There are only a few things in life scarier than starting a new job – such as visiting the dentist or getting chased by a wasp. But after all the investment that goes into finding, attracting and hiring a talented new hire, the last thing you want is for them to be frozen like a rabbit in headlights!

Research suggests that 44% of new starters already have regrets within their first 7 days of starting a job. So the more you can do to help them feel comfortable and confident in their first week, the better! For that reason, we’ve put together our ultimate list of 30 ideas to help a new starter in their first week – and we’re sure that if you take most of these ideas on board, you’ll be well on your way to retaining much more of the top talent you manage to attract!

1. Send a welcome letter before their start date

Setting the right tone before they even step through your door is so important. After all, it’s the run-up to the first day that gets the nerves going for most people – so if you can help them to visualise what they can expect on their first day, you’ll be off to a winning start. In your welcome letter, you should of course tell them how excited you are to meet them. But you should also remind them of what you expect, such as what they should wear, what time their shift starts, and any paperwork they might need to bring along. It’s also helpful to try and answer any questions or concerns you think they may have – such as where to park their car, who to report to, or even what the options are for lunch!

2. Prepare their workspace in advance

Having a ready and organized workspace helps new employees to feel comfortable and start being productive immediately. So instead of just dumping a load of boxes at their desk and expecting them to get on with it, why not get it set up and ready before they arrive? A nice touch would be to add a few comforts to their desk, too – maybe a quirky ornament, a pack of snacks, or even a stress ball or fidget toy!

3. Take them on a detailed office tour

Just because you know your way from the main entrance to the bathroom, it doesn’t mean your new starters are going to know – and that’s even if you work in a simple office with plenty of signs. And it’s not just the bathroom, either – new starters will need to know how to find everything before they can feel comfortable! Consider including these in your first office tour:

• Their personal workspace
• Breakout rooms or canteens
• Drink or snack vending machines
• Bathrooms or facilities
• Evacuation meeting points

You’ll also want to show them any areas that are off-limits – such as hazardous working zones or places where sensitive information is stored. The more they feel they know the workplace, the faster they’ll settle in!

4. Introduce them to their new colleagues

This may seem obvious, but you should make proactive introductions to the new starter’s new colleagues. Some people assume that because a new starter’s colleagues will be sitting around them, they’ll make their own introductions – but breaking the ice doesn’t come easily to everybody, and the last thing you want is for them to sit feeling unable to make the first move, while strangers laugh and joke around them! Introduce them first to the people they’ll be working most closely with, followed by the rest of the people they may come into contact with, as well as any distinct office personalities!

5. Introduce them to key stakeholders

It’s easy to forget about the people at the top of the chain, but actually, these people are key to achieving some early cultural alignment with new hires. SHRM recommends a meet-and-greet or welcome address with senior leaders – but in our opinion, the more personal you can make this interaction feel, the more impact it will have. So whether it’s a first-day lunch, a visit to their office, or a 1-on-1 phone call, introducing new hires to “important” people in the organization early on can help them to feel more valued, and also help them to buy into the company’s vision more strongly. And if they feel more invested, they’ll be more productive.

6. Assign a peer mentor or “buddy”

Giving each new starter an “onboarding buddy”, also known as a peer mentor, or simply a buddy, is a strategy that can really enhance the onboarding process. According to Harvard Business Review, a peer mentor can provide more human guidance on company processes, and offers much-needed social support, helping the newcomer to get used to the organizational culture – something that no handbook can truly teach.

7. Provide a company handbook

We’ve mentioned already that a company handbook cannot truly teach a person about your organization’s culture – but it can certainly help to set their expectations. And what’s more, the handbook can be an important crutch for new starters who are too shy to ask for help but would like to know how they should approach certain processes – such as how to request time off, or what to do if they are sick. Your handbook could be as basic as a set of guides on how to handle company processes, but it could also be a bit more creative. You could even be as bold as the company Valve – the company behind the popular gaming platform Steam – who in 2012 published a handbook that they described as “a fearless adventure in knowing what to do when nobody’s telling you what to do.” You can read more about that here.

8. Provide necessary training resources

Not everybody starts a job with all the skills they need to succeed. If the role requires any special training, then make sure you provide the training resources the new starter needs to be successful! This is one of those ideas that sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people start a job – a job where they need and expect some sort of induction or training materials – but are left to simply sink or swim.

