Working for a new company can feel very overwhelming. New employees are bound to want to make the best impression, and your company should mirror this and show how welcoming you and your team can be. We’ve collated five onboarding tips and tricks to help new employees settle into your workplace to help advance your company's welcoming skills.
Have prominent staff members conduct the induction Holding a corporate relationship beyond the induction with the employee is crucial, having any unrelated member of staff complete this introduction may make the employee feel like a number to your company, rather than showing you seeing them as their potential. Ensure these staff are suitable through both status within the company - this could be a supervisor, or head of department, for example, as it is important to be able to act if the new hire has any major issue both during or after the training, whilst also holding welcoming qualities.
Incorporate a friendly mentor Ensuring that new employees always have a person to raise any issues with, big or small, is important. Make sure you look at your current team and their skills, who would you have wanted to help you on your first day? Who holds the skills to put someone at ease in a new working environment? This person can, of course, be within management, however having someone perhaps closer to their working role (if not in management) can help them break the ice within their team. This will be easier for the new staff member to ask for smaller issues, which could be something as simple as when the lunch break is.
Current Employee Feedback Asking your current staff for feedback on their induction process could be eye opening. What did they want to know but were too afraid to ask? What did they think and feel in your office at that time? Asking for this feedback anonymously, which could be through an online questionnaire, for example, can help outline what needs to be improved.
Follow up on new employees regularly Ensuring your new employee feels welcome and listened to can be the make and break of their working experience. Ask if they have any questions or concerns, or even just leaving non-judgmental space for them to mention anything, big or small.
Prepare your staff before they arrive Letting your new staff member know the office ‘basics’ can help them feel less overwhelmed on the day. Sometimes all it takes is an email outlining parking instructions or the time for the scheduled lunch break can provide a bit of structure to the new environment, allowing them to plan the day out before it even begins.
Letting your new staff member know the office ‘basics’ can help them feel less overwhelmed on the day. Sometimes all it takes is an email outlining parking instructions or the time for the scheduled lunch break can provide a bit of structure to the new environment, allowing them to plan the day out before it even begins.
There’s no ‘perfect’ introduction for all new employees because each new hire comes in with their own needs and preconceptions. Being open to discuss the concerns they have, or even just appear open to discussions can help settle the new starter as well as the wider team to their arrival. Seeing how you and your staff operate around each other can do half the job.