Whether you’re on boarding a new team member to your organization, or you are welcoming a new colleague who is transferring from another department… here are a few great tips to help them feel welcome and engaged on their very first day!
1. Give them a small gift:
When they arrive, meet them at the door with small gift box and say “welcome to our team”! In the box give a few pre-printed business cards with their name on them. This small investment will make your new team member feel valued and important.
Want to hit the ball out of the park? Give them a T-shirt, coffee mug or pen with your logo on it!
In fact, contact Bonnie Alfonso at GoAlfie.com and she will help you find just the right gift for your organization!
2. Help them make friends:
Ask a colleague to give the new member a tour of your facilities and answer all of the “first day questions”. Every new person asks… What do I wear? Where do you go for lunch? What do I do when I arrive each day? When is it ok to leave? How is the boss to work for? Where do I find the coffee?
A casual lunch is a great way to make a new team member feel welcomed.
3. Be their lunch buddy:
Since you couldn’t ask any personal question during the interview process, this is a great time to get to know them and learn about their family, hobbies, etc. Also you can casually share your expectations and answer more of their questions.
4. Have their work station and supplies ready:
This one may be obvious but I have to remind you… have the work station clean and make sure any tools or technology are available and ready for use. One company I work with packages the name tag, apron and hat in a bright and shiny gift bag with some fun tissue and presents it to the employee as a gift. It doesn’t cost much … just be creative!
Funny true story…
I remember my first day at ePrize. I was assigned a small pod shaped desk in the middle of a sea of 20 something techys on the third floor of an old building. The company was expanding and this was my temporary work station until my office was built. I put some items on my desk and went for a tour… when I came back all of my stuff was moved and the trash can was on top of my desk. It looked like someone moved me out of my new pod. I thought to myself, is this a first day prank? And, tried to casually figure out what was going on.
One of my new colleagues saw the look on my face, pulled the ear buds from her ears, looked at me with a smile and said… “oh, they didn’t tell you … you have the rain desk.” Which meant that when it rained the roof leaked on my desk and the trash can was a good way to avoid a total disaster. I felt much better when I understood that the team was actually helping me out.
5. Communicate to the new arrival to the rest of the team:
Make sure that all key contacts know that the new team member is arriving and encourage everyone to welcome them to the team.
The DONT’s for Day One
- Avoid first day on a Monday or postpone the start time to 10 am. The reason: you and your team might get distracted with issues and won’t have the time to give the new arriver the attention they deserve. On their first day, a new employee should feel just as important as a new customer.
- Don’t assume that people transferring into your department from another department know where everything is or that they have met everyone on the team. Take the time to properly onboard transferring employees too.
- Plan ahead so that you don’t have to leave a newbie stuck at their desk for hours with “stuff to read” on their first day. There is nothing more demotivating than sitting and reading the employee manual for two hours on your first day of work.
We all know that first impressions are critical…so, set the tone for a successful working relationship by making a great first impression on your new team members!