Everyone can agree that onboarding is extremely important for new employees. It helps answer questions, communicate expectations and introduce policies or procedures. Many experts agree that it’s vital to employees’ success at the company. However, in addition to the informative structure, it’s good to make employees feel welcome.This will boost excitement and enthusiasm right from the start.
As you are onboarding a new employee, consider implementing any of these five ideas that do a little extra in making the employee feel like they’re a part of the team from the start.
- Formulate a welcome strategy
Beginning with management, everyone who is working with a new hire should have a role in welcoming the employee. Putting a plan into writing helps communicate to the entire company the importance of first impressions and making new hires feel welcome. When new employees feel welcome, their enthusiasm and productivity also soar.
- Create a fun way to introduce employees
Instead of the plain organizational flowchart, add a little personality and fun. Include pictures of employees, and maybe add a little fun information, like hobbies, favorite movies, favorite travel spots, family – whatever your employees are comfortable sharing. Not only does this add some extra fun to the onboarding process, it’s also helpful for the new employee to learn about their coworkers.
- Implement a mentor system
A great way to make a new hire feel welcome is to pair them with another employee who can help them during their first week. The mentor should hold a meeting, or two, to go over questions and details of the job, take the new employee out to lunch, and just be available for support. While an individual employee can be assigned as a mentor, encourage others to jump in and extend their welcome to make the new hire feel comfortable.
- Get to know your new employee as a person
You don’t need to know your new hire from childhood, but it would be helpful to know a little bit extra to help them feel welcome as you go through the onboarding process. Things like knowing how your new employee likes to work (in quiet vs. background music), or how they learn best (visual vs. auditory) can make a big difference in how they respond to the onboarding process and information.
- Involve the employee in company culture
It’s important to get your new employee involved from the very beginning. Sure, they are still learning the ropes and getting to know the company, but you hired them for a reason so you can show them you value their opinion by asking for their input during meetings (nothing too daunting). Encourage their co-workers to do the same and to invite them into conversation or lunches when it makes sense. The more included the new employee feels, the more they will want to be engaged. This can lead to them greater success, which benefits everyone.
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If you want help creating an onboarding experience that leads to success for your company, contact Principle Personnel.