HOW TO WELCOME A NEW RECRUIT

We spend a lot of our time at work and with our colleagues, probably even more than we spend with our friends and family! This means we can sometimes form quite a tight knit group. So, how do you welcome a new person into the team?

First off, you’ve got to be prepared for them starting. Make sure that they have everything that they’d need, and that they are set up on email and the computer. If you aren’t prepared for your new arrival, it can make you look unorganised and lazy. There has been a new trend of employers providing new employees with welcome treats and gifts to welcome them to the team. What are your thoughts on this?

Included in your preparations, should be telling the rest of the team that there is going to be a new recruit. There is nothing worse for a new starter to turn up to work on their first day for no one to know why they are there or who they are. Let your colleagues know a bit about the new person, and get them excited about a new face joining the team.

How about getting them to arrive on their first day a little later? This gives you time to get what you need to get done completed before they arrive, and it also gives you the opportunity to have everything ready for them. On someone’s first day, it is likely that they will arrive early. If you tell the new employee to arrive for the time that you arrive, they may come early and be there before you are, which again could be awkward for them if there’s no one there to show them where to go or speak to. You want to make this first day as comfortable as you can. We’ve all been there before, the first day at a new job can be daunting!

Remember to introduce the new employee to everyone in the team, even if they won’t be working with some employees that closely, it saves an awkward encounter a few weeks later when they do encounter and don’t know who each other are.

Many companies have suggested implementing the ‘buddy system’ for new recruits. Pair the new employee up with someone of similar position within the company, and this person can be someone that the new employee can speak to and get their questions answered by. The new employees ‘buddy’ can also make them aware of all the workplace rules (and the unwritten ones too)! The ‘buddy’ doesn’t have to be in a similar position as the new starter, but there could be some hierarchal issues if you were to pair up a new employee and a manager; the new employee might not feel comfortable asking trivial questions to someone in a senior position. The ‘buddy’ can also be someone for the new starter to have lunch with, there is nothing worse than eating alone and feeling isolated in a new place.

Finally, make sure they have plenty to do during their first week! You don’t want them having to look for work to do. Give them a few simple tasks to be completed by the end of the week, and this will ease them in nicely into how your company works and what is expected of them.

How do you welcome a new recruit? Comment below!