Short welcome message for new employees
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Introduction
What should a welcome email include
HR tips for welcoming new employees
Welcome email – 3 x longform examples
15 examples of a short welcome message
What’s the best way to send a first day welcome email?
Why a short welcome message for new employees is important
Written by:
Paddy Morrison
Welcoming new employees is an exciting time for a small business — it means you’re growing and bringing more expertise into the team.
But without direct HR experience, you may feel unsure of the best way to greet these new starters to ensure you’re starting off on the right foot. Well, that’s where we can help.
A concise, friendly welcome message does a lot to set the tone of things to come: it welcomes your new employee, sets expectations about the sort of company you are, and gives them the information they need to feel comfortable on their first day.
This guide will show you how to craft a short welcome message for new employees and includes ready-made examples to make welcoming new members of your team as easy as possible.
What should a first day welcome email to new employees include?
Welcoming new employees is really important to us at Charlie, so we like to send a fairly detailed welcome message to our new starters. As we’re a hybrid working company, it’s also likely we won’t see them in person on their first day — our welcome message is one of the ways we mitigate any negative impacts of this.
Here’s what we include in our welcome email:
- The time and date they’re meant to start (as a reminder)
- The place you’re going to meet them (if you are)
- Their schedule for the day
- Any extra information they need such as what to bring (laptops etc.)
- If they have any questions for you
- The ways your business is organised
- Their onboarding plan
Let’s look at two of these points in particular so you can better understand what I mean:
The ways your business is organised
We work flexibly at Charlie, so we mention this in our short welcome email to new employees as it helps to set expectations.
It will depend on your business of course, but if you do things differently then it makes sense to highlight this from the outset — a welcome email to a new employee is a great place to do this.
An onboarding plan (even a rough one)
Including a bit about onboarding in the first day welcome email is always a good idea. — again, this is about managing expectations and putting your new employee at ease.
Although it’ll be the line manager’s role to set out the plan in detail, we advise sharing some onboarding info in the welcome message. Starting a new role can be scary, so having an idea of what to expect is typically really appreciated.
HR tips for welcoming new employees
Writing welcome emails for new employees is a bit of an art. They need to:
- Provide enough information, but not too much to overwhelm
- Be friendly, but not overly informal
- Feel exciting, but not intimidating.
What initially feels like a very simple exercise can leave you scratching your head! So how do you write the perfect welcome email for new employees?
A good welcome email to new employee from HR will include:
- Their name (and potentially) title of their new role
- Date and start time for their first day
- Office address
- An idea of what to expect on the first day (schedule, meetings etc.)
- Name of their work ‘buddy’
- Contact info for HR and members of their team
- Any equipment they need to bring (laptop etc.)
- How to ask questions
And remember, the tone you use does a lot in a welcome email. It should be warm, friendly and enthusiastic. If in doubt, write the sort of message you’d want to receive if you were starting a new job.
And to help you avoid any pitfalls, here’s what not to include in a welcome email to new employee from HR:
-
Too much information — a welcome message is not the place for task lists, conversations about salary or benefits, or deep dives into projects and who’s leading on them. Nobody wants to feel overwhelmed by a role before they’ve even started it.
Welcome email to new employee from HR - 3 x longform examples
Example 1 – Welcome email to new employees at CharlieHR
This is to give you an idea of how we welcome new team members at Charlie. Feel free to copy it and tweak as you please!
Hey [name],
I hope you're well and looking forward to next week — we're very excited to have you start!
I just wanted to drop you some info about your first day so you know what to expect. I've also cc'd in some relevant people so you have their names and email addresses.
Your buddy will be [insert name]; they’ll book in some time with you in your first week and are on hand for any questions, anytime.
As we have very flexible working hours, people start at different times of the day but everyone always joins for our 10am ‘all-hands’ meeting each morning.
I've put in a Google Calendar invite (with Google Meet link attached) for [time, date] for half an hour, then we’ll re-join Huddle together at 10 which is also in your calendar [adjust as necessary].
You'll spend most of your first day with [insert name]. You should already have your Charlie laptop, but I’ll help you to set it up and start working through some more onboarding bits.
Overall, we'll take it pretty easy and give you plenty of time to read things and ask lots of questions.
Reach out to me on Slack any time as if we were in the office - treat me like I’m sitting next to you! And you’re welcome to join in conversations and ask questions on any public Slack channels or DM anyone you like.
See you on the [date]!
[your name]
Example 2 – Welcome email to new employees based in an office
This is a great welcome email to send ahead of a new member’s first day in the office.
Hey [name],
Welcome to [name of the company]. We’re excited to have you on board! This is just a short email to let you know what’s going to happen when you start on the [start date].
I thought we could spend the first day in the office together, so I’ll wait for you in front of the entrance at [address for your office] at 9am.
We can grab a coffee and set up your laptop, and I’ll run through a few of our policies and processes. Then you’ll meet the team!
Please let me know if you need anything in the meantime. I’m really looking forward to working with you.
Best, [your name]
Example 3 – Welcome email to new employees who work remotely
Remote employees have different needs when it comes to onboarding, and it’s important that they feel as much part of the company as anyone else. Here’s a good example of how to welcome them.
Hey [name],
Welcome to [name of the company]! It’s great to have you on board and I’m looking forward to seeing you on the [start date].
Since we all work from home, I want to ensure you don’t feel isolated on your first (or any!) day, so I’ve taken the liberty of scheduling a few meetings — including a coffee catch up to start the day.
Once we’ve chatted a bit, I’ll run through some admin and then will slowly start to introduce you to our work and processes. Hope that sounds okay!
