Step-by-Step Guide to Writing the Perfect Welcome Email for a New Employee [+Samples]

The general recruitment process usually starts with candidates’ application, filtering, one or a few rounds of interview, and ends with the final decision on the candidates who ‘got in’. When the list of names of candidates that have successfully passed the recruitment process comes out, recruiters normally send an offer letter that later leads to the employee onboarding. 

When prospective employees have received their offer letters, have accepted their job offers, and at times, have finished formalizing their contracts or other important administrative documents, employment can be considered official. At this point, it is appropriate for recruiters to send a letter to new employees for joining. 

Prior to their first day of work, newly hired employees are unlikely to have made themselves familiar with details such as dress code or items they need to bring (especially if these details are not previously mentioned in the description of the job posting). They also might be unsure how to get to the office, or would they start working right away on their first day of work - what’s their first day schedule?

Giving useful information through an employee welcome email can genuinely help your new joiners feel calm and prepared to navigate this period of a new job change. Let’s see how we can make the perfect welcome mail to new employees!

There is quite a lot of information to include in an employee welcome email. Since the purpose of the email is to ‘onboard’ (welcome and help familiarize) new employees and to also give them everything they need to know in advance before their first day, make sure to pack all the components listed below to make your welcome emails for new employees insightful: 

1. Email subject

An email subject line will increase the likelihood of your new employees to not only open, but to also read through your employee welcome email - a great email subject line will definitely catch their attention as soon as they know that this email is about something especially important for them. You can personalize your email and its subject line by individual or batch. Here are a few examples of email subjects you can use for your welcome email for new team member:

2. Opening paragraph

It is crucial to get your opening paragraph right! Usually, information like a welcome greeting, a self introduction of the email sender, and an optional brief company introduction are fitted in the first paragraph. Since a new hire welcome email can be sent by either the HR department or direct manager, some personalization can be done. An example of the opening paragraph of a welcome email to new staff can be seen below:

3. Starting date reminder

Important information such as a starting date reminder is exactly a component you need in your welcome email to a new joinee. Even if you have finished formalizing contracts, mentioning your new employee’s first date of work can reassure them to show up on their first day. 

You can used this template to remind a starting date:

4. Working hours

Similar to a starting date reminder, you can also remind your new employee of their working hours so that they won’t show up late. This is especially important if you haven’t mentioned any information regarding working hours in your job-post. 

This is how it might look like on your new joiner welcome email:

5. Dress code

Another useful yet often underestimated detail to include is a guide to dress code. What is and isn’t appropriate to wear in the office? What are employees expected to show up in (in terms of their clothing) when arriving at the office? You can help lessen the confusion by giving them a brief guide. 

Some of the dress code usually used for work are listed below:

• Business Formal
• Business Professional
• Business Casual
• Casual

Here’s an example on how you can mention the dress code on your new hire email:

6. What to bring 

Items such as laptops and stationeries can be the most common things that employees are expected to bring on their first day. Stating these items on your employee onboarding email not only makes it even clearer that they are expected to bring these few items,  but this also saves them the energy of bringing things that are already provided in the office. Additionally,  If you (HR manager / direct manager) haven’t yet received a copy of required formal documents (ID, bank account, ect.) of the new employee, you can politely ask them to bring these documents on their first day. 

Here is a list of the most common things new employees are expected to bring for their first day of work:

• Laptop 
• Own set of stationery 
• Personal administrative documents 

7. Office location or work station location

To help your new hires navigate their way to the office on their first day, you can help them by mentioning the office location or work station location on your onboarding email for new employees. A little thoughtfulness can help them not get lost!

An example of this may look like:

8. Arrival instructions

The first-day will certainly be the most confusing for your new arrivals. They’d still be unfamiliar with the office environment and surroundings. It would be a thoughtful gesture to give them a brief first day arrival instruction such as who to find for check in, and when you will meet them directly. 

A way you can explain your arrival instructions on your onboarding letter can be found below:

9. First-day schedule

First-days for new employees are usually arranged by the HR manager or direct manager to be less structured or formal. It’s a specific day where they can settle in, familiarize themselves with everything in the office, get to know their colleagues, instead of directly doing work. This is why including a first-day schedule can come in handy for new employees in your welcome mail to a new joiner. 

10. Welcome events

The Human Resource Department usually prepares a welcome event, usually referred to as an ‘Onboarding Event’, to welcome new employees (especially when they come in batches). If there’s only one or two people coming in, the new employee’s respective department usually welcomes them. Mention a welcome event you have prepared so new employees have something to look forward to on their first day. 

An example on how to mention welcome events on your employee welcome email is:

11. Contact information

To showcase that you’re open to answering any question they may have, mention contact information before you close off your new hire welcome email. Sometimes, new employees are unsure if they can directly reply to the email you sent. 

An example can be seen below:

Still unsure how to write a welcome email for a new team member? Refer to these employee onboarding email examples and templates below to help you!

1. Casual welcome email template

A casual employee onboarding email template can be seen below:

Here’s a casual onboarding letter sample:

2. Professional welcome email template

An example of a more professional new employee onboarding email template:

A professional sample onboarding email for new employees:

3. New team member (relocated from another team/location)

A sample of a onboarding letter for a new team member who is relocated from another team or location:

4. Welcome email template for new remote employee

Last but not least, here are a few helpful tips you can use to make your welcome emails for new employees even better:

Tip 1: Be welcoming & let them know you’re willing to help

A period of any transition is never easy - when your new employees are trying to transition towards their new job, HRs can show support by simply letting them know that there will be people helping them along the way. Showing that you, on behalf of the company, truly welcomes them through an employee welcome email, can put them more at ease. 

Tip 2: Avoid sending sudden emails

Although the ‘right’ time to send a new hire welcome email is subjective (depends on situations), it is great to show thoughtfulness to your new employees by not sending your welcome mail to new employees only one or two days in advance. Giving them a longer period to prepare can help them feel more confident and less nervous. Additionally, they may feel more assured if they want to ask questions because there’s still quite some time. 

Tip 3: Pump their enthusiasm 

Emphasize on the things they can look forward to on their first day! As they might feel a little nervous or anxious about this period of change, it’s great to raise a sense of excitement. 

Tip 4: Underline or highlight important data

To make sure that your new employees won’t misread any important information, underline or highlight components such as starting date, working hours, items to bring, and other matters they don’t want to get wrong on.

Key Takeaways

• An employee welcome email can help new employees feel less nervous and more prepared for their first day. 
• Many important information such as starting date, working hours, and items to bring are mentioned on the employee welcome email.
• When writing an employee welcome email, it is important to show that you’re willing to help and raise their excitement to work on their first day.

--- Originally written by Lorencia Ang Budijono ---