How to Engage New Employees on Your Team

It’s tough being the new guy. That’s true when you’re in grade school and it’s still true when you’re a grown-up: Coming into a new workplace environment — especially one with a tight-knit team dynamic — can be challenging, and more than a little daunting.

It’s not just hard for the new employee, though. Leaders and managers can sometimes face an uphill climb in grafting the new employee into the existing team culture. That’s not the employee’s fault. It’s just that it’s hard to step into a program that’s already been established; it’s hard to find your place when everyone else has already settled into their role.

So how do you help your new employees fit in? It takes a concentrated effort. Some basic suggestions:

• Start engaging the new employee early on, scheduling some group activities or some collaborative projects even on Day 1. Also — and I say this all the time, but it’s important — make collaboration implicit to all project assignments: Tell New Hire Bill that his job is to work with Claire and Dan on Project X, and tell Claire and Dan that their job is to work in tandem with Bill.
• Schedule some lunches, coffee breaks, or quick face-to-face meetings with more senior team members. Make these regular, especially at the beginning. Just give the new hire a chance to get to know you, to ask…