Onboarding is crucial to the success of new employees, and you need to start with the perfect welcome announcement. The employee welcome announcement helps to make your new hire feel like part of the team.

It also helps your existing team adjust to having a new employee – especially if new employees are remote. In this post, we’ll explore why this is so important and what information to include. We also have a few templates to help you easily write the best welcome announcement. 

What Is An Employee Announcement? 

An employee announcement is a public statement introducing new employees to existing ones. In a small business, you might send the announcement to the whole company. In the case of a large corporation, you may just send it to the new employee team or department.  

Some people confuse an employee announcement with an employee welcome message. They are both essential but focus on different target audiences. A welcome message is directed to the new employee to welcome them to the company. An employee announcement is directed toward your current team to introduce the new employee to others in your business. 

Generally, an employee welcome announcement will be an email or a public message on your company or team channel in the communication platform you use. 

The Importance Of New Employee Announcements

There are a number of reasons why making a new employee announcement is important. It serves to welcome the new employee, introduce them to existing employees, and set the tone for what they should expect from your company culture.

Welcome New Employee

The first thing a welcome announcement needs to do is welcome the new employee. Make them feel like they are a part of the team by introducing them to the rest of your employees. 

A welcome announcement can reduce some of the awkwardness of starting a new job and not knowing anyone. A written announcement before meeting in person gives everyone time to prepare. This makes sure everyone is prepared to give them a warm welcome. 

Your announcement could even provide a few talking points that people can bring up when they meet the new employee. 

Keep Your Current Team Informed

One of the roles of a manager in onboarding is to ensure your current team is informed of office changes that may impact them. A new hire can destabilize existing employees if communication is poorly handled. 

Some people may worry that their job is threatened or things are changing very quickly. One of the core purposes of a welcome announcement is to be confident that management, the new employee, and the current team are all on the same page. 

An official announcement explaining changes can help soothe concerns and smooth the employee onboarding process. 

Rather than the new employee arriving unannounced, ensure everyone knows exactly when they start and what their job is. If a new hire is suddenly thrown into the mix, it’s harder to make them feel welcome. 

Display Company Culture

When new employees start, their early experiences must help them understand your company culture. This often includes employee welcome gifts and lunches, but your welcome announcement can make a strong statement.

It shows how you communicate with your employees regarding content and tone. While your new employee will already have a sense of the company, this is their first real interaction with working there. 

A formal welcome email sets an expectation for a very professional workplace, whereas an informal welcome message conveys a more relaxed impression. Rather than simply telling the new employee about your company culture, this is your opportunity to show them. 

Boost Employee Engagement

Inspiring employee engagement is vital, and starting on the right foot can make a significant impact. You want to engage your new employee before their first day at the company.

A well-crafted welcome announcement can achieve this by showing how you see them with your team. How you speak about new employees is as important as how you speak to them. 

Ensuring existing employees are included in current happenings also helps to boost engagement with them. The more included employees feel, the more enthusiastic and committed they will be. 

To assess how successful your employee engagement attempts are, conduct an employee engagement survey. This is important to see if efforts like your employee welcome announcements work well. If not, you can tweak and adapt your process to improve it. 

Set The Foundation For Meaningful Connection

Inform employees of new hires well in advance. Taking the time to welcome and introduce your new employee helps to establish a foundation for friendship and connection in the workplace. If a new team member suddenly appears, it can be disconcerting for your current employees. 

The smoother this welcome goes, the more easily friendships and positive working relationships can be formed. 

Your welcome announcement makes it easier for your employees to connect with the new member of their team and they may send their own welcome messages to them and initiate conversation. Then you can watch as organic relationships spring up. 

By enabling meaningful connections, you can reap the benefits of work friendships. Not only are they good for employee stress levels, but they also boost morale and productivity. 

What Should You Include In Your Employee Announcement?

Knowing employee onboarding best practices is vital, including what to put in an employee announcement to help everything go smoothly. Here are four important elements to include when making your new employee announcement.

Personal Information And Background 

Briefly introduce the new employee, including their name, age, and where they grew up. Mention when they will be starting and provide an academic and professional background.

Say what and where they studied and any relevant previous positions they have held. You don’t have to include the names of companies but outlining some of your new employee’s experience helps establish them as a competent team member. 

Role In the Company

Set out their current role, including which department they will work in. Giving a short outline of their key responsibilities helps everyone see their position in the company's context. 

You should also indicate why you hired this person and how they will fit in at the company. This can include highlighting a specific skill set and mentioning how they are a good team player.

Other ways to do this include mentioning their fresh perspective or growth mindset. This shows your current team what the new hire brings and shows the new employee that they are valued. 

How To Get In Touch

Ensure everyone knows where to find the new employee by including their physical location in the office and contact details like their email address. This makes it easy for people to say hi in person or digitally. 

This is the first step in helping your new employee build connections in the workplace, which can contribute to peer-to-peer recognition, benefitting your employees and your business. 

You need to decide exactly who will receive the employee welcome announcement, making sure that everyone who will be working with the new employee will see it. Depending on the size and structure of your company, you can send it to everyone or target it to the necessary people or relevant department or team. 

Fun Facts And Interests

Lastly, you want to give your new employee some personality by listing fun facts about them and their hobbies. These hobbies could be linked to the job, but mentioning some unrelated hobbies is good too. 

If there are any shared hobbies between the new employee and your current team, include those to help people find common ground. Try to gather these fun facts and hobbies from your new employee well in advance so you don’t put them under too much pressure.

4 Templates For Your New Employee Welcome Message

You want an employee announcement to be detailed, short, and straightforward. Aim for between 150 and 300 words to get this balance right for email announcements. 

Announcements on messaging platforms should be less than 150 words. It’s a good idea to send a welcome announcement on your messaging platform in addition to an email welcome so that they are introduced in both spaces. 

Here are four templates you can use to guide your welcome announcement for new employees:

Brief New Employee Announcement

Morning, everyone.

I'm happy to announce that [name] will join the team as your new [role]. [Name] has previously worked in [related role], and we're excited to see what they bring to the role. 

Excitingly, they will also be heading up [new project] along with [current employee]. 

They'll start on [start date], so let's make them feel welcome at our weekly team meeting on Friday. 

Formal Email Employee Announcement

Good day, everyone. 

We want to welcome [full name], who will be joining [company] on [date]. [Name] will be working in [role] alongside [immediate teammates]. 

[Name] studied at [institution] and has spent several years working in [area]. Their experience and innovative thinking make them a valuable addition to our [department] team. 

As [role], [name] will be responsible for [task 1] and [task 2]. We hope that they will streamline [process]. 

In their spare time, [name] enjoys [hobby 1] and [hobby 2]. [Name] also [fun fact].

[Name] will be working in [location], and you can reach them at [email]. 

A department-wide coffee afternoon will be on [start date] so that [name] can meet the team. Please make them feel welcome. 

Kind regards, 

[Your name]

Informal Email Employee Announcement

Hi everyone, I hope your week is going well!

Today we are welcoming [full name] to our team. They'll work in [department] as our new [role]. They graduated from [institution] in [year] and worked at [company]. Most recently, they served as a [previous role].

This expertise will be invaluable here, and we're excited to see what [name's] creative problem-solving brings to our team! We’re sure they'll also be invaluable next week at our [team-building activity or meeting].

When they aren't busy with [activity associated with role], you can find [name] doing [hobby 1], which I’m sure many can relate to!

They'll be located in [location], and you can reach them on [email] and [messaging platform]. They'll partner with [current employee] for the first week, who will help show them the ropes. 

We'll all meet for coffee at [1 pm] on [start date] at [location] so that [name] can get to know everyone! See you then. 

Best,

[Your name]

Digital Messaging Platform Employee Announcement

Good morning, team! Today we’re welcoming [account link] to the [company] family as our [role]. They’ve just graduated in [field] from [institution], and we’re so excited to have them on board! 

When they aren’t doing [activity associated with role], they love to [hobby].

 Let’s all make [name] feel welcome here! Congrats on joining the [company name] family, [name]!

Final Thoughts

A top-notch employee welcome announcement makes a new hire feel welcome and gives the team a sense of who they are. 

To make the best first impression, give your new employee a welcome gift along with their welcome announcement. 

One of the best ways to personalize employee onboarding experience is through gifts and rewards. 

A welcome gift can show that the company has taken the time to personalize the experience for the new employee. 

With PerkUp, there are 1000+ gift options to welcome new employees to the team. Book a demo today to see how we can help you welcome new members to your team.