How to support new employees

Have you ever wondered the best ways to support your new employees? What is the importance of onboarding them?

When starting a new job, it’s natural for someone to feel like a fish out of water! New employees can feel nervous or take a while to adjust. This is why one of the things you can do to make things much easier is to make new employees feel comfortable. Bosses or managers can be crucial at making this possible.

Read the rest of this article, where we’ll explore what you can do when a new employee starts, and what exactly employee onboarding is.

What to do when an employee starts

There are a few things that employers can do to support a new employee.

• Prepare their workspace. On their first day, it would help to have everything set up for them – including their computer, phone, email and network access. They can feel at ease knowing that all logistical issues are out of the way. They can perform their best automatically! 
• Assign a buddy or mentor. Someone to look after them or answer any questions they may have can do a world of difference. Some employees may feel nervous to look inexperienced – if they ask too many questions or are unsure about what to do. 
• Check in. Whether that’s at the end of the first day, in the middle of the week, or the end of their first month. Keeping tabs on them can make them feel supported.
• Get to know them. While it is the workplace, your employees are still people outside of them. You may find it worth asking them questions about their interests, for example. This can build a good rapport. 
• Organise a company event. Something like welcome lunch or an after-work happy hour will do! Giving new employees the chance to get to know everyone can make them feel more relaxed. 

What is new employee onboarding?

Employee onboarding is the process of incorporating a new employee into a company. Some companies choose to do this on a more administrative side – such as filling out paperwork. But you may find it worthwhile to approach it in a more effective way.

When it comes to new starters, it’s important to establish morale from the get-go. No one wants to work in an environment where they feel invisible or unappreciated. Onboarding is a big indicator of how employees are treated in a workplace.

Effective onboarding can be crucial to making sure an employee stays with you. This is why it could be worthwhile welcoming new starters and ensuring they’re acclimatised. Rather than leaving them on their own to fend for themselves!

Employees also spend most of their days in the workplace, if you think about it! So you may want to consider making them feel as comfortable and supported as soon as possible.

New starters will be more inclined to stay with a company if they’re onboarded well. So when figuring out how to support new employees, the best way to go about it is by being as supportive and diligent as possible. Simple enough to implement into your HR strategy!

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