Careers Succeeding at Work Welcome a New Employee and Schedule a Meeting Before Their Start Date Welcome a New Employee Effectively to Ensure New Employee Retention Print andresr / Getty Images Succeeding at Work Human Resources Job Search Resources Hiring Best Practices Glossary Employment Law Employee Motivation Employee Management Management Careers Management & Leadership Employee Benefits By Susan M. Heathfield Susan M. Heathfield Susan Heathfield is an HR and management consultant with an MS degree. She has decades of experience writing about human resources. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 05/20/20 Employee welcome letters are a standard method of contacting a new employee and preparing them for their next steps. A welcome letter serves two purposes for an employee. The letter should provide a warm welcome from the company, and should outline the first steps the employee will be taking. Usually, the letter will include descriptions of the company's onboarding process, give contact information, and provide some general expectations if applicable. The employee welcome letter is the new employee side of your normal new employee announcement letter to all staff. Welcome Letter Welcome letters generally follow a simple format. The employee's name and address are in the header, followed by an enthusiastic greeting. The letters then discuss the first steps the new hire will take, the first people they will meet, and the purpose of the meetings. Following the first steps and name familiarization, companies usually outline an onboarding process to further familiarize the employee with aspects of the job and company, give the name of a mentor (if assigned), and provide a place to find answers. Try to anticipate as many of the questions and concerns a new employee would have as you can, and answer them in this letter or point them in the right direction. The following examples can assist you when drafting your new employee welcome letters. Welcome to Georgian Bay! Date Name of New Employee New Employee Address City, State, Zip Code Dear (New Employee Name): Congratulations on your acceptance of employment at Georgian Bay Company. We hope you are as excited as we are to meet and get you started. If you're available in the week before your start date at Georgian Bay Company, I'd like to get together in person or on the phone. This will allow me to answer any questions that you may have about the benefits package and other issues that may have come up since you accepted our job offer. We can include our Human Resources Manager for part of the meeting. He'd like to welcome you to Georgian Bay as well. We can also spend time discussing your onboarding process. We've designed a series of activities and meetings that should quickly bring you up-to-speed on your new job. I can also answer any questions that you may have about Georgian Bay Company. When you start a new job at Georgian Bay, we assign a senior employee as your new employee mentor. This meeting will give you the opportunity to meet her, too. Finally, I'd like to provide you with early access to our employee wiki. If you have time prior to your start date, the information on the wiki provides a wide range of background information, access to the employee handbook, and answers to any general questions you may have about Georgian Bay Company. Since the wiki is open access for any employee, some of the quirkiness of your new coworkers will be apparent to you, too. I understand if you are away on vacation or have other plans during this week before starting your new job. Please let me know a potential time to talk, or if your schedule allows, I'd enjoy meeting with you at Georgian Bay. Again, welcome to the Georgian Bay team. We look forward to having you come on board. Regards, Name of Individual Name of the Department Manager Thomas Hospital Welcomes You! Employee Name Employee Address City, State 00000 Dear (New Employee Name): On behalf of the employee selection team, we're very happy to welcome you to St. Thomas Hospital as our newest Physician's Assistant (PA). We know that you will find the work challenging, while personally and professionally fulfilling. The doctors you will work with as a PA are as excited as we are, and are looking forward to having you serve in this crucial role on the team. They have been short on PAs for quite a while and feel the void keenly. With the hectic pace at the hospital and the unknown patient service numbers on any given day, I'd like to meet with you prior to your start date so that we can cover some basic information you'll need to get started. Our human resources (HR) generalist, Kaitlin Law, whom you met while interviewing, would like to sit in on this meeting to share benefits information, the employee handbook, and other orientation necessities. I'd like to share the on-the-job training that we have planned for you so that you can learn our procedures and approach to patient care. At the end of this letter, you'll find login information for our employee wiki, in which you'll be able to familiarize yourself with the procedures and training we will begin with. One of our other PAs, Sarah Swift, who works in the department you will be assigned to, has volunteered to serve as your mentor while you acclimate and become comfortable in your new role. She will meet with you on your first day at the hospital to go over the basics. We understand that many new employees use the time between the end of their former job and the start of their new job as a time for vacations and personal business. We completely understand if you are not available for this meeting. If you are, however, the transition will go more smoothly. Please call or text so we can set a date if you are available. My cell is 714-221-3245. Sincerely, Name of Individual Director of Human Resources Make Improvements As you welcome more employees on board, take the time to ask them about their letters and the onboarding process. See if they will give you some feedback so that you can continuously improve your initial interactions with your new employees.