Your laptop will be delivered in the next few weeks. I’ll either be in touch regarding delivery or you’ll receive a text message.
In the meantime, please just shout if you have any questions. Here for anything you need!
Best, [your name]
15 examples of a short welcome message for new employees
You know your company best, so trust your instincts when deciding on a first day welcome message. But a little inspiration is always helpful!
Any of the examples below are great for welcoming new employees and can be sent over email or via a messaging platform like Slack.
You can send a short welcome message as a company-wide memo or directly to your new employee. The benefit of sending it to everyone is that you announce their arrival and introduce them at the same time. But it all depends on what you think works best for your small business.
Short welcome message for new employee – a warm welcome
- Welcome to the team, [name]! We’re sure you’ll fit right in and good luck for your first day. Some of your new team will be in touch to introduce themselves over a coffee, and please just shout if you need anything.
- Welcome! We’re so pleased to have you on board and are looking forward to working with you.
- A warm welcome to our newest member of the team, [name]! Today’s their first day so please introduce yourselves :) [Name], this is our team chat channel — it’s super informal and a great place to get to know everyone. Feel free to ask any questions and chat with the team!
- Welcome to the [company] family! Congratulations on the new role — it’s great to have you with us. First day’s are always a bit of a whirlwind, but we hope to make it as stress-free as possible. Here for anything you need :)
- We’re excited you’re joining us and would like to extend a really warm welcome to our team.
Short welcome message for new employee - a supportive welcome
- Great to have you here, [name]! We can’t think of a better person for the job, and I’m sure you’ll get up to speed in no time. Looking forward to achieving great things together!
- Welcome, [name]! We are so excited to have you as a part of the team and are here to support you in all the ways we can. You’re going to do great things here!
- Congratulations on the new role! We’re excited for everything you’re going to achieve and are here to help you get there.
- Welcome to [company name], [name]! I’ve booked some time in your calendar so that you can meet the rest of the team, but please don’t hesitate if you have any questions before then. We’re all here to help you find your feet as quickly as possible!
- Hi [name]! I wanted to introduce myself and let you know how excited I am that you’ve joined the team! We’ll be working closely together on several projects and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and ideas. If you fancy an intro chat over a coffee then just pop a meeting in my calendar. Have a fantastic first day and welcome to [company name]!
Short welcome message for new employee – focus on growth and collaboration
- Welcome, [name]! This is such an exciting time to join [company name] as we’re in a period of real growth. It’s going to be busy, challenging, and very rewarding! We’re looking forward to you being a part of it.
- Good to have you here, [name]! We’re excited that you’ll be helping us build a more creative and collaborative space. Don’t hesitate to bring ideas to the table or share any feedback. We’re delighted to have you on the team!
- Congratulations on joining the team! We work closely and collaboratively and know you’re going to fit right in.
- Welcome to [company name]! Looking forward to working with you and achieving great things together.
- Welcome [name]! Grab a coffee and take a moment to settle in. We’ve got a team meeting at [time] so you can meet everyone you’ll be working most closely with. And I’m here for any questions whenever you need. Great to have you with us!
What’s the best way to send a first day welcome email?
Now you’ve got a good idea of what to include in a short welcome email to new employees, you’ve got to decide on the best way to send it.
Welcome messages can feel a bit overwhelming for new hires — as nice as they are to receive, they can flood people’s inboxes and arrive across multiple channels. There’s also the chance of them being missed completely.
If you’re looking for an alternative way for welcoming new employees, you can choose to use HR software like Charlie.
Charlie simplifies the entire onboarding process, sending automated welcome emails directly to every new employee. Our integrated HR software is designed to save you time and make every aspect of onboarding seamless, easy and compliant. You simply create a new team member’s profile and Charlie does the rest:
- A notification is sent on their start day so no one can miss it
- Charlie’s home page opens up with an announcement alongside the new starter’s name and photo
- Your new employee has instant access to a welcome onboarding flow and all the information they need, including who their new team members are
- They can upload any documentation securely and complete their own HR admin (including the new starter checklist, which they fill out directly in the software)
- They also have easy access to your company policies and any other important documents, as these are all stored in Charlie.
With Charlie, you can auto-generate or customise a short welcome message for new employees and it’s then sent within the system. All of this saves you time and hassle and means your new starter only has to look in one place for everything they need from day one.
If you want to see how it works, you can trial Charlie free for 7 days and see how easy it is to give every new member of your team a warm and professional welcome.
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Why a short welcome message for new employees is important
1. They are a great way of keeping in touch
Notice periods can often be quite long, stretching from one to three months, especially if you’ve hired for a senior role. A short welcome email to your new employee will help you to foster a sense of connection right from the beginning.
2. They help you look professional
There’s nothing more confusing for a new hire than when the company that’s recruiting them goes off the radar. A short welcome email ensures this doesn’t happen, helps to put them at ease, and is an easy way to show you’re a professional business.
3. They get people excited about their new job
While working out their notice, new hires can start to feel bored. It’s up to you to make them feel excited about their new role. A short welcome email can include info and updates about your business, introduce their new team, and talk about the sort of projects they’ll be working on.
4. They help you share the right amount of information
No one wants to walk into a new job without any idea of what they’ll be doing, but they also don’t want to feel overwhelmed by too much information. A short welcome email will help you strike the right balance.
5. They make them feel like part of the team
The clue is in the name: these are emails designed to make people feel welcome. You can decide how much team info is the right amount — for example, you might share everyone’s LinkedIn profile or link to a company directory like the one we have at Charlie.
A short welcome email to new employees make first days and introductions much easier, and provide context around your team and your business. It really doesn’t take much to feel part of a team, but it will make all the difference to the person coming on board.
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