Welcoming new employees to the office

Everyone remembers how awful and daunting it can be to start a new job, even if you’ve been in your current role for years.  Perhaps surprisingly, however, when a new person starts in an office it can actually be quite daunting for the existing employees too.  Existing employees are often concerned about the impact on their own role, how the office dynamics may change and whether the new person will fit in.  New employee’s common concerns include that the existing staff may be happy in their own cliques and they may not fit in.

Here are a few tips to help everyone feel settles as soon as possible:

•    For the new employee, it’s important to smile, no matter how nervous you might feel.  If you don’t smile, existing employees might find it more difficult to approach you.
•    For existing employees, make sure you speak to the new person.  Ask if they need any help or know where things are.  If you see them looking lost, ask if you can help them out.  Even if you can’t, it’s nice to know that there are friendly people sat in those big office chairs!
•    Make sure that someone shows the new employee where the important things are, i.e. toilets, kitchen, coffee machine, perhaps even ask them if they’d like to go for lunch.