When a new employee joins the team, it's important to make sure they feel both welcome and connected to the team. One way to do this is to reach out to the new employee by email. When a new hire gets a welcome email from their manager and/or team members in advance of starting, or as soon as they begin, that can go a long way toward creating a sense of belonging.
Formal Welcome Letter to a New Employee
It's a good idea for the hiring manager to send a welcome letter to each newly hired employee after they have officially accepted an offer of employment from the company. This letter can be sent by regular mail or email, depending on how much time will pass between when the job offer is accepted and when the new team member will start work.
Printable Welcome Letter Template
The printable sample welcome letter below is a great source of inspiration for what to say. It's customizable, so you can use it as a template to create your own letter. Just click anywhere to edit, then save or print as needed.
If you need assistance with the document, review this helpful guide to printables. It should help you troubleshoot any problems that might arise with the PDF file.
Email Option
The individual should receive this letter before starting work, so you should only mail the letter if there is time for it to arrive before their first day. However, you can easily copy and paste the text from the letter into the body of an email if time is short, or if you simply prefer to communicate by email.
Welcome Emails From Colleagues
It's also a nice gesture for co-workers to send a welcome email to new employees who will be working with them on the same team. This should be done after the new employee's company email address has been set up, as the manager shouldn't share the new team member's personal email address, which the manager only has due to the person's employment application. These messages should be short and simple. Examples include:
- Welcome to the team [insert name]. I'm so glad you'll be joining us. Our group is moving fast and growing. We're all looking forward to having you join in. Please let me know if I can help in any way as you start learning your way around.
- Greetings and welcome! It's a great time to join the [insert department or team name] group. We've been needing someone with your experience in [specify a particular area] to join the team for a while, so I was overjoyed to hear that you've decided to join the group. You're sure to enjoy working here.
- Welcome to the best team at [insert company name]. I know it's stressful to start a new job, but I want you to know that we're all happy that you're here and are really looking forward to working with you. Please reach out with any questions that you have; I am more than happy to help with whatever you need.
These are just a few examples of welcome to the team emails that colleagues can send to new team members. This is beneficial with all kinds of teams, but is particularly important with remote teams since the people who work closely together won't have an opportunity to interact on a face-to-face basis.
Part of the Onboarding Process
Welcome letters and emails like the ones described above can be really beneficial to the onboarding process. They don't replace the need for formal employee orientation sessions or new-hire setup paperwork, but they do help new team members start to bond with their peers and boss, and help integrate them into the team. These factors can have a direct impact on productivity and employee retention.
