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You’re done with the hard part — you’ve hired an excellent new employee.
Phew. 😌
You’re done with the hard part — you’ve hired an excellent new employee.
The onboarding checklist is ready and you can already imagine the new employee walking into the office with a cup of Joe in their hand. But close in on the mental image and you’ll see a face with mixed emotions of excitement and nervousness. Nearly 80% of all professionals are nervous before they start a new job.
So, how can you help them ease into the new job and make their first day memorable?
In this article, we give you five ways to make your new employee’s first day even more exciting and memorable, while taking the nervousness out of it.
A new employee announcement is an excellent starting point. You should let everyone on the team know that a new person is joining and briefly introduce your new employee. Assembly lets you share announcements with your team quickly. You can also share the announcement with select participants.
But everyone welcomes new team members with an announcement. How can you one-up new employee announcements? Well, you can put a celebratory spin to your announcement.
You can celebrate employees on Assembly with the Celebrate a Teammate flow. Here’s how:
When you celebrate an employee instead of just making an announcement, you make them feel warm and fuzzy inside. 🥳
On Assembly, team members can also respond to the celebration post and put the new employee’s name in front of them. Interaction on Assembly fast-tracks building relationships with colleagues and allows the employee to settle into the new environment quicker.
Employees already familiar with the company culture can help new hires get settled in faster and help address the nervousness. And that’s why starting a buddy program is the perfect way to help new employees get comfortable with their new job.Start by getting some basic information about the new employee’s interests and hobbies. This information will allow you to pair them with a like-minded employee.
A new hire might feel even more nervous if you send someone from the HR team with a survey form. After all, don’t we all feel the pressure of giving answers that make us likable when we’re new? 😬
So instead, make the process a bit more personal with Assembly’s Onboarding Survey template. It will give new hires the space to answer with freedom and at their own comfort.
You should also reassure them that this data is only accessible to the person overseeing the buddy program. The new employee will remember their experience with the buddy program for a long time. They’ll appreciate the effort your company puts into helping new employees get more comfortable.
What’s a better way to start a new job than with a casual party? Just an informal gathering of team members mingling at the end of the day over coffee and donuts allows a new employee to make connections with teams, even outside of their department.
You can even make these casual parties a monthly tradition. The party doesn’t need decorations. Just snacks and maybe some music. 🎶
If you have a small team, make your employees feel like family by sending out birthday or anniversary greetings and throwing a small after-work party. Now, if you’re one of those people who’s bad at remembering birthdays, we’ve got the perfect solution.
You can set up automated greetings and rewards on Assembly by entering an employee’s birthday and joining date. Here’s how:
Wouldn’t you remember the wholesome feeling of being thrown a surprise party on your first day at work? ❤️ It’s a genius way to break the ice and welcome the new team member to be a part of the family.
One on ones outside the office setting can be an excellent way to defuse the new job nerves. As a manager, you have an impact on employee morale. Being proactive about building a positive relationship with employees from day one can go a long way in improving the team’s morale. An informal lunch relaxes the employee because they’re likely wondering what the boss likes and how to impress the boss.
It also gives them a chance to ask questions they were previously reluctant to ask being a new employee. Since they aren’t familiar with the office lingo or team members, you can catch them up during lunch. Building this interpersonal relationship can not only help get your new employee off to the right start, it also makes them see you as more approachable. 😊
Get the team's lunch orders with ease with the help of the Lunch Order Flow:
I know, I know. Onboarding gifts are so yesterday. But they can still have an impact if you do it right. Gifts make people feel special. But the problem with onboarding gifts is that every employee receives the same gift—boring.
Instead, find thoughtful gifts for welcoming a new team member. It can be something simple like a coffee mug with a special message or an office gadget with their name on it.
If the new employee has had to relocate, give them a guide book with interesting sights in the area and places for good food. You can even put a hand-written note in the gift package to make it more personal.
If you want to gift a package, you can add something quirky, company swag, and gift certificates to restaurants. As long as you’re adding something personal for a new team member, you can add any number of items to the package without losing the special element.
Assembly makes it easy to do something special for employees with the built-in swag store, culture and gift rewards.
Exciting, right?
That’s probably how new employees feel about a scavenger hunt too. More importantly, a scavenger hunt encourages interaction with other staff members. If you’ve got multiple new employees, a scavenger hunt can help build connections and reduce the nervousness of being a new employee.
When new hires talk to other staff members as they look for clues, they’ll meet new people and get acquainted with the people they’ll be working with.
But what if you’re a remote team? 🤔 Well, you can use a modern intranet solution like Assembly. In addition to offering all the standard intranet benefits, it will enable you to organize an online virtual hunt for your remote team.
You can subtly bury clues in individual employee profiles, group discussions, or an intranet post.
When new hires explore the intranet for clues, they’ll learn more about current staff members while reading their profiles, and learn using a key business tool.
A warm welcome makes new employees a lot more comfortable. Think of yourself when you started the job. On the first day, you probably felt unfamiliar. Would you have felt better if there was a small surprise office party at the end of your first working day? 😁
The focus is on you for a few minutes and you meet everyone on the team and other departments. It fast-tracks building connections which could’ve otherwise taken a week.
Why put new employees through that stress? Give them a memorable beginning and help them get settled in faster.
If you’re also looking for ways to promote interpersonal relationship building among existing staff members, try Assembly.
Assembly is a modern intranet solution that helps enterprises connect their teams on an interactive platform. Employees can wish each other, collaborate on projects, and even request time off via Assembly.
If that sounds interesting, sign up for a free account to take Assembly for a spin.
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