As the saying goes: “All beginnings are difficult” – and this is also true when a company takes on a new employee. But that doesn’t have to be the case if you are properly prepared. Both sides should strive to get off to a good start together in order to pave a successful path together.
Ideally, the new employee will make an effort to make a good impression as a newcomer anyway. But it is also important as a team or boss to welcome the newcomer and make the best possible first impression!
Why it is important to welcome new employees to the team
The goal of every successful team in a company is to strive for a long, successful and smooth collaboration. In this respect, it is important to respect and trust each other and to have fun together. After all, you will spend a lot of time together working on the same topics and goals. The foundations for this are already laid when the colleagues first meet.
A simple “welcome to the team” may not sound very relevant, but even these three words can make a new colleague feel really welcome and that you are looking forward to working together.
An appreciative welcome is important, as this is the only way to convey to the new member of the team that you really want to integrate them and are looking forward to working together. If you forget to greet people properly, the opposite can be communicated unintentionally: the new employee might think that their presence is unwelcome and that they should ideally not be on site. That doesn’t necessarily boost his morale – which can drag the whole team down in the long run and create a bad mood.
Great opportunities to welcome employees
When there is a new employee in the team, there are many things you can do to welcome them into the fold. In principle, everyone in the team should introduce themselves and verbally welcome them. Whether you do this as a group or bit by bit is relatively irrelevant, but the newcomer should at least know his future colleagues. Colleagues who are not on site and work remotely should also introduce themselves via video call.
Apart from that, a greeting card can also be a great idea. This gives the employee a physical reminder in their hand that welcomes them to the team. The existing team members can all sign and write a small greeting. This is even easier in digital form – with a digital greeting card. This makes it super easy for teams in different locations to create a joint welcome card. But even small teams can send a digital greeting card – so the newcomer always has it with them and can look forward to the greeting at any time.
Depending on the team and the dynamics, there are other things you can do to welcome a new colleague into your midst:
If a team is already doing things outside of work from time to time to strengthen the team spirit, the introduction of a new member is the perfect occasion for a new team event. It doesn’t matter whether you go bowling together or enjoy dinner together. Everyone gets to know each other informally at the event and the new colleague immediately feels positively included in the group.
A small team party can also be an option, as long as this is something that is practiced in the team from time to time anyway.
Conclusion
It is important that there is general respect in every team – preferably a friendly to amicable relationship. To achieve this, you have to start at the very beginning and welcome every new member to the group in order to make a good impression.
So: The minimum should be that the team introduces itself and welcomes the new employee personally. Beyond that, however, there are no limits to what you can do to make the new person feel good and welcome!
