What things do you do to ensure a new associate’s first day is impactful & memorable?

You have a new Associate that you've just added to your Team, as a Supervisor what things do you do to ensure their first day is impactful & memorable? What do you do to make them feel welcomed, appreciated, and EXCITED to be on your Team??

Buy a welcome card and have the whole team sign it-put it on their desk/work station along with some company swag if you have some. Like a water bottle, note pad, t-shirt, etc. Buy the team lunch so they can all take a break and welcome the new person. Also-most important. Have a plan for training and write it down. Make sure someone is dedicated to giving them the one on one training. So often, we throw our newbies to the fire and then 6 months down the road complain that they aren’t “catching on”. The first two weeks are essential for training. Good luck!

Our property manager had flowers delivered to me on my first day at work, then ordered our entire team lunch and we closed the office for it so we could eat and get to know each other !

Wow wish you were my manager. Amazing you are going so far. I had one who came fairly close and is now practically family. And I had one who never spoke and made me feel like an outcast. By all means keep up the good work A+!!! And I would recommend a staff lunch with a meet and greet that would be a cool ice breaker

We like to do a multitude of things to make new team members feel welcome. Ensuring their desk is clean and organized, a small welcome gift from the onsite manager, team lunch and as regional, I send my new team members a welcome card with a Starbucks gift card. Onboard training is just as important as making a great first impression. We assign a mentor to all new team members who handle their onboard training (1-2 weeks long depending on experience) and then conduct frequent check ins during their first 3-6 months.

As with anything meaningful it starts in the heart - if you are truly appreciative of the new team member and truly care and have a heart (and mind) to be intentional about making them feel welcome and have a good first day then most anything you do should turn out ok.

I always make a nice homemade breakfast and we have a team meeting for about 30 min before we open eating and getting to know eachother

DON’T start them the Monday after daylight savings time like we just did!