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Wondering how to write a welcome email to a new employee? Start by remembering how it felt on your first day at the company. Ask yourself what you would have liked to know on your first day.
New employees are a tremendous asset to any organization, and they are a critical investment in achieving the company’s vision, mission, and goals. Long-term retention of any new employee starts at recruitment and while the employee joins the team.
This article shows you how to write a welcome email to new employees, graciously accept them into your organization, and kick-start employee engagement from the start.
Welcome emails help start healthy employee-employer relationships by showing employees that you care. Great welcome emails go beyond thanking someone for joining, giving them beneficial information, and keeping the ‘new-joiner’ motivation high by getting them excited about joining you.
Why is writing a welcome email to new employees important?
While the onboarding process is a critical point in the talent lifecycle, and amongst which the first day plays the most important role out of the induction phase.
A great welcome email to new employees bridges the gap between the candidate's pre-conceptions of the organization (good or bad) and the reality the organization wants them to believe. These emails even act as a catalyst for employee satisfaction and retention.
More than one welcome communication touchpoints
Once a candidate officially accepts an offer of hire, all communication through email that reaches them afterward is considered part of welcoming the employee. Each plays a part in successfully beginning the employee journey.
The new employee broadly has three categories of emails sent to them at different stages before their first day.
1. Acknowledgement of offer acceptance
Immediately after the employee accepts the offer, an acknowledgment of receipt must be sent from the organization to the candidate. This email needs to have the essential elements of warmth welcoming the employee onboard.
Other than the introduction that happily welcomes the employees, this email could also include:
- Link and login details to the organization’s candidate management system to upload their onboarding documents, including payroll forms and acknowledgment of receipt of specific policies and procedures.
- List all required onboarding documents that need to be submitted and attached copy of policies and procedures that the candidate needs to be acknowledged by the candidate.
2. Background check email
The second email that will generally be sent is from the organization's background check vendor, which includes a background check questionnaire. Ensure that this mail is personal and warm - something that reflects your organization's culture.
3. Orientation schedule
Generally, the final mail before the first day, the orientation schedule email, is the probably the last interaction that happens before the first day of the new employee.
This email should not only warmly welcome the employee but also needs to give very important information about their assigned new hire orientation, such as:
- Dates
- Schedules
- Topics
- Details of different orientation POCs
How to write a welcome email for a new employee?
While drafting a welcome email needs to be highly personal to your organisation and your culture, there are ways to figure out how to start them off. Recalling your own plight on your own first day puts you in almost the perspective of the new joiners. Ask yourself what you would have liked to have known as you were starting off.
Figure the gaps you had in figuring out how the next few days and the rest of your workdays would progress. As you write the email, remember that its most important purpose is to help situate the new joiner and make them feel at home. To achieve this, you should also avoid things like DKIM fail, ensure proper email authentication, so that you can make a good first impression on your email receivers.
Structure of a great welcome email to a new employee
Here is a brief structure of a great welcome email to a new employee:
1. Introduction
This part of the email is where you need to tell your new employee how delighted you are that they have joined your organisation. This section doesn’t need to be very long, and a few sentences should suffice. The main thing is that they know you are glad to have them join the company.
Starting at a new company is quite a big decision, so it’s important that the employees feel secure in their choice.
2. Give a glimpse of the first day and way forward
Make sure to let your new hire know when their first day will be and where to show up in your email. Try to give them a rough outline of their first day’s schedule.
They will be more relaxed if they have some expectations for what they will be doing, whether it’s orientation all day or getting down to some work. If there is anything they need to bring with them or into the office ahead of time, let them know in your welcome email.
3. Conclusion
This is also a good time to tell them why you thought they were a good fit for the position and why you brought them on board.
Go over the progression from new hire to an experienced employee. You can even tell them where you see them moving in the company.
Welcome email content ideas
Here is what type of content you should use while sending a welcome email:
1. A catchy subject line
Make sure that the subject line of your email is catchy and as specific as possible, as it is the first thing new hires will see. The subject line should be written in a way that is both purposeful as well as engaging.
In other words, the subject line should let the employees know the purpose of the email but should also be interesting—use of active verbs, vocatives, and elements of curiosity to encourage employees to open your email.
2. Choose a tone according to your company’s culture
Like everything else in the organisation, your welcome email, too should reflect your company culture.
The welcome email of fun and modern office can be funkier than, say, a firm that has a more conservative culture-like a university or an organisation from the public sector.
Irrespective of the tone, observing the following can help the email become highly effective:
- Use of short and simple sentences.
- Avoid slang and jargons.
- Ease up and avoid bureaucratic language.
- Use active verbs and positive adjectives.
- Avoid redundant adverbs like “very,” “really,” or “truly”.
- Avoid caps and exclamation marks - these could make your email either too forceful or emotional.
3. Be visual
Even Though a good, old-fashioned text email could still be highly relevant, do check out the various free tools in the market that allow you to send visual emails for better impact.
While designing such a template, make sure that the stylized email template fits your brand guidelines.
4. Check for typos and grammar mistakes
Typos and grammar mistakes play a critical role in how an employee perceives the organization it kind of works like a first impression. It probably goes without saying, but it is always important to double-check emails before sending them. Do consider the following great tips while writing an email to welcome new employee:
- Ensure your browser's spell checker is on and spell-check all emails before sending.
- Use the grammar and punctuation checker by Prepostseo or Grammarly.
- Understand the common grammar and punctuation mistakes to avoid them.
- Read your emails out loud to make them best effective
What to include in a new employee welcome email?
