New employees rely on the employer to set the tone for how a business and it’s other employees respond, treat, and integrate them into the rest of the organization. Understandably, welcoming new employees to the company is a crucial moment in the employee lifecycle and directly influences an employee’s first impression of your organization. In fact, the Recruiting Roundtable stated that properly onboarding a new team member can lead to an increase in their performance up to 11.5%.
Adding helium-inflated balloons to the desk or chairs of new employees is a simple but powerful way to warmly welcome new hires to the rest of the organization. While adding the balloons is the first step, the second step of creating a custom or routine of other employees welcoming them is where this initiative shines.
Work with other employees to treat these balloons as beacons so they know exactly who to introduce themselves to. Meaningful one-on-one introductions and conversations can turn a typically stressful period of time for new hires in one of excitement, joy, and comfort as it expedites their community-development inside the company. New hires will immediately have some connections with others, and a group of people they can talk to if any questions arise.
One company that excels with this new but loved tradition of adding balloons to employees desks is Warby Parker. Warby Parker designs custom balloons that feature an illustration of a steak with a pair of glasses on. It says: “Nice to meat you!”
