Julia WeeksWelcoming a new employee is important if you want to transition your new hire smoothly into your business. Not only is a good welcome important for your new hire, but it is also important for your team and business.
Providing a warm welcome to your new employee is very simple and will get your new hire and team started off on the right foot.
Prepare ahead of time
Don’t wait until the day before your new hire starts to begin preparing for him. As soon as you know that you will have a new employee on the team, it is important to prepare.
Meet with your team and tell them that you will have a new person joining the team. Explain what the new hire will be responsible for and how he will integrate into your team environment.
Prepare a personal space for your new employee ahead of time. Whether this means setting up a cubical, office, or simply providing working tools for a remote office, make sure you are taking care of this ahead of time. Meet with your IT department and make sure that any technology needed for the job will be set up in time for the employee’s start date.
Welcoming a new employee is much easier when the new hire can see that you have prepared for him to join the team.
Create a “Get to know you” event
Of course, the initial days will be filled with training and learning the business. However, don’t forget that it is also important for your team to be able to warmly welcome the new hire into your company culture.
Make sure that you have allowed for down time between your team and the new employee. For example, a coffee break, team lunch, happy hour, etc., will all help to make your new employee feel welcomed onto the team.
Getting to know each other and building strong relationships is key for your team to work well together. Introducing an unfamiliar person to your team can cause challenges at first if you do not promote a team building and collaborative environment.
If your new hire is working remotely, or if you have remote employees who are not present when the new hire starts, be sure to incorporate video chats into your team welcoming and team building events. There is no reason why someone working remotely can’t join in on an office coffee break! Sure, they may not be drinking the same coffee or sitting in the same surroundings, but the face-to-face interaction that video provides will make a huge difference when developing those strong team relationships.
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What are some other ways to welcome a new employee? Please share your tips in the comments below.
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