How to Make a New Recruit Feel Welcome

by Buffalo 2U July 9, 2021

Making a new hire feel comfortable at your company is an important, and overlooked process. Constant employee turnover will cost a business money and time, so why not develop a warm and inviting process to help ensure your new team member feels welcome and is set up for long-term success? To that end, we've worked with Be In Buffalo to create a recruitment welcome box and a new recruit schedule for Buffalo companies, that starts even before the employees first official day.

After Employee Accepts the Position

Send an email with a tentative schedule for the first day. This would include items such as:

Time the employee should arrive, so they don't miss the Paula's Doughnuts...more on that later.
Where to park.
A quick breakdown of the departments and their team members.
Any office perks or employee discounts.
Pictures of previous team outings and celebrations, how how fun it will be to work at your company!
Any documents they will need to have completed prior to their first day.

Employee's First Day

Have a welcome box at their desk from Buffalo2U. These boxes can be filled with unique items from local vendors, artisans and restaurants and should include a personalized welcome note to the new recruit. Example Buffalo items to add to the recruit box include:

Company swag and office supplies.
Fun goodies such as local snacks, coffee mug, Buffalo pennant, stress toy and more.
Coupons to nearby coffee shops and restaurants.
Employee handbook.

Give a tour of the office and introduce your new recruit(s) to each to department. This is a great way for new employees to feel a part of the team right away.

Make sure the tour also includes the restrooms, breakroom, where additional office supplies are located and more. Don't forget to have Paula's Doughnuts in the breakroom, it's a must!

Sit down with your new employee and provide them with their corporate email access which should already have invites to any internal communication channels (Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.) and systems they will need access to.
Depending on experience level, start basic training with any system they may need immediate access to
Take your new staff member(s) out to lunch - or if your team is smaller, have lunch catered at the office. Nothing connects people more than getting to know each other over free food from great local restaurant :)
Provide small tasks that your employee can complete on the first day. This will help them grow their confidence and feel accomplished

After the First Day

Take your cues from your new employee(s). If they are competent at the smaller tasks you're providing, increase their work and training load
Consistently check-in to ensure all of their questions are being answered
Schedule time at the end of the first week to talk about how the first few days went and what to expect over the next few weeks.
Invite everyone to a happy hour on Friday.
Continue to check in with your new employee(s)

It's important to schedule weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with new employees for the first few months. You'll want to make sure they are getting acclimated well and ensure they have all of the resources they'll need as their responsibilities increase. Plus with a fresh set of eyes they may have great feedback on improving your processes and procedures.

This new recruit Welcome Schedule should not be seen as a one-size-fits-all process. Each company is unique and should create a routine that highlights what they do well and sets up a new employee for success. The most important aspect of a New Employee Welcome/Training process is consistency. As long as you create a routine that you and your managers agree is easily repeatable, your are setting your company and staff members up for long term success.

If you are a Buffalo company interested in customizing a new recruit/employee box, we'd love to help. Please email buffalo2uco@gmail.com to learn more about customization options and pricing.