Employee Introduction
- Mar 28, 2017
- Converticulture
- Management
An Introduction: One small step for employee onboarding, one giant leap for a new hire.
Being an outsider to a new organization can be intimidating. Especially if when existing employees applied for the same role. Now comes the good part. Or is it?
What’s in an introduction?
Introducing the new hire to the rest of the team; at times, it can be met with resistance. Team members may have resentment due to hiring an “outsider”. Leaders need to be aware of this resentment. This makes the onboarding process, but specifically, the introduction of a new employee, a critical roll out that needs to be handled with care.
I have been part of mass introductions and great welcoming to a new role. I’ve also been quickly introduced to peers and my team and left with little guidance to figure things out and fit in.
A great introduction is much more effective.
My favorite first day was when I went to my desk and there was a nice welcoming card signed by everyone at the company and a pretty plant on my desk. This was followed with a 20 minute introduction meeting and lunch (with cake). What a great impression.
When planning an introduction, an effective way to start the process is to send out a mass email introducing “Heather” to the organization. Talk a bit about Heather’s background and goals. Elaborate on some of the excitement about hiring Heather. One thing I know about mass emails with the subject line “Help me welcome Heather”, is that everyone gets it and will read it. They’ve likely waited a while to find out about this new person. For a remote team, a mass email is the quickest way to include them in an introduction, but you can leverage other communication tools that you use such as Slack or instant messenger. But don’t stop there. That email is just reaching everyone, more ‘personal connections’ need to be made. Schedule time out of Heather’s first day to physically take her around and personally introduce her to the other people in the business. Make sure she has contacts and what their job titles are, should she have questions. During the tour, plan a lunch for her peers that she’ll be working with. It’s a great opportunity to have a round table where everyone can introduce themselves and give her a bit of background. It’s a great icebreaker for Heather too.
The first week on any job is overwhelming, schedule ‘post day’ meetings for 15 or 20 minutes, that gives Heather time to ask any questions, observe any methods that she may need clarification on. This also ensures that she’s connected and not feeling unsupported in her new role, especially in the first few days.
If this new hire has direct reports in her new role, it’s highly recommended that you invest in that introduction as well. Have Heather introduce herself, meet with the team, either in a round table meeting room, over a catered lunch or in one on ones.
The time and money invested in a new employee introduction is just one small step in your onboarding process but it’s a giant leap for the new hire. Do it right the first time.
Employee onboarding is one critical step within the recruiting process. Is your recruiting process efficient? Are you attracting, selecting and retaining the right talent with it? Take the recruiting process audit and find out (Click here).
