You’ve done the hard work and landed the perfect candidate. All that’s left is to make sure the onboarding phase is as smooth as possible.
But as a non-native HR professional, there is an added challenge: communication. Your communication directly impacts how candidates perceive your company. Whether sending an email with a welcome pack to a candidate, providing first-day assistance or announcing new hires, your communication needs to be polished and professional. With this in mind, we have created the first online guide for non-native English HR professionals. This is part 4 and the final installment, and it focuses on onboarding vocabulary, phrases, and word lists. Download it PDF format here!
Please check out the first three parts of the guide, for many useful tips and PDF downloads to help you:
Part 1: Write Strong Job descriptions | Download PDF:
Part 2: Run Successful Interviews | Download PDF:
Part 3: Negotiating salary and benefits | Download PDF:
Today we are going to cover how to send a welcome pack (email templates), announcing new hires, first-day support, and explanation of roles and responsibilities.
The inspiration for this guide comes from our Business English learners active in HR. Here are just a few challenges that our students face; maybe some sound familiar:
“I want to ensure the onboarding phase is as smooth as possible, but sometimes I am a little unsure how to explain things in the best way.”
“I am not always confident explaining responsibilities to candidates when they join.”
“I want my new hires to have a great first day, but sometimes I am unsure how to phrase or explain things.”
Use templates for welcome emails and company announcements
When writing emails, it is always good to use templates. They avoid any embarrassing typos. But just because you use templates doesn’t mean you can’t add personalization. Use these templates to send welcome packs and also to announce new hires to the company.
Sending the perfect email:
The candidate has signed the contract and the starting day is approaching. It’s time to send out a welcome pack/email with all the resources they need to hit the ground running.
Subject line:
Welcome to Numbers Ltc!
Your first steps with Numbers Ltc
Add some friendly reminders:
Our office doesn’t have a strict dress code, so just be you!
Just to let you know, we have a business casual dress code.
Please don’t forget to bring your ID and your signed contract on your first day.
You’ll need to bring a copy of your bank details so we can set you up on the payroll system.
How to add personalization?
You more than likely have detailed notes on every candidate including their hobbies and interests. If your company has a social club or active members of a similar community, let the new hire know! It’s an excellent way to add a personal touch and it will put them at ease.
Examples:
I remember from the interviews that you are an avid musician. Well, our office has a company band and many employees are active musicians.
We saw that you regularly took part in hackathons – we have one every month.
As a dog owner, you’ll be happy to know our office is dog-friendly.
End with reassurance:
Starting a new job is scary for anyone, so make sure you end the email with some reassurance:
Everything you need will be sent in a follow-up email in the coming days.
Everything else you need will be provided in a welcome pack on your first day.
In the meantime if you have any questions at all, just let me know.
Welcome email template – Putting it all together:
Let’s put some of the phrases together to make a welcome email template. Remember to download it in PDF and adapt it to your own needs:Subject Line: Welcome to Numbers Ltc!Dear [Jane],
We are delighted to welcome you to the Numbers Ltc family. The [marketing team] is really excited to meet you. Your starting date will be October 1st and Andrew, our head of marketing, will be your primary contact.
Dress code
We don’t have a strict dress code so just be yourself!
Things to remember
Please bring your ID, signed contract and banking details so we can set you up with payroll.
Office
We know you’re a dog owner so you’ll be happy to know the office is dog-friendly.
Social
Every Friday, the marketing team grabs some beers after work, and they’d love you to join them!
Everything else you need will be sent in a follow-up email in the coming days.
All the best from everyone at Numbers Ltc.
Announcing new hires to the company
You’ve sent your welcome email to the new hire, and the start date is approaching. Now, it’s time to announce the new hire to the company. Whether this is actually done via email, intranet, Slack or another channel, the messaging remains the same.
Phrases to announce the role:
Heading up the [marketing team] = head of a team
Leading the [analytics team] = head of a team
Joining as [content manager] = generic phrase for any role
General email tips:
Keep the email friendly but professional.
Check our phrase list below for more examples of reassuring phrases.
Use the ‘we’ form to be inclusive. The company is way too impersonal.Subject Line: Welcome Jane Doe
Dear all,
Our newest addition to the Numbers Inc family is Jane Doe.
