5 ways to onboard new hires into your company culture

If the first few days of an employee’s new job don’t feel welcoming, the chances that they will enjoy the rest of their job, or their time in the company, will decrease.

We look at five ways to make the process of onboarding new hires into your company culture more successful and fulfilling.

1.  Welcome Pack

Don’t wait till the day your new hire starts their job to welcome them to the company and your company’s culture—initiate them into your business at least a week before with a welcome pack.

A welcome pack can share fun facts about your company, what you do to bring employees together, as well as more pertinent information regarding CSR activities, and employee benefits.

This is also the place to reiterate company basics—work timings, days of work, overtime, an organisation flow chart, processes to claim expenses, and performance expectations.

To make the onboarding process a little more fun, you can also include some company swag in the welcome pack—mugs, and bags are always great gifts and help to spread brand awareness.

You can create a physical package by printing out a book or use an eBook template to create a digital welcome pack to save on costs.

2.  A Fun Introduction

Most HR teams introduce new additions to the team with a walk around the office and an often-stiff presentation to team members.

But you want to make your new employee feel at home so why not try to give them a fun introduction on their first day?

Try introducing the team member through a simple game or survey—it’s a good way to get the team together and break the monotony of the work day.

You could also do something unusual like asking your new hire to start work in the middle of the week or at a later time than usual—this will make them feel more like a guest of honour.

Other ways to introduce the new hire to the team—and give them a sense of the company culture—is to prepare a list of activities and places to see around the area.

Think about announcement emails for the new employee, as well—consider using a picture or animation of the employee in the email, and use a funny subject line that will get people’s attention.

Making the introduction of a new hire a fun and engaging process will put everyone at ease and boost the morale of the workforce.     

3.  Create an Onboarding Manual

Your new employee is going to have so many questions on their first day right up to their first month—the company is a new arena for them, after all.

Why not smooth the process by creating an onboarding manual that new hires can refer to whenever they have questions?

An onboarding manual can include a number of details about the working process in the company.

Include information about the kinds of software team members may be expected to use—such as project management tools, or collaboration tools.

Give them instructions on the proper use of the company communication channels, and how to keep the Trello boards organised.

If your company has bespoke software that new hires may have to use, this should be included in the onboarding process. How will they use it and what steps should they follow to ensure that nothing goes wrong?

The onboarding manual should also include mentorship programmes and further development opportunities.

The onboarding manual should ideally be a digital document that is updated whenever needed—employees should also be informed whenever there are updates made.

4.  Buddy System

The first few days at a new job can be lonely and a bit terrifying. But there is a way to make this orientation period more comfortable —creating a buddy system.

Assigning a work buddy to new employees helps them feel connected to the business and the company culture.

Work buddies should be assigned according to the team the new hires have joined—there’s no point in hiring someone new for marketing and pairing them with someone from manufacturing.

You should also find out whether the person you are assigning as a buddy actually has the time to take on the job—remember, this is an additional role alongside their regular day job.

You don’t want to stress out your existing team in an effort to make your new hire feel like part of the company.

And the buddy system should also act in tandem to a mentorship programme. Your new employee has skills that your company doesn’t have—which is why they have been hired—but there are others in the business who can share their expertise with employees, as well.

Mentorship programmes—and initiating new employees into them—is a great way to bring employees together and improve the skills of everyone involved.

The buddy system can organically scale into a mentorship programme—the buddy can be someone the new hire shadows and eventually learns from to move up in the company.  

5.  Organise Team Activities

One of the best ways to showcase your company culture to a new hire is to hold team activities.

Instead of keeping everyone cooped up in the office, take them outside—ask your new hire to meet the team during a marathon or a book club. It’s a great way to let the team meet each other in a relaxed setting and get to know the newest addition to the company.

Team activities within the office can also be enjoyable and engaging—an office potluck is a great way to bond over food and share common interests.

You could also offer to send your employees for a business writing course or conferences to boost their productivity.

Organise team activities on a regular basis, but definitely when you hire new members for the team.

Summing Up

Company culture should be focused on bringing people together—employees spend more time together than they do with their families and their bonds should be a priority for employers.

The onboarding process to introduce your company’s culture and values into new hires should include the following steps:

• Creating a welcome pack
• Introducing the new hire in a fun way
• Creating an onboarding manual
• Setting up a buddy system
• Holding team activities

Following these steps will make the onboarding process more productive and improve overall employee engagement.