Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire: How to Inspire New Employees Before They’ve Even Started Work
The following is an excerpt from my latest book, Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire; How to Recruit, Onboard, and Train New Employees to Live Your Culture Out Loud!
Preparing and Welcoming New Employees Before Day One
Consider the mindset of an employee in the days or weeks between finding out they got the job and walking into work on day one. Imagine the range of emotions they must experience: self-doubt, excitement, angst, and curiosity.
This is an ideal time to start building your relationship with your new hire and teach them about your culture. It also gives you a chance to help them feel emotionally prepared and confident before they begin working with you. So why not try some of the following ideas?
Consider the mindset of an employee in the days or weeks between finding out they got the job and walking into work on day one. Imagine the range of emotions they must experience: self-doubt, excitement, angst, and curiosity.
This is an ideal time to start building your relationship with your new hire and teach them about your culture. It also gives you a chance to help them feel emotionally prepared and confident before they begin working with you. So why not try some of the following ideas?
- Send them a hand-written thank-you note – signed by members of their team and/or key leaders in your company – letting them know how much you’re looking forward to working with them.
- If possible, try to get all the administrative paperwork out of the way before the employee starts, so their first few hours aren’t spent buried in paperwork. Instead, free up the first day to focus on more positive relationship-building and culture-building activities.
- Use surveys to assess their needs. Futurice sends new hires a questionnaire before they start, asking them what tools and support they believe they will need in their new job.
- Send a welcome gift to the family of the new employee, something that shows you’ve learned about his or her family, and (better still) something that offers insights into your business or culture.
- Send a reading list or mail a copy of the latest leadership or business book that your company uses (in my humble opinion, The Humor Advantage would be a brilliant option). At Mindvalley, new hires are asked to read the book written by the CEO himself, offering the best possible insights into their unique culture.
- Ask the new employee to prepare a brief video message introducing themselves and their family to your workplace family.
- Ask them to fill out a fun questionnaire that will introduce them to existing employees. You might ask about their hobbies, favorite movies, pet peeves, or their pets. And why are they excited to work with you?
- Send them a link to the “pre-onboard” video you’ve created, giving them a fun virtual tour through the office and a chance to meet some of the people they’ll be working with. For bonus points, customize these to include personalized greetings to each new employee.
- Courier over a copy of your fantastic culture guide book (more on this later).
- Send them a package with all your employees’ photos, names, work interests, personal interests, and hobbies so they can familiarize themselves with their future teammates before they start.
- Give them a break! More and more companies insist new employees take a vacation before they start work, rather than having them leap from a former stressful job on Friday afternoon into their shiny new job the following Monday morning.
- Consider including new hires at an employee social event before they start work as a “soft introduction” to the team. The promotions company ZinePak schedules happy-hour drinks one night the week before a new employee starts, to give the new hire a chance to meet the team in a social setting and talk about things other than work. At Vincit, new hires are invited to attend a coffee break with their team before they start to get a sense of the company’s culture.
- Send a fun “survival kit” to help new hires with the transition. This might include a transit pass, a gym membership for a month, a coupon for the coffee shop or deli across the street, a “get out of jail free” card to help them get out of their first tricky situation at work, a map showing all the best restaurants within a four-block radius of your office, a fun office toy, your company coffee mug or water bottle, a box of chocolates… anything that’s fun, useful, welcoming, and sends a message about your culture.
- Have your team leave a fun voicemail on their home phone introducing members of the team to the new hire.
- If you want to get a little wacky, hire a celebrity voice impersonator (easily available online and quite inexpensive) to send a welcome greeting their way.
- Finally, send a detailed outline of their first day or first week at work. Imagine how much more comfortable the person will be when they see how things are going to flow during that critical period.
Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame Speaker, highly in-demand international keynote speaker, and the creator of the Culture Leadership Online Academy. Michael is also the author of 8 books, including: The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank; Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire; and The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace. www.MikeKerr.com
