An employee welcome letter sets a positive tone for your new hire’s first day on the job while offering helpful information to get them off to a strong start. It may seem like a small gesture, but it’s exactly the kind of detail that organizations with an excellent culture obsess over. If your company were a person, your new employee welcome letter would be their firm but a friendly handshake.
So, let’s explore some of the reasons for drafting a new hire welcome letter and then discuss some tips for writing one that makes a great first impression.
Why Write a New Employee Welcome Letter?
It’s a little thing that goes a long way toward making new hires feel at home. Here are some of the other benefits of writing a letter or email for new employees.
It sets the tone
A cohesive new hire onboarding process is an important component of your overall employee experience, and the welcome letter is one part of that. It helps convey a sense of structure–that they’re part of a well-thought-out system and not just being thrown into the deep end–and sets a tone that will make your new hire feel confident they can expect their onboarding to go smoothly.
It eases anxiety
No matter where you’re in your career, a new job always comes with a few first-day jitters. A personal letter is a warm welcome and helps ease some of the anxiety. Remind your new employees why you thought they were the right fit for the job and convey that you’re glad to have them on the team.
It gets them excited to get to work
The faster you can help your new employee reach full productivity, the better. Foster high engagement from day one by calling out some of the things you’re most excited to work on with your new employee or the areas that will benefit from their expertise. Offer some context about the projects they can look forward to contributing to. Having clearly defined goals is a hallmark of highly engaged employees, and your welcome letter can be a tool for setting them.
Related: Is Your Top Talent Having a Knockout First Day of Work?
It instills a sense of belonging
Employees who feel connected to their colleagues are more collaborative and more likely to stay longer at the company than those who don’t feel a sense of belonging. Use your welcome letter to bring new additions into the fold and make them feel like they’re part of the team even though they’re new.
It can be a source of helpful information
You’ve likely already talked at length with your new hire about the job and its responsibilities during the interview process. What you probably haven’t covered, though, is how to get into the parking garage and whether there’s a vending machine on your floor. Working these useful tidbits into your welcome letter can help make the first day go a little more smoothly. It can also be a helpful document for them to hang onto and refer back to if needed.
Related: How to Conduct Virtual Onboarding
What to Include in a New Hire Welcome Letter
Warm greeting
Start the letter off with an enthusiastic opening. Here are a few examples of warm opening lines:
- Welcome to the team!
- We’re glad to have you onboard.
- It’s my pleasure to welcome you to…
Consider how you might greet a candidate on their first day of work; your introductory line should have the same feel.
Start day details
Pre-empt any scheduling snafus by reminding your new hire of their start date and time.
Highlights of why they were hired
Get the feel-good vibes flowing by paying the recipient a few compliments sourced from your assessment of them during the hiring process. You might call out the important skills they bring to your team, how impressed you were with their strong background experience, or any other detail that stood out about them as a candidate.
Overview of initial assignments
Set expectations by letting your new hire know what they’ll be working on in their first few weeks on the job. You can also call out any important dates your recruit should be aware of, like an upcoming conference or the launch date of a big campaign.
Onboarding checklist
A list of forms to fill out isn’t the most exciting thing to receive in a welcome letter, but checking off necessary to-do’s like tax forms ahead of time will make the first day less tedious and allow your new hire to take their time completing these items.
Helpful first-day tips
Parking, ID badges, wardrobe, food and drink…these are just a few of the things new employees don’t usually think to ask about before their first day on the job, but they can really make things less than comfortable if they’re not prepared. Use your welcome letter as a sort of how-to guide for getting started on the right foot.
Here are some things you might cover:
- Hours. What time are employees expected to arrive, and when does the workday end?
- Parking. Where do employees park? Does it cost money? Does the company cover all or part of it? Will they need a pass?
- Transportation. Which public transit options are nearby? How long does it typically take to get there from different parts of town?
- Getting inside. Will they need to provide identification? Stop somewhere to pick up an ID badge?
- Point of contact. Where should they go, and who should they ask for when they arrive?
- Lunch. Do most employees bring lunch, go out, order in, or is there food available onsite? Are lunch plans part of their first day’s itinerary?
A first-day itinerary
Though your new employee is probably itching to hit the ground running, the first day is often filled with logistics like an office tour and meet-and-greets with various team members. Help them get through it with ease by giving them an idea of what they can expect.
Is there anything they should come prepared for, like a walk around the office park requiring comfortable shoes? Will they be spending time outdoors? An hour-by-hour breakdown of the day is great, but just a line or two about what they should expect also works.
New hire activities/resources
Ideally, your welcome letter will be just one element of a thoughtful and engaging onboarding process. Include your new hire in other available resources, like your online employee portal, as well as any activities they can look forward to, like a new hire mixer or company potluck.
How to Write a Welcome Letter to a New Employee
A standard form letter is better than nothing, but a little extra effort can make your new employee welcome letter really stand out. Follow these tips to take it to the next level.
