The Manager’s Guide to Welcoming New Hires: 5 Proven Tips for a Strong Start
Jul 8, 2025
You’ve spent weeks searching for the perfect candidate. Sifting through resumes, coordinating interviews, aligning stakeholders, and negotiating the offer. The candidate signs... and you’re done, right?
Not quite.
While a thoughtful recruiting experience builds excitement, the real work, and real impact, begins the moment your new hire accepts the offer. As a manager, you play the most critical role in shaping how a new team member integrates, performs, and stays with your organization.
Over the past 12 years, I’ve had the privilege of building teams and onboarding hundreds of employees at companies like Instacart, Sapling, and Origin. Here are five things I’ve learned that help ensure a smooth and successful onboarding experience, for both the new hire and the team they’re joining.
1. Align with Onboarding Stakeholders
Once the offer is signed, take time to coordinate with key onboarding partners. Typically, managers need to alight with, Recruiting, HR, and IT. Ask:
What does the new hire need before their first day?
What things are covered by company orientation (run by HR)?
Is there role specific enablement, or not? (like 'sales onboarding')?
What is my (the hiring manager's) role in onboarding? What do I need to cover?
Who’s responsible for equipment, access, and preboarding tasks?
What communications are already in motion?
Clarity here ensures there are no gaps or surprises, and allows you to focus on delivering a consistent, welcoming experience from day one.
2. Make a Thoughtful Plan, so Your New Hire Can Thrive!
Now that you know what HR and IT will handle, it’s time to make a plan for what you’ll cover. This should go beyond “show them the ropes” and include:
A 30/60/90-day roadmap with clear, realistic goals
A list of key team members and cross-functional partners to meet
Links to essential documentation, tools, and internal processes
Organize walkthroughs with team members to go over processes, tools you use, and other important aspects needed to be successful
Even better? Create a living onboarding doc or Notion page that acts as a home base for the new hire. Not sure where to start? [Here’s a robust onboarding template you can copy.]
3. Make Time—And Keep Making It
One of the most common pitfalls in onboarding? A well-intentioned manager getting too busy.
A study from Gallup found that employees consider their onboarding experience to be 3.5 times better if their manager is actively involved in the process.
We recommend that you prioritize connection by scheduling:
✅ 30 minutes on their first day
✅ 15-minute check-ins daily for their first two weeks
✅ Weekly 30-minute 1:1s for the first month (at least!)
I also recommend creating a shared doc where the new hire can drop questions between check-ins. This keeps things organized, makes questions less intimidating to ask, and builds trust from the start.
4. Choose the Right Buddy
If your company doesn’t have a formal buddy program, create your own. Assign a thoughtful, knowledgeable team member to help your new hire navigate the first few weeks.
Why it matters:
New hires often feel more comfortable asking peers than managers.
Buddies provide invaluable context and emotional support.
It fosters early relationships and boosts ramp time.
Tip: Let the buddy know what’s expected (e.g., regular check-ins, sharing team norms, helping with systems or tools). [Here’s a guide to picking a great buddy.]
5. Ask for Feedback Early and Often
The best way to improve onboarding? Learn from your new hires while they’re going through it.
From day one, let them know you want honest feedback:
“If anything feels confusing, broken, or just plain awkward, please tell me. I want this to be a great experience, and we can’t improve what we don’t know.”
Check in on this regularly and act on what you hear. Small improvements can go a long way, and your new hire will feel heard and supported from the start.
Final Thoughts
Welcoming a new team member isn’t a task to check off, it’s an opportunity to build loyalty, accelerate productivity, and create a lasting impression. With thoughtful planning, consistent communication, and a little intention, you can turn onboarding into a strategic advantage.
Your new hire’s success starts with you, and it starts now.
Would you like help implementing these strategies or building out your onboarding playbook? Let us know, we’d love to support you.