9. Set clear job expectations

If you expect your new starters to hit certain KPIs – such as number of sales, or number of calls answered, etc – make this clear from the start. What’s more, you should set any sort of expectation you have from your new hires, including the times they’re expected to take breaks, the speed with which you expect them to reply to emails, and the types of reports you’d like them to deliver. New starters are not mind-readers, so no matter how good they are at their job, they’ll rarely be able to magically guess exactly how you want them to behave!

10. Offer a “week-1 plan”

Giving new starters a detailed “week-1 plan” can be a real gold nugget when it comes to settling them in. It takes away any important decision-making during their first nerve-wracking week, and can also show them the kind of structure you’d like them to keep going forward. But a week-1 plan shouldn’t exclusively focus on tasks and responsibilities – try to throw in some settling-in activities into that plan, too. Such as “Tuesday, 10:00 – go for a walk with Jane and Thomas to get to know the local area”. Naturally, you should remember to tell Jane and Thomas that they’re a part of this plan!

11. Schedule regular check-ins

Regular check-ins let employees give their early feedback, ask pressing questions, and address unexpected concerns. But even if they sail through their first week with no problems, regular check-ins are still a great idea – as they show your support for ensuring the new hire becomes a well-integrated member of the team, helping them to feel valued. Vermont’s Department of Human Resources has a useful – if perhaps a little formal – check-in and onboarding schedule for new starters, which you can find here.

12. Encourage social interactions

Beyond making introductions, you can also help your new starters settle in by encouraging social interactions beyond their simple day-to-day. This could be as simple as arranging for a co-worker to “babysit” them for each of their first few days, or as complex as orchestrating a social event – and then making sure they attend! If your teams have any special interest groups, such as board game clubs or sports teams, point these out and make sure the new hire knows how to get involved.

13. Teach them about the internal communication tools

Do you use Slack? Microsoft Teams? Zoom? Skype? Emails? Phone calls? Face-to-face meetings? However you and your colleagues stay in touch during the day – about work issues, as well as for idle chit-chat – make sure your new hires are inducted in terms of what tools to use, and what any expected etiquette might be. If you fail to teach them the way your teams work, you may end up with an embarrassing situation on your hands, such as a new hire who somehow thinks that it’s OK to just walk up to a person’s desk and fire them a question – which in many workspaces, it is. But not all! So don’t leave them guessing about how to communicate.

14. Discuss the company’s mission and values

If you’ve organized meetings with key stakeholders and important colleagues, and if you’ve provided a comprehensive employee handbook, then chances are that your new hire has already got a pretty good idea about what your company stands for, and where it’s headed. But you should still take time to bring this topic up pro-actively and give your new starter a chance to ask questions about points they don’t understand. It will help them to align their own personal values with those of your organisation.

15. Share organizational structure and key contacts

When a person understands where they fit within a structure – as well as where they can go to for help – they’ll relax more, and be able to focus better on their job. So it’s a good idea to show them how your organizational structure works. Show them who runs the organization, how the different teams are made up, who their line managers and senior colleagues are, and let them know how to access internal support services such as your HR team or occupational health team.

16. Encourage questions and open communication

The advice for new starters nervous about a new job, is to ask plenty of questions – so you should be doing your part to encourage this. Start by letting them know that they can ask questions at any time. Then, as they go through their induction, give plenty of opportunities for a pause, where you may even wish to prompt them to ask questions that they haven’t felt comfortable interjecting with. Then, remind them that your company encourages open communication – better to get something off your mind than let it sit and fester! Explain that if they don’t feel comfortable asking you personally, they can always go to other people within the organization – including your HR team, if you have one.

17. Remember your health and safety briefing!

In many countries, a formal health and safety briefing is a legal requirement when an employee first starts work. Failing to conduct one could put you in legal jeopardy! Not to mention the fact that your new hire may have an accident… so make sure to take them on a health and safety tour, covering all the legal check boxes as a bare minimum. Remember that your legal requirements may differ depending on your industry – for example, a building site has health and safety regulations that don’t exist in an office environment. The Health and Safety Executive has plenty of guides and checklists to help you ensure you’re staying compliant and protecting your workers.

18. Encourage participation in team meetings

During your new hire’s first few team meetings, you should encourage them to participate. Getting them active in their first few meetings could give them the confidence to make more valuable contributions as they build their experience. You don’t have to ask them to prepare a formal presentation, it could be something as small as asking them what they think about something somebody has said, in a casual but direct way.

