3 ways to make new team members feel welcome

Do you remember how you felt the first day at your job?  Starting a new position can be intimidating. Making new hires feel as welcome as possible when they join your company is important. It helps them feel more comfortable in a new environment and makes it easier to integrate with the existing team of employees.

Building a great company culture involves creating a positive environment for all of your colleagues, new and old. You and your fellow team members will thrive when everybody is working in an environment that promotes communication and collaboration.

Establishing a welcoming environment s

If you’re not sure how to make new employees feel as comfortable as possible in your workplace, here are three top tips.

Take time to connect

What do you wish you had known when you first started working at your company?  Share that knowledge with your new colleague.  If you are working onsite, introduce yourself, give them a tour or invite them to join you at lunch.  If you are working remotely, invite them to a virtual coffee meeting in order to get to know one another.  Let them know that you are happy to answer any questions they may have, and even consider setting up recurring touch points over the first couple of weeks so that you can check in and see how they are doing.

Attend team-building events

Company-wide team-building events provide employers with the perfect opportunity to bring their employees closer together. As an employee, attending these team-building events is a great opportunity to meet new colleague, some of whom you may not interact with normally on a day-day-day basis.

Team-building events promote socialization and enable both new hires and seasoned employees to get to know one another in a less formal environment. Connecting outside of work-related tasks allows employees to get to know one another as individuals and can help foster collaboration and teamwork.

Promote inclusivity

An inclusive environment allows each team member to feel safe, respected and valued.  It ensures that diverse groups of people can work together and allows individuals to bring their whole selves to work.  Joining your workplace’s Diversity & Inclusion initiatives is a great way to start. By working together to create a workplace that has policies in place to support each team member, you are helping to ensure that any new hire will find a place within your organization.