company.
This can be especially true if they join your organization during a time of growth, when they may be expected to play a more significant role than they did in their previous jobs.
They may also be feeling a bit anxious about starting a new career. Luckily, there are lots of ways you can help ease their transition by leading them through this process intentionally and effectively.
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