Welcome to the team—is this your opening line when anyone joins your team? While traditional phrases like these set a warm tone, their repetitive nature sometimes lacks the zest to captivate and truly engage.
In this article, we've compiled 15 creative and professional ways both managers and teammates can say "welcome to the team" to make a lasting impression and foster a sense of belonging. Read on!
Why welcome messages are important
Onboarding experience can significantly impact new joiners' long-term satisfaction and commitment to their role. Studies by Gallup claim that 70% of employees addressed their roles as the “best possible job” just because they had an exceptional onboarding experience.
A warm welcome message is an impactful part of onboarding a new team member. Extending this gesture:
- Sets a supportive tone, facilitating open communication moving forward
- Introduces company values and culture, allowing the employee to align expectations with workplace norms early on
- Sets the foundation for building a healthy relationship with the new team member
- Showcases your approach to support and encouragement
- Encourages employee engagement from day one
- Guides the new hire toward the next steps
Consider coupling the message with check-ins, team introductions, surveys, and opportunities for the new hire to ask questions. This comprehensive approach makes for an engaging, informative onboarding experience.
Fireflies
How to set your welcome message
Crafting an impactful welcome message for a new team member requires thoughtfulness. Move beyond a simple “Welcome to the team!” by incorporating these elements:
- Celebrate their presence
- Offer support
- Encourage questions and curiosity
- Introduce other team members
Celebrate their presence
Express genuine excitement that they have joined the organization. Use positive phrases like “We are so glad to have you here!” and “The team is thrilled for you to begin.” This makes them feel wanted.
Offer support and guidance
Transitioning to a new environment isn’t easy. Proactively guide new joiners on where they can find logistical resources like equipment set-up instructions, office maps, org charts, and IT support.
Also, reassure them that you are personally available for any guidance or questions.
Encourage questions and curiosity
Often, new hires are shy about speaking up early on as they navigate new surroundings. However, facilitating an open space for sharing ideas and questions right away is key for innovation.
Stress that all opinions and challenges to the status quo are welcomed, not just tolerated.
Introduce other members of your team
Knowing who they’ll work alongside helps build connections faster.
If possible, mention some current team members by name and how excited those individuals are to meet the new person. Also, highlighting any mentor pairings gives the new hire both a formal and informal resource to turn to.
15 different ways to say welcome to the team
Crafting the perfect opening line of your welcome message for a new hire isn't always easy.
Here are some go-to templates managers and co-workers can use instead of just plain, simple—welcome to the team.
Different ways for a manager to say welcome to the team
- We're thrilled you've joined us here at [Company]! Your skills in [area] will be invaluable.
- I'm excited to have you on board! Your background in [field] caught our eye.
- Welcome aboard! Your approach to [topic] impressed us during the hiring process.
- I'm so glad you've come on board. You come highly recommended from [previous company].
- It's great to have you on the team. Your work on [project] was fantastic.
- We're lucky to have you on our staff. Your expertise in [domain] is unmatched!
- So glad you're joining our growing team! Your specialization in [field] is much needed here.
- Thank you for joining us! You'll contribute greatly to our key initiatives in [area].
- I'm delighted you chose our team. You have an insightful take on tackling [problems].
- Welcome to the group! You'll bring a fresh vantage point on how to best serve [clients].
Different ways a co-worker can say welcome to the team
- Great to have you with us! I've heard wonderful things about your work.
- Welcome to the group! I'm looking forward to collaborating with you on [projects].
- So happy you've joined our department! Your experience with [skills] will be super helpful.
- I'm thrilled we'll be working together. Your background in [topic] is impressive!
- Welcome to the team! Your previous work at [companies] caught everyone's eye here.
Effortlessly record, analyze, and document your onboarding conversations with Fireflies.ai
Onboarding new employees can be an administrative headache, but tools like Fireflies.ai help make things seamless.
Fireflies is an AI notetaker that can work as your personal assistant during the onboarding calls. Fireflies records, transcribes, summarizes, and analyzes online and offline meetings with over 90% accuracy.
Once the meeting concludes, Fireflies instantly shares an easy-to-navigate meeting time-stamped transcript and an AI-generated meeting summary highlighting key discussion topics, action items, and decisions made. This makes it simple for new hires to revisit specific talking points, clarify uncertainties, and reinforce their learning.
Neha Kulshreshtha
Furthermore, you can use Fireflies to snip out highlights from past onboarding meetings. Organize these sound bites into a shareable playlist to create an onboarding playbook that quickly communicates company values, team dynamics, processes, and best practices to new joiners.
Soorya Radhakrishnan
Wrapping up,
Welcoming a new team member sets the tone for their long-term satisfaction and success. While a simple “Welcome to the team!” is great, but why stop there?
Take some extra time to get creative with your messaging and make new hires feel genuinely excited about their decision. Emphasize support, encourage questions, and help them connect.
Give them a first day they can't stop raving about.