She will be heading up our marketing department starting 1 July.
She has over 15 years’ experience at leading tech companies and most recently was head of marketing at [Salesforce]. More about Jane: [Link to LinkedIn or any provided bios/social media].
She is really excited to meet you all and I’m sure you will all make her (and her adorable dog Scruff) feel part of the Number Ltc family.
All the best,
Onboarding word lists and phrases
We focus on providing real-life examples for every new piece of vocabulary. It is no good learning words and phrases in isolation. Use our examples, or even better, make your own!
First day at work vocabulary
It’s the new employee’s very first day. Chance are you will have to show them around the office and introduce them to their team. Use these phrases to do this with confidence:
[John] from talent management will be your contact person during onboarding.
The [kitchen] is located [on the first floor].
If you need anything else, just let me know!
You will find your welcome pack on your desk.
We ask all employees to read our core values and our code of conduct.
You will be reporting into [Susan], our [head or marketing]. (*also possible: ‘you will be reporting to [Susan])
This office is (is not) dog-friendly.
Our office manager is Paola – she takes care of all the day-to-day organization.
The kitchen area is free to use for all employees.
Let’s take a quick tour of the office.
Over here is the marketing team; over there are sales, and there is finance.
Here is your keycard for getting in and out the office.
For booking vacation, just log into (Bamboo HR) and select the days.
Vacation days need to be approved by your manager.
Training vocabulary:
As part of the onboarding process, your hire will have to complete training. Use these phrases to explain the training process:
We have a custom training platform. Our basic training takes around 30 days to complete.
Please complete the first module by the end of the month.
Every member is assigned a mentor. Your mentor will be Jane.
We offer every non-native speaker free English training.
Just sign into the Talaera platform to book your session.
We have assigned a training budget for MOOCs, online courses, seminars, and conferences.
Social events vocabulary:
Let your new hire know all about the social side of life in your workplace:
Every Friday we host a games night/beer pong/ table tennis.
We have regularly hackathons for our coders.
Every two months we organize company off-sites.
Once a year we have a company trip.
Once a quarter, we organize company-wide team-building events.
We have a company social media account where employees can upload their photos.
Asking for feedback vocabulary:
We provide all new hires the chance to give feedback on the onboarding process.
You can submit feedback anonymously after completing the onboarding phase.
Accommodation and getting settled in a new city:
Help your new hire get settled in with these phrases:
We have assigned you company accommodation until you find a permanent place in the city.
We will assist you in finding a place
As you are new in the city, we have some tips for you.
[Don Julio] is a great place to grab lunch.
There is a gym located in the office building.
[Exberliner magazine] is a great resource for finding events in the city.
Role and responsibilities vocabulary:
Together with your manager, you will help develop KPIs for the content marketing team.
OKRs
At the end of the onboarding period, we will schedule a performance review.
We ask all new hires to come up with a vision statement. This should include how you view the role and the personal goals you want to achieve.
The onboarding process is broken up into milestones. The first is completing the online training modules.
Evaluation
Self-evaluation session.
Every two weeks, we will have a one-on-one where you can let me know how everything is going.
We also arrange discovery meetings with other departments. They offer you the chance to see how other teams work towards company goals.
General advice and reassuring phrases:
Starting a new job can be scary for anyone. Use these phrases to offer reassurance and inspire confidence:
It’s a lot of new information to take in, but we are here to support you.
It’s a steep learning curve, but our mentors are always there to help you.
I’m sure you’ll feel right at home in no time.
If you have any concerns at all, please come and talk to me.
Welcome to the company. We are really happy to have you with us!
Final thoughts: Let us know what you think of the HR Series!
We really hope you found this four-part HR language guide useful. And don’t worry if you forget any of the vocab, just go back to the previous posts and save the PDF word lists. You can even create your own custom word lists to help you learn.
Check out our HR Expert Series for a perfect E2E Hiring Process:
Talaera is an online platform that provides one-on-one English language training, anytime, anywhere, with 100% personalized lessons, HD video quality, and qualified teachers that will help you achieve your learning goals.
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