How to Craft an Engaging & Effective Welcome Email to New Employees 

Without orientation, the first day of a new job can be nerve-racking and overwhelming. Between meetings, training sessions and paperwork that needs to be filled out, there are a lot that new hires need to process. Therefore, HR leaders should always be mindful with their onboarding process because it is a crucial first step to retaining new hires. 

An authentic and engaging welcome email from HR is the first step to onboarding strategy to help new hires feel like they’re a part of the team before day one. The purpose of such email is not just to welcome new hires to the team, but also provide them with all necessary information about their colleagues and company’s culture. To help you enhance your onboarding welcome email, here are some writing tips: 

Use catchy subject line 

Make sure that the subject line of your email is as specific as possible because it is the first part of an email that new hires will read. Clearly state the purpose of the email to avoid confusion, but make sure that it is descriptive enough. 

For example you can use: “Robin, welcome to the company!” or “Can’t wait to see you at work, welcome aboard, Joe! :)”

See also: Measuring and Evaluating Recruitment Results 

Be mindful with the writing tone 

Your welcome email should reflect the overall spirit of your company. If it’s casual and laid back, then convey that with an appropriate tone. Don’t be afraid of coming across as friendly; your new hires will love it, especially new generations. 

Besides the tone, here are a few best practices to keep in mind: 

• Use simple and short sentences as it will be less confusing to read

• Although you can sound friendly, avoid slang, jargon, technical terms, and bureaucratic language. Unless you hire an IT team, don’t use IT language. 

• Avoid redundant adverbs such as very, really, truly, etc. 

• Use active verbs, power words, and positive adjectives - positivity never fails. 

• Be careful with CAPS and exclamation points as they can easily make your email seem too emotional or forceful. 

Use visual 

There’s nothing wrong sending an email with pictures attached. Pictures can sometimes convey meaning better and faster. You can also try to use GIF or emoji to be friendlier. 

Check and re-check 

Just like job seekers when sending resumes to potential employers, HR should also re-check their writing before sending it to new hires. Not only rechecking email will make you professional, types and other writing mistakes can give bad impression and potentially result bad on how people see you. 

Next also: How to Write Recruitment Message to Attract Top Candidates