Acclimating New Employees

New employees bring new life to your organization. They certainly can pick up some of the workloads for teams that have been short on members. As such, it’s important that you get your new hires acclimated to your company culture quickly. Here are a few ways to make that happen.

Make Expectations Clear

Set your new employees up for success by telling them what your expectations of them are. In particular, don’t wait until you hire them to let them know what you expect from them. Talk about it in the interview. This allows you and your potential employees to decide if they’re a good fit for the job. If so, it’ll be easier for them to get acclimated to the job because you’re not asking them to do something outside of their skill set.

Create Opportunities

It’s difficult to acclimate to a company’s culture if you don’t know anyone. That’s why it’s important to get your new employees involved right away. If you have an annual holiday party, make sure they’re invited. Also, don’t dismiss too many ideas, particularly ones that involve physical fitness. There are a number of new employee activities that focus on wellness. Inviting a new employee to join you at the company yoga class or to participate in an office fun run may just get the ball rolling. It also gives both of you the opportunity to see one another in a less formal light, which helps your new employee to relax a bit.

Give Them a Mentor

Most company cultures have a few unwritten rules that a new employee can miss completely. This can cause some unnecessary issues with your staff and can make new employees feel uncomfortable and excluded. Sidestep these potential problems by giving your new employee a mentor, who becomes their “go-to” person when issues arise.

Getting your new employees properly acclimated allows them to become accustomed to your company culture in a short period of time. This can be a particularly important issue if you’ve been short-staffed and need your new hire to jump into new projects right away. Setting clear expectations, creating participation opportunities, and having someone onboard your new hire are just some of the ways that you can make this transition easier.

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