Adding a new person to the team is an exciting time for the company. It is a chance to mould a fresh employee towards being a productive and functional member of the workforce, and a chance to hone their skills and bring out the best in these people. It is also an opportunity to build a better team, and establish good rapport among both old and new members.

However, as the human resource and management personnel of the company, one of your duties is to ensure that your newest employee gets a good start (or good impression) of the company.The first few months of an employee’s tenure in a company is a crucial moment because this is when the person usually takes a feel of the company culture and working environment that he/she just entered in. Any positive or negative impact can affect their future decisions if whether or not they would stay for good or just treat the job as a temporary stepping point. So, to ensure that onboarding a new employee goes smoothly, here are a few best practices to follow:

1. Assign a Buddy/ Peer for your new hires
Assigning a peer to accompany your newly hired employee is a way to make them feel comfortable and welcome during the first week. The buddy can help show the new employee around, and can even help bridge the communication gap between supervisors and other employees with the new hire. It would also be easy for the new hire to ask questions and raise concerns, because his/her peer will act as the point person for such things. 

2. Provide a Welcome kit
A welcome kit should contain a brief information about the company, some facts about the company culture, an employee handbook, and if possible, a short welcome message. This can help give the new employee an initial feel and overall idea about the expectations and best practices that the company is embodying. It also gives the new hire an idea as to what the mission and vision of the company really is, and it can give him/her a sense of the importance of the tasks that will be entrusted to him/her in the coming days.

3. Set expectations and clear Goals/ Tasks
A welcome kit is not enough if you don’t couple it with actual communication. It is important to make the new employee understand what tasks and standards are expected from him/her. Most importantly, the kind of tasks that he/she could take over should be clear within his/her first week. This is not just for the new employee’s benefit, it is also for the company itself. Unclear tasks and delegation may lead to unproductive and idle time for the new hire, and much of your company resources will go to waste during this period.

4. Show them around
It is a given that you need to show the new employee around the office and in other departments. Make sure that they get to meet the managers, the team leaders of each department, people from the HR department, and even the maintenance staff. Not just that, it is best to show them around places near the office too - including where they can get a good lunch, where they can spend a coffee break, and where the nearest convenient store is located.

5. Encourage initial Feedback and ask for their first impressions
Communication is a two-way thing, and it is not always the company who will be orienting a new hire each time. Their initial feedback and impression is also needed for the company’s own improvement. This is useful especially if the new employee is from a different company, and he/she may have picked up good practices and processes there that can be applied to the company. 

The key here is to ensure that the new hire will not be intimidated enough to shy away from the incoming responsibilities that he/she is being hired for. If the company already has a great culture, welcoming a new employee onboard is not exactly a difficult thing. Many employees can easily adapt to a new working environment within just one month. Moreover, a great company culture does not just welcome a new hire easily, but it will also make it hard for employees to think of leaving. 

About the Author:

Gemma Reeves is a guest author for the hiringplug.com blog and a seasoned writer who enjoys creating helpful articles and interesting stories. She has worked with several clients across different industries such as advertising, online marketing, technology, healthcare, family matters, and more. She is also an aspiring entrepreneur who is engaged in assisting other aspiring entrepreneurs in finding the best office space for their business. You can learn more about her company, FindMyWorkspace.