Here are the other assets that you should include in your welcome email:
1. Welcome video
A lot can be achieved with visual content and following the most important video inclusions that you can have embedded in the welcome mail.
- A welcome video by the CEO of the Human Resources lead
- A company update video
- An ‘about the company’ video
- A culture or ‘fun at work’ video
2. Attachments
Depending on the stage of the welcome email (acknowledgement/ background check/ orientation), appropriate attachments need to be included in the email. Ensure that these attachments are named properly before attaching.
Attach documents that require considerable reading, such as employment terms and conditions and a list of employee perks and benefits that they are offered - so that the employee does not need to scramble through the clauses before they sign them during their first day.
3. Checklists
Checklists are a great way to help the employees ensure that they carry the required documents on their first day.
Either include the checklist within the body of the email or as a printable attachment. This checklist is broken down into the following sections:
- Tasks to complete prior to the employee's first day.
- Tasks to complete on the employee's first full day of work.
- Tasks to complete in the employee's orientation period (for instance)
4. Orientation road map
An interesting way for organisations that spread across floors to make sure the employee is not literally ‘lost’ in the premises is to provide them with a route map of the first day.
Basically, a blue-print of the office (approximate and freely sharable), the timings, and activity can be written within the map location it is scheduled to take place. These are extremely useful for large orientation programs happening across training rooms and departments.
Further to classroom orientation, providing a “meet-and-greet” roadmap can help connect new employees with other individuals they should know to build their internal networks. The maps again can consist of details of the individual’s office location.
These meetings also help them learn more about the company by talking to employees in other departments and gaining a deeper understanding of the roles and responsibilities of their colleagues.
5. Important points of contacts
The complete details (name, email, and phone numbers) of the people who need to be contacted before, during, or after the first day need to be given to the employee beforehand.
These details should be that of their:
- Orientation POC
- Admin & IT POC
- HR POC
- Manager
- Orientation buddy contact details
6. Learning resources
Get employees started quickly with links to critical learning material such as:
- Company website
- Blog and learning resources
- Case studies and product documentation
- L&D portals
- Link to tools and tech stack used in their function
7. Login details
Make employees already network with their to-be peers right from day one onwards. Give them access to office social platforms like Empuls to discover and explore more about their office environment, workgroups, and interest groups. Share links to their specific workgroup so that they easily discover their peers.
8. Details of an orientation buddy
Research shows that providing a new employee with a buddy from their own function helps reduce the initial confusion and uncertainty faced by all new employees and improves employee engagement.
A buddy helps the employee feel comfortable and can partner with a new or even transferred employee during their induction. They offer advice, resources, and guidance regarding the day-to-day aspects of working in the department and at the organisation.
If you have decided to have a ‘buddy’ system, a welcome mail is a right place to introduce the employee’s allocated, buddy.
9. FAQs
Include the answers to the most critical questions that new hires might have before or during orientation.
Sample templates for welcome emails to new employees
Below given is an extensive collection of new hire welcome email content. Use these for effective employee engagement, and the below samples could be suitable for different organisational cultures and needs, so use it accordingly.
Sample 1
Tone: Casual
Style: Visual
Sent by: HR Manager
Sample 2
Tone: Formal
Style: Visual
Sent by: HR
Sample 3
Tone: Informal
Style: Descriptive
Sent by: HR
Sample 4
Tone: Formal
Style: Descriptive
Sent by: HR Manager
Sample 5
Tone: Informal
Style: Descriptive
Sent by: Manager
Alternate email introductions
Sample 1
It is great to have you on our team and on behalf of all the team members, we would like to extend our warm welcome. We are sure that your contributions shall be invaluable to team objectives and outcomes. Hope to see you on [date of joining].
Sample 2
Welcome to [company name]. Thank you for accepting the job offer letter and we expect to see you become one of the most valuable assets to our company. Wish all the best and look forward to meeting you on [date].
Sample 3
We welcome you onboard on behalf of everyone in [company name]. We look forward to having you as a team member and hope that [company] provides you enough opportunities to showcase your abilities, skills, and results that are expected from you.
Sample 4
Congratulations on becoming part of our company. We have a culture where you will get the opportunity to grow your career and develop cordial relations with other employees. We have high hopes from you and expect to have you associated with us for a longer period.
Sample 5
Welcome to the company. We have heard a lot about you and expect that you will certainly perform well and meet our expectations. Congratulations on starting your new journey with our company and best of luck for your future.
Sample 6
It's amazing to have a highly talented and skilled person in our team. We welcome you to our team and assure you the best of amenities and culture in our company. We expect that your proficiency will be applied at its best and better job positions will be attained by you in the future.
Sample 7
Hearty congratulations on getting hired with [company name]. I extend a warm welcome to the team and wish that you shall achieve great heights in your career here. We look forward to seeing you as an effective contributor to [company] and discover cordial relations with your peers.
Sample 8
Welcome aboard. Congratulations on being selected as [position] at [company name].
I would like to mention that there are several opportunities at [company] that you would be able to utilize, so as to advance professionally. There are plenty of opportunities for career growth at [company]. Hope to see you support your team with your best efforts and become a high yielding employee of the company.
Sample 9
Welcome to the team, [name]. We are excited to have you on board. We expect that you accomplish your goals and develop a great career with us. Best of luck for your role at [company] and congratulations on becoming an integral part of the team.
Sample 10
It's great to have you in [company]. We wish that you have a wonderful time here -with great opportunities to achieve and grow. We congratulate you on your new role as [role] and hope to see you excel.
