According to Gallup's findings, "only 12% of employees feel like their companies did a good job of onboarding." Not many employers realize that onboarding is much more than directing new hires to their office and assigning tasks right away. But instead, it's about finding ways to ensure and improve employee engagement from the first point of contact.While everyone within an organization is responsible for infusing company culture into everything they do, Human Resources helps manage and ensure that new employees feel safe and adapt to said culture.While onboarding emails are great at first, improving employee engagement is an ongoing effort. These efforts are especially important for remote workers who don't get to bond or experience the culture in person. Keep reading ifyou're wondering how emails can help onboard new hires and improve employee engagement.
8 Types of Email Templates to Improve Employee Engagement
Onboarding is an entire process that requires a series of several emails. We'll categorize those messages and give you simpleemail design tips to follow!
1. Thank you for your application email!
Although this is a pre-boarding email, it's a huge part of the onboarding experience. It is the first time a potential candidate receives communication from your brand and gets to experience the company culture firsthand.A simple "thank you for your application email" goes a long way. Not only does it offer reassurance for potential candidates, but also it lets them know the next steps. This simple step is a great way to be clear and transparent while letting candidates know their time is valued and appreciated.
2. Offer Email
The job offer email helps to translate the company's culture. It should communicate essential details regarding the position, benefits, salary, and work schedule. However, it should also include that extra "something" (team spirit) that will drive the candidate towards this position before considering another offer.Here's a sample of an offer email that captures the team's culture in a light tone:"Dear Catherine, Over the last week, we enjoyed getting to know you. We loved learning about your interest in (personalized for them), and we're impressed with your energy, skills, and experience, which would make you the perfect person to join us. The entire team and I would like to formally offer you a position as a marketing manager. Congrats!We can offer you a salary of $ annually, plus bonuses and 20 days of vacation per year. I'd love to discuss the details in our offices on Monday, 9 AM. Please contact me with any questions or comments. We are excited to hear back from you. "Often interviews can be draining, and candidates can feel like just a number by the end. By adding a personal and human touch to your offer emails, you can let them know that their time is valuable and that you paid attention to who they are as a person beyond what they can bring to the team.
3. Welcome Email
Now that the person is officially part of your team, you can add more fun elements to the design and message. This email should make the candidate feel excited to have joined the team and offer an opportunity to learn more about the company, the culture, and their co-workers.Here are a few contents and design tips to keep in mind:
- Include information about their direct team members and any other members they will be collaborating with.
- You can use an online collage maker to quickly build photo collages. Include photos of team-building events and your team's day-to-day atmosphere.
- Include a section with useful links and resources. These may be how-to tutorials, library resources, and even food delivery services that your team usually relies on.
4. Announcing a New Hire Email
Whenever someone joins the team, everyone should be made aware of them. This allows other employees the opportunity to get to know new team members that they'll be collaborating with and congratulate them personally. This is also great to helps avoid the need to introduce themselves over and over again.While this email is to introduce someone in a new position, it should also be about the human - beyond what they are bringing to the team.These are some details you should include in this message:
- A photo of the new hire
- Details about their position and responsibilities, so everyone will know how this new hire will be included in their own workflow.
- Previous experience,
- Any hobbies, skills, and passions.
You can also include new hires announcements in the company's HR newsletter to remind the team about last month's newcomers and share their stories.
5. Corporate Training Email
Training emails are especially important. They provide employees with knowledge on how to do their job effectively and efficiently and how they can meet personal and organizational goals. Trainings should be sent to teams on a quarterly basis and should include:
- Main details about the topic of the training.
- Text or video instructions about the organization's values, vision, and security rules.
- How-to videos on how to complete technical tasks. This is a crucial element of these emails, as it helps a new hire to understand how to use the corporate hardware and software. For example, explaining how they can uninstall programs on Mac and install the ones that are needed is easy to do via email.
Training emails should also be sent out every time a new tool, policy, and/or procedure is implemented in the organization.
6. Anniversary or Birthday Email
It's great when the HR team reminds the entire team of birthdays and anniversaries.These emails allow employees to feel like they are part of a community and cared for. This is the right moment to add a dose of fun to the message. Here's an example of the text you can include:It's October 7; an important date! Our colleague Michelle is celebrating her birthday. Everyone is invited to a small party in the meeting room on October 7 at 4 PM. The drinks (and cake!) are on us. Here is an email collection by BEE Pro to help you celebrate your team's next birthday.If you're writing an email about the first anniversary of someone's hiring, do it in the same light tone. This time, you can include important achievements for this person over the last year.
7. Collecting Feedback Email
According to People Managing People "63% of knowledge workers in the USA are open to looking for a new job within the next year." It's been an unsaid rule that the first 90 days are used as a "trial" period to see how new employees adapt to a new work environment. Now, employees are looking at organizations from that same lens during their first 30 days.Providing new employees with a safe space to give feedback during their first 30,60,90 days of employment is essential for employee retention. And using that feedback survey to make the necessary changes to the company culture. Here are some questions you can ask:
- What did you like on your first day at work?
- Would you have any suggestions on how we can improve the organization?
- What do you think about the company so far?
- Would you like to share any job-related problems you've faced during your time with us?
- How are you adapting to the work environment and your team?
Providing employees the opportunity to provide feedback during their first 90 days allows them to feel empowered over their success. It also sets a precedent and expectation that feedback is encouraged, creating a safe space and a strong company culture.
8. Performance Review Email
Similar to the email above, this is intended to collect feedback on how the new employee is adapting to the work. Within the first month or 90-days you can ask for feedback on how they believe they've been doing and toestablish specific goals for the upcoming period. This is also a great way to see how you can improve your onboarding and training process in the future.This message shouldn’t sound too formal. Here’s an example:"Hi Marissa, We’ve been thrilled to have you working with us for the past month. We’re happy with the progress you’ve made so far, and we sincerely hope we made you feel welcome in our organization. Allow us to announce your first-ever performance review. Don’t worry; it’s not scary at all! It’s your opportunity to have an important talk with your managers, share how things have been going from your point of view, and get a few suggestions on how to get better at what you do. Hopefully, we’ll be able to set tangible goals for the future. A performance review should go both ways. Provide team members with a self-evaluation form to give them an opportunity to discuss how they have been doing and adapting to the work and workload."
Improve Employee Engagement with BEE Pro
Sign up for a free BEE Pro account today and get access to 1,500+ email and landing pages, including The BEE Recruitment Templates Collection. This collection was made with HR teams in mind to quickly onboard new team members and nurture a strong company culture from the start.
