How To Write a Great Welcome Email to New Employees

Want to start your onboarding process like a real pro? Send a welcome email to new employees. Such correspondence helps lay a strong foundation for the working relationship to come and can make your new hires feel as welcome as possible when starting a new job.

In this article, we discuss what to include in your welcome email to new employees and offer tips for making the email great.

Welcome email to new employees: What to include
Welcome email to new employees: Writing tips
Example welcome email

Welcome email to new employees: What to include

An efficient and successful onboarding program can start well before the first day of activity. That’s where the welcome email to new employees comes in.

This email should provide a general overview of their first day on the job, what they need to do to make their arrival easy, and any other information that might be useful.

Here’s a breakdown of what to include in your welcome email.

1) Basic information

This is probably one of the most important parts of the welcome email to new employees. It gives them all the necessary information to find parking, access the building, and report to the right place to get started.

If you include nothing else, we recommend supplying the following information:

Start date
Start time
End time (or basic work hours)
Dress code (e.g., business casual, business, or business formal)
Business address
Parking and/or commuter information
Where to go first thing (e.g., front desk)
Name of person they’ll speak to there
What to do after they check in
Items to bring
Cell phone policy
Any passwords or access information they’ll need

It’s also extremely important to include your contact information (at least one piece) and a reassurance that they can call you if they have any questions.

2) Schedule for the first day

Another essential component of the welcome email is a schedule for their first day.

This provides structure to the day’s activities and can alleviate a lot of the questions that new hires may have about what they should do, whom they should talk to, and where they should go.

Here are a couple of recommended methods for outlining the schedule for your new team member’s first day.

General

This method doesn’t go into a lot of specifics, but it sets up a framework for the day so the new hire has a general idea of what’s going to happen.

Example of a general schedule:

Once you check in at the front desk, I’ll take you on a tour, show you where you’ll work, and introduce you to the team members in your department.

After that, you’ll meet with Maggie, the HR manager who will get you started on the necessary paperwork. We’ll have a team lunch so you can get to know your coworkers better and then hand you back to Maggie, who will help you finish the paperwork you started earlier.

Specific

This method goes into much more detail than the general option but still serves the main purpose of establishing structure and purpose for their first day.

Example of a specific schedule:

9:00 a.m.: Arrive at office and check in
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Tour of office, location of workspace, introduction to team
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: Meet with Maggie in HR
11:30 a.m. – to 1:00 p.m.: Team lunch
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: Finish paperwork for HR
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: System orientation and training with IT Director, John
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Training with team manager

If you choose the specific schedule, be sure that all hours are covered — from arrival to departure — so the new hire knows what to expect.

Welcome email to new employees: Writing tips

Writing tips for welcome email to new employee

1) Keep it short

When writing your welcome email, do your best to keep it short. There’s no need to include every last detail you can think of — that’s what their first few days on the job are for.

Stick to the basic information they’ll need to get in the door, one of the schedules mentioned in the previous section, and maybe a bit about how glad you are that they’re joining the team.

2) Focus on format

Try not to hit the new hire with a wall of text when you’re writing the welcome email (keeping it short certainly does help).

Include plenty of white space, and divide up main points with subheadings, bullet points, and bold or italic text.

3) Show your excitement

Expressing your excitement that the new employee will be joining your team goes a long way toward making them feel welcome and inspired to get to work.

Take a few sentences to express this fact and to convey your enthusiasm for their contributions. And don’t be afraid to use an exclamation point or two to drive home the point!

4) Consider your language

Overly casual language usually has no place in most welcome emails to new employees. You may want to write the email as if you were writing to one of your colleagues about a business matter.

Include contractions (e.g., we’ll, I’ll, you’re, and the like) to make the writing a bit more informal, but avoid anything that might cause the reader to take offense (e.g., swear words, sarcasm, disparaging remarks, off-color humor, etc.).

5) Be personal and professional

When considering the language in your welcome email to new employees, be both personal and professional.

Use their name whenever possible (but not too much) so it feels like they’re talking to a real person rather than some faceless corporate entity. But don’t stray so far into the personal territory that the email starts to sound like a tweet or DM between old friends.

To help you keep the tone professional yet personal, consider asking another manager or your supervisor to proofread the email and give you their feedback.

Example welcome email

Feel free to use this example welcome letter template as-is or tailor it to fit the specific needs of your business (please read the disclaimer at the end of this article).

Good morning, Rebekah.

We’re excited to welcome you to our team and are looking forward to your first day!

To make your arrival as smooth and stress-free as possible, here are some details to keep in mind:

Your first day will be May 05
Start time is 9:00 a.m.
Please wear business attire
Park in the 7th Street parking garage

When you arrive, check in with Molly at the front desk to get your security badge. I’ll meet you there, take you on a tour, introduce you to the team, and show you to your workstation.

Once we get you situated and answer any questions, we’ll take a team lunch so you can get to know your coworkers better (let me know if you have any dietary restrictions).

After lunch, I’ll introduce you to the supervisors in the department and the HR manager who will walk you through some necessary paperwork. You can help streamline this process by logging in to our website (Username: XXXXXXXX, Password: YYYYYYYY) and filling out the forms indicated there.

Feel free to contact me at [phone number and email address] if you have any questions about your first day or what you need to do before then.

Looking forward to having you on our team!

Regards,

[Signature and typed name]

Building a strong relationship from the start

Writing a welcome email to new employees is a great way to inspire your new hires and get them excited for their first day at work. But, even more than that, it can help you start forging a strong employee/employer relationship.

Once the new employee arrives, do your best to maintain strong communication with them — and everyone on your team. The Sling app can help.

We built the Sling suite of tools to:

Streamline communication
Simplify the scheduling process
Help control labor costs
Build employee engagement
Track time and attendance
Keep your team members on task throughout the day
And much more

Experience the myriad ways the Sling app can make your job easier by signing up for a free trial today.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.

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Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal, accounting, tax, HR, or other professional advice. You should contact your attorney or other relevant advisor for advice specific to your circumstances.

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