3 Ways to Ensure Your New Employee Has An Awesome First Day

Congrats! After weeks (or months...) spent crafting the perfect job posting, reviewing resumes, and interviewing candidates, you’re finally ready to invite a new colleague into your work family.

Nail the essentials.

‍No doubt--hiring a new employee takes a lot of work. Get as much done before your new team member arrives to make day one (and day two, and three, and four, and...) as seamless as possible. Most importantly, tie up any administrative tasks with HR and IT and make sure the workspace is ready to go.

Give your new employee a call a few days in advance to go over parking and meeting details for day one, and reiterate how excited you are for your newbie to begin. Already gone over all these details? There’s no harm in just calling to say hello!

We recommend planning out a detailed schedule for that first day to keep your newbie (and yourself) on track, and avoid missing any key tasks. This may include a scheduled visit to the HR office, a meeting with the tech guru to get the workstation up and running, and a list of administrative tasks to complete, like setting up voicemail and ordering business cards.

Once you’ve got the essentials down, it’s time to show your new member how much fun your office culture is!

Throw a party.

Yes, seriously. Hiring a new member of your work family is definitely a reason to celebrate. A week or two before the start date, send out an invite to the extended team for a thirty-minute meet and greet of the new colleague. Include your new employee’s bio and don’t forget to bring treats. Even a simple box of donuts can work wonders for getting the busiest colleagues to show up.

This is a great way to briefly introduce the new team member, let him/her say a few words, and enjoy a donut (or two). Don’t forget to follow up with individual introductions later in the week as you give the new hire a proper tour of the office. 

If you have the time, don’t be afraid to find creative ways to make those first introductions stick. Create a fun questionnaire for the team to fill out, and add photos, bios, and answers to a slide deck. Each team member can take a couple minutes to say hello and share a fun fact.

Prepare a ‘welcome package.’

‍In addition to working with the office team to ensure the proper workspace is clean and ready, prepare a welcome kit for your new employee with everything needed to be successful on day one. Stuff a folder with a list of key phone numbers, business cards, and job aids. 

It doesn’t hurt to add a little gift of nominal value, like a candy bar, to make the space as welcoming as possible. 

Follow these tips so that your new employee can hit the ground running, and you can call yourself #BestBossEver right from day one. 

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