Warehouse employees

Create a welcoming start for lasting success

A good first impression is a good first step toward creating long-term loyalty and retention. Since effective onboarding is about making people feel welcome, appreciated and comfortable, you might want to ask yourself a few questions. How welcoming is your organization’s culture? What are you doing to ensure long-term success for new employees? What’s your new hire experience plan?

To help you get started, take a look at our tips on how to create a positive Workplace Culture or consider these action steps:

  1. Beforehand: Get ready, set

    Taking certain steps before new employees start can make a big difference in how they feel their first days on the job:

    • Make sure they have the right tools and equipment on Day 1
    • Let coworkers know when someone new is starting and explain their responsibilities
    • Consider who to involve in the person’s orientation and training
    • Set up welcome lunches during the first few days
    • Ask a colleague to serve as a friendly “work buddy” to answer any questions that arise

       
  2. Day of: Paint the big picture

    Orientations often include a blizzard of information ranging from vision, mission and values to benefits, policies and procedures. But sometimes they miss the most important stuff. Consider talking about:

    • Your organization’s culture—what makes it a great place to work
    • Achievement—how you define and reward success
    • Your customers—try to provide opportunities for new employees to talk directly with customers to learn firsthand what really matters
    • Fellow co-workers and teams—talk about the team and consider adding photos to names and titles

       
  3. Early and ongoing: Provide clarity and direction
    • Don’t hesitate to delegate specific, doable tasks right from the start—it helps people feel successful, engaged and excited
    • Provide clear direction on duties, deadlines and expectations—greater clarity leads to higher productivity
    • Talk about an employee development plan early on—it will help develop, sharpen and grow needed skills and competencies
    • Check in on a regular basis to see how new employees are doing, if they have any concerns and if they have creative ideas for improvements

See more resources to help develop talent: