New hire company policy

The New Hire policy outlines the company’s efforts to assist new employees in settling into their roles. It encompasses pre-arrival preparations, first-day activities, and ongoing onboarding during the initial weeks. The policy ensures a smooth transition and integration into the company culture and operations.

This New Hire Company Policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs and should be considered a starting point for setting up your employment policies.

The New hire policy should include:

1. Making new hires feel welcome and helping them get acquainted with their team
2. Providing relevant information about their position, company principles, orientation, mission, and procedures
3. Implementing onboarding steps both before the new hire’s first day and during their initial months on the job

New hire company policy template

Policy brief & purpose

Our New Hire policy refers to our efforts to help new employees settle in their new job. We will provide new hires with necessary information about their new job and our company, as well as facilitate a rising feeling of comfort around an unknown workplace.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees who were recently received and accepted an offer of employment from us.

Policy elements

Our onboarding efforts will aim to:

• Make new hires feel welcome.
• Help new hires get to know their team.
• Provide useful information about their position.
• Inform our new hire about company principles, new employee orientation, mission and procedures.

Actions

We have implemented steps to meet our onboarding goals. Some of those steps refer to the period before our new hire’s first day and some refer to their first months on the job.

Before a new hire starts work

• Announce our new employee’s start date and basic personal information to other staff of the department (especially their new team.)
• Enter our new employee’s information in our company database and set up their individual e-mails, accounts and phones.
• Create an onboarding program with specific activities, timelines, participants and documentation.
• Prepare our new hire’s workspace with all equipment and material necessary.
• Send an onboarding “package” to our new hire. This “package” will include documents with basic information about their new job (e.g. general duties), our company (e.g. dress code, working hours) and orientation process (e.g. Day 1, Day 2 etc.)

After our new hire starts work

The day our new hire starts working with us

On our new hire’s first day, HR and our new hire’s manager should:

• Welcome new hires in an organized manner. Everyone involved (reception, manager, co-workers) must be prepared for our new employee’s arrival.
• Show new hires to their new workstation and help them familiarize themselves with their surroundings.
• Introduce new hires to colleagues and upper management when applicable.
• Present important documents to review (Employee Handbook, previous reports etc.). This paperwork must be kept at a bare minimum so as not to overwhelm our new hire.
• Give short presentations so our employee can become familiar with our mission, procedures, values and policies.

Our new hire’s first week on the job

The first few days our new hire spends in our company are important to help them settle in. So, we advise their manager to:

• Assist our new hire in building a communication network (who to contact for what, who to report to etc.)
• Ease employees into their new position by assigning simple but meaningful work from the start. Our employee should not have to deal with urgent work or duties not involved in their job description during their first days.
• Arrange for our new hire to shadow colleagues during their work so they can get hands-on experience on how things are done.
• Schedule lunch or breaks so our new hire can socialize.
• Assign a mentor.

We want our new employee to feel respected and valued early on. Our new hires’ supervisor can implement onboarding activities that aren’t included in this policy. We encourage collective activities since they help new hires feel part of a team.

New recruits may need more than a few days to fully grasp their responsibilities and learn to be productive in their new workplace. Onboarding may go on until the employees feel sure that they can function on their own.

Further reading

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of a New hire policy? A New hire policy is a guideline that outlines a company's approach to helping new employees integrate into their roles. It covers aspects like making new hires feel welcome, introducing them to the team, and providing essential job-related information. Why is a New hire policy important? A New hire policy is crucial as it ensures a smooth transition for new employees, fostering a welcoming environment. It aids in quicker adaptation, promotes positive first impressions, and sets the foundation for long-term employee engagement and productivity. What should a New hire policy include? A New hire policy should encompass steps to make new hires feel welcome, introduce them to their team, and provide vital information about their role, company principles, and procedures. It also outlines onboarding activities before and after the employee's first day. How long does the onboarding process typically last? Onboarding can vary in duration, but it often extends beyond the initial days. It continues until employees feel confident to function independently, ensuring they fully grasp their responsibilities and adapt to the workplace. Who is responsible for the onboarding of a new hire? While HR typically initiates the onboarding process, it's a collective effort. HR, the new hire's manager, and even colleagues play roles in welcoming the new employee, introducing them to the team, and assisting with initial tasks and training.