Onboarding Team Members
This is something I have thought about a lot when new people join my team.
I think its important for new team members to get the best on-boarding experience as possible. They should be made to feel as part of the team as quickly as possible and felt welcomed and needed. After all, you hired them for a reason.
I have seen it so many times where new starters are forgot, they become an after thought and not really given the attention they need or deserve.
There are many ways to combat these issues, and I will discuss some in my future blog posts, but for this entry I would like to share a few small things that I think make a big difference.
The ‘Welcome’ desk.
You should ensure that their PC and any admin accesses are already set up… but rather than just presenting them with an empty desk you should make it feel more welcoming. An easy example is that if you have branded office stationary etc, put some on their desk as a welcome gift. Even if you don’t have company branded, just standard pens, notebook or any other things that you think will be useful for the member.
Another good method I have seen is to add some sticky notes to the members desk / monitor, containing some advice from their team. You should try and make some of them informative, but try to make them fun too. Adding post it notes like the ones below will relieve any tension the new member may have:
- Welcome to the A Team
- Remember to lock your PC when you leave your desk
- Don’t take candies from Johns desk.
- Brian doesn’t like it when people sing out loud.
- Don’t talk to Dave before 09:30 until he has had his coffee
The Survival Guide
Its also good to provide the member with a handbook for the team. They will likely get one on a company level, but I think its nice to create one on a more personal level for members of your team. Your team process, best practices, welcome advice… We live in a digital age, but I think it’s nice to give out a hard copy as a ‘welcome gift’.
This image I found floating around the internet, its another good way of introducing a new team member, its always good to impose your culture onto new team members when they join. I think if you can relax your new team members and make them comfortable, you will get the best out of them quicker.
Let them know its “OK to……”
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