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Gallup indicates that 88% of organizations are struggling with onboarding, which means they are at risk of low employee engagement and poor job satisfaction or, even worse, high turnover rates. We believe you do not seek to join them, do you? Since talent scarcity has become more severe today, let’s hope your subpar onboarding process does not “scare the new employees away.” Having a new employee onboarding checklist in place and following some of the best practices, you may avoid the common blunders and make the process much easier on your new members. And welcoming new employees via email is the first part of the chain you should tend to. All right! Do you have any idea how to craft a winning one just yet? 

What Does a Fine Welcome Email Look Like?

The onboarding process for new employees begins with a welcome email, which is also commonly referred to as an onboarding email. It offers a friendly welcome to new employees and a true representation of the corporate culture. Furthermore, it establishes the tone for their subsequent encounters with coworkers. Ideally, a welcome letter should be sent out to new joins after they have accepted the offers and before the onboarding day. No delays can be tolerated. Even while the welcome emails seem to play a “humble” part within the onboarding experience, they have the power to either enhance or ruin it if not done correctly. 

What to Include in a Welcome Email

An ideal welcome letter should aim to equip newcomers with essential info and get them prepared to blend themselves into the team, and help them quickly catch up. Thus, a typical format of an onboarding email should include the following elements as a must:

  • Start Date Reminder: Kindly remind the new hire of their start date to ensure they are available and have no conflicting commitments.
  • Working Hours: Mention what the company’s working hours are so that the new hire can better plan their day accordingly.
  • Dress Code: Let new hires know how they should dress properly on a regular working day in the office. If your company strictly requires some kind of dress code for employees, this info is super necessary. If not, you still need to let them know, either.
  • Key Contacts: Always attach the contacts of the supporters so that the newbies know exactly whom to reach out to when needed.
  • Day-one Schedule: Give new employees a brief rundown of what to expect within the day, such as office tours, training, etc.
  • Arrival Instructions: If new employees are going to work remotely, then provide them with all the info they need to get started from home. If they come to the office, then guide them through how to locate the workstation, parking lot, check-in reception, etc.

How to Write a Fine Welcome Email to New Employees – A Step by Step Tutorial

Now that you got the “recipe” for a basic welcome email. Let’s roll. Chop chop!

Step 1: Begin with the Subject Line

The subject should convey the key message of your email, and readers can get the main points just at a glance. Therefore, it is decisive to write a subject line that is brief, clear, and attention-grabbing, making them want to click on it and know more about it. You may use some common phrases such as “Welcome to the team” or “We are glad to have you here,” but feel free to be creative and come up with something that suits your company culture best.

Step 2: Start with a Proper Greeting

In the greeting part, you need to welcome the new hire warmly and let them know you are looking forward to working with them. While “Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. Last Name” is always a safe choice, you can also use their first name if you think it would create a more personal touch. Again, make sure the language used is appropriate for your company culture.

Step 3: Introduce Yourself Briefly

After the greeting, it is time to introduce yourself. You can start with your name and job title, followed by how long you have been with the company and what your current role is. If you are the new employee’s direct supervisor, mention it here so that they know just who to ask for support when they get questions or need help.

Step 4: Offer a Helping Hand

After the introductions, let the new hire know that you are available if they need any help during the onboarding process or in general. This gesture will make them feel more comfortable and welcomed in the new environment. You should also provide them with your contact information in case they need to reach out to you.

Step 5: Offer Some Insights into the Company Culture

In this part, you can give the new employee some insights into the company culture. This will help them better understand the organization they are joining and what is expected of them. You can talk about the company values, how employees are treated, or anything else that you think would be beneficial for the new hire to know.

Step 6: Give a Preview of What’s to Come

After giving some general information about the company, it is time to show the new hire a brief preview of events and what they can expect in their first few days or weeks. This will help them better prepare for their start date and make the transition smoother. You can include information such as where they will be working, who they will be working with, what their daily tasks will be, etc.

Step 7: Extend a Warm Welcome Once Again

In the last part of the email, you can extend a warm welcome to the new employee once again and let them know that you are looking forward to working with them. Feel free to include a sentence or two about how excited you are to have them on board.

Practical Tips to Ace Your Welcome Emails & Get New Employees Excited

Aside from the information, there is always room for you to refine the welcome emails even more and make them uniquely yours. 

Keep It Short & Sweet

A long-winded email is not preferred. Being informative does not necessarily mean stuffing info into your email. No one likes rambling. Get to the point and make your message as concise as possible. Do not forget that you are not supposed to overload newcomers with too much info from the get-go. Just give them the highlights. Moreover, newcomers will probably feel jittery on their first day at work, so it will be better if you ease the atmosphere a little with a soft and friendly tone of voice for the welcome email. 

Use a Warm & Friendly Tone

Be polite and formal but also personal in your welcome emails. Imagine how you would greet someone if you met them in person for the first time. Write like that! Also, do not hesitate to use some humor (appropriate, of course) to add a personal touch and help new hires feel at ease more quickly. 

Make It Visual

Adding images and videos (if possible) to your welcome emails will definitely make them more attractive and eye-catching. You can use the company’s branding colors, add headshots of employees, or include a short video tour of the office. Go wild with your creativity!

Include a CTA

A call-to-action is always a great idea to push new hires in the right direction. For example, you can ask them to fill out certain paperwork before their first day on the job or request that they come up with questions for their managers. By adding a CTA, you make sure that new employees are taking some kind of action after reading your email instead of just letting it sit in their inboxes, gathering digital dust. 

Proofread & Edit

Last but not least, don’t forget to proofread your email and edit it accordingly before hitting the “Send” button. It is essential to check grammar, spelling, and punctuation to avoid any potentially embarrassing mistakes. We all know how one silly typo can change the whole message and make you look unprofessional. So, better be safe than sorry!

Ask for Feedback 

Do you know that asking new hires for feedback after onboarding can improve employer-employee relationships by 91%? It surely does one way or another. Always remember to keep an eye on the realistic performance of your process frequently or you may rate it by sentimental feelings and miss out on hidden issues. So, you should make feedback collection a part of your onboarding routine to identify areas to improve and optimize your process over time. At this point, bravoSURVEYS can be such a big aid. This tool helps you to craft a survey in a flash and fully customize required with nearly no effort.

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Trung Tran
Technical/Content Writer
Trung is a writer who loves researching and blogging about all HR-specific topics and the latest.
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