Make it personal
You’ll obviously want to lead with their name, but it’s also a great idea to personalize the letter with some details specific to each new employee. For example, ‘Our COO was very impressed by your past client list and can’t wait to pick your brain about where the industry is headed.’ Just as personalization helps customers feel more connected to your brand, it can also help your new employees feel like they matter to the company from the start.
Incorporate your company culture
Match the tone of your letter to the culture of your workplace. For example, don’t send a super formal letter if everyone in the office interacts casually. You can also incorporate more tangible aspects of your culture to help new employees feel at home, i.e., ‘‘just a heads up, most of us wear jeans on Fridays!’
Make it easily digestible
As you can see, you can pack a lot of information into a new hire welcome letter. Help the reader take it all in with easy-to-navigate formatting. Break up the text under different section headers. Use bullet points and bolding to call out key information. Add links to external documents and pages of your website where further information can be found.
Provide a phone contact
If you’re like most companies, you’ve probably been communicating primarily by email during the hiring process, but it’s not the best way for your new employee to get in touch if they need something urgent on or before their first day. Provide a designated point person they can call directly if they say can’t get into the building or have a last-minute question the morning they’re supposed to start work.
Send it promptly
Build on the positive momentum from an accepted offer by sending your new hire welcome letter promptly, like a day or two after you’ve confirmed a start date. This is a great way to kick off onboarding activities and keep engagement strong between the job offer and the new hire’s first day of work.
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Welcome Letter Samples
Here are some sample new employee welcome letters for your onboarding process.
Short and sweet welcome letter
Dear NAME,
Welcome! We’re excited for you to bring your deep expertise in widget parts to the Smith & Smith sales team. Your start date is scheduled for 8/23.
On your first day, park in the employee lot on the south side of the building and check in with Susan at the front desk around 8:45 a.m. She’ll set you up with your ID badge, which you’ll use to access the rest of the building.
You’ll spend the morning completing your new hire paperwork, and then the sales department will take you out for lunch.
On behalf of the entire team, we look forward to having you onboard!
Detailed welcome letter
NAME,
Welcome to Smith & Smith. I know I speak for all of us when I say we’re thrilled to have you on the team. As we discussed during your interview, your experience in the industry and knowledge of the market will give us a huge advantage as we work to roll out Widget 2.0 this spring.
We look forward to seeing you for your first day on March 18. Most employees take the train to work–there’s an L stop about two blocks from our building at the corner of 48th and Main. If you plan on driving, park in a Guest spot out front when you first arrive and we’ll get you set up with a pass for the parking garage.
Here’s a basic itinerary of what you can expect on your first day.
9:00: Arrival, office tour
9:30: New hire paperwork
11:00: Onboarding session with team lead
12:00: Lunch in the conference room (we’ll order in, but there’s also a great cafe downstairs)
You’ll spend the afternoon shadowing various team members and training on our software. This will help you get to know some of your coworkers while getting a feel for our workflows.
We usually wrap up the day around 5 p.m. Our dress code is business casual.
If you have any questions before your first day, call or shoot me a text at 555-555-1234.
See you soon!
Remote employee welcome letter
NAME,
We’re happy to have you on the Avalon team! HIRING MANAGER speaks very highly of your skills in conversion rate optimization, which will be a welcome addition to our marketing arsenal.
Your first day is set for June 12. We’ll kick things off at 9 a.m. with our weekly roundup, which we hold via Zoom every Monday. You’ll receive a separate email that morning containing the meeting link. After that, we’ll have you set up for a few breakout calls with your new teammates.
Usually, our remote staffers take a one-hour lunch at a time that’s convenient for them. On your first day, we’ll plan for you to take a break around 12-1. In the afternoon, you’ll meet remotely with our VP of Technology, who will make sure you have login credentials for all our software.
Before your first day, please take a few minutes to complete your onboarding paperwork. You can access it through our new hire portal here. The portal also contains a lot of information you might find useful, including:
- Employee handbook
- Benefits overview
- Calendar of events
If you have any questions before your start date, contact your MANAGER NAME at 555-555-6789. I’m CC’ing her here.
Once again, thanks for joining us, and welcome to the team!
Manager welcome letter
NAME,
It’s my pleasure to welcome you to the Avalon team as our MANAGER TITLE. With your impressive track record, I have no doubt our sales department will achieve great things under your leadership.
As discussed during your interview, one of our primary objectives for the next six months is establishing a new territory in Washington County. We look forward to your insights on how best to achieve this goal. Through your guidance, our new sales team can establish relationships and spread awareness that will put our brand on the map in this new region.
On your first day, February 26, Dustin will greet you at the front desk. Most of us arrive between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Once you arrive, please be prepared to meet with our CEO, COO, and me for about an hour. After that, we’ll call a team meeting where you can introduce yourself and give a brief overview of your background, initial plans for the department, etc.
Here are some materials to review ahead of your first day:
- Avalon sales playbook
- Product guide
- Market overview
On behalf of all of us, we look forward to working together!
With a few tweaks to one of the templates above, you’ll have a warm and personal welcome letter ready to greet your new employees and make them feel right at home.