19. Set up some early “wins”

Goaltenders in hockey tend to have better games when they make an early save. Why? Because it settles them into the game. Even if the save was super easy – the puck trickling through the crease at just a few miles per hour – it’s that early touch of rubber that gets their confidence going, and is more likely to lead to a shutout (sorry, we don’t have any stats to back that claim up!) The point here though, is that giving your new starter some early confidence is going to help them sail onto bigger and better wins for your team in the future – so make sure to set them some easy challenges that they can get checked off in their first few hours and days, and start their journey at your company feeling like a winner. Oh, and there’s no need to tell them that the challenges were designed to be easy – that’s like telling your kid that they only beat you at Monopoly because you let them!

20. Give your first round of feedback as early as possible

Starting a new job is daunting, and from the moment a new starter completes their first task, they’re likely asking themselves “was that good enough?” Giving your new starters their first round of feedback as early as possible is a great way to boost their confidence and ensure they’re doing things the way you like them done. So make sure to sit down with them after they finish their first task – or even just after their first couple of hours working on a project.

21. Show them how to progress their career

New hires won’t be asking for promotions or pay rises in their first week, but they may secretly be wondering how that process works – so take the bull by the horns and show them! Highlight any optional training that may be available to them, show them what sort of opportunities may open up to them if they hit certain milestones, and let them know what your policy is on pay reviews. They may not be asking, but they’re certainly thinking!

22. Discuss work hours and attendance policies

You may have stated working hours and days in your job offer, but it’s never going to hurt to go over this again once a person starts their job – it’s easy to forget things in the chaos of the first day. Let them know what hours they’re expected to work, and what kind of attendance thresholds you allow. For example, some companies have policies on how many sick days will trigger formal action – whereas others may have policies on ratios of home working vs office working.

23. Induct them into company traditions

If you have any fun company traditions or induction ceremonies, let them know what to expect – and how to get involved. Nobody wants to be in the dark, and not everybody likes surprises! So if you have a tradition of all leaving your desks at 3pm for coffee and cake, let them know – instead of letting them feel abandoned and not knowing why! Of course, not all company traditions should be encouraged – such as this call centre in Bury, made infamous through their tradition of dropping a dead squid onto the faces of staff who didn’t hit their sales figures! 

24. Explain the employee support options you offer

If you offer more support than just the bare essentials – i.e. a functioning HR department (and not all companies even have that!), then make sure to show your new hires what kind of support they can get from your organization. Do you have an employee assistance program to support employee wellbeing? Or how about counselling services, for employees struggling with their mental health? Some companies also offer financial support, such as wage advances, for employees who are suffering with financial difficulty. Remember that these are all issues that your new starters may not dare to mention – but for which you may already have a solution.

25. Take them through a typical performance review

Their first performance review may be a long way off yet, but chances are they’re already thinking about it. So why not show them what a typical performance review at your company looks like? This way, they’ll know what kind of behaviours to focus on during their next few weeks and months with your organization.

26. Give them a small welcome gift

A small token could go a long way in helping new starters feel special and appreciated from their very first day. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – we’re not talking a personalised Rolex here. It could be as simple as a company-branded mug, a small box of chocolates, or even a hand-written welcome note from their new teammates.

27. Create an FAQ document

If you’re welcoming new starters often, you probably have a pretty good handle on the kinds of questions that are on their minds. So why not create a company-branded FAQ document that you can hand out on their first day, to help them build their confidence without having to ask?

28. Share a fun “getting to know you” survey

It’s good to get to know new people. You learn something interesting, and they feel included! A nice way to do this is to create a fun “getting to know you” survey, which they can fill out in their own time during their first day at work. It’s up to you what you ask, but this website has some fun ideas, ranging from “what’s your favourite book”, to “if you had a time machine what year would you travel to and why?”

29. Recognise them

For a new starter finding their feet in an organization, wondering whether or not they’re doing things right and making a positive contribution, even a small acknowledgement can feel like a huge win. A mention in a team meeting, office-wide email, or public recognition from a peer or manager, will all go a long way to boosting morale and confidence.

If they’ve made a positive contribution – even a small one – then make sure it doesn’t go unnoticed. Publicly recognising your new starter begins to build that sense of belonging early doors and justifies their decision to join your organisation.

30. Celebrate key milestones

Each milestone marks a meaningful step forward – completing onboarding, hitting their first goal, or even getting through that nerve-wracking first presentation. Recognizing these moments can make all the difference. A simple shout-out, team acknowledgement, or small gesture of appreciation helps build confidence, reinforces company values, and makes new hires feel like they truly belong.

Celebrating milestones shows that their efforts are noticed and valued, making them more likely to stay engaged and motivated. So, when they reach those early achievements, don’t miss the opportunity to cheer them on!