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The welcome handbook is one of the essential HR tools for a company, it is a true goldmine of information for new recruits and a reference resource for current employees. What does it contain? Why and how to implement it? The Wobee team tells you everything!
The employee handbook, whether digital or paper, is a document provided during onboarding. It contains all essential information to help a new employee adapt to their new work environment.
This handbook has strategic importance for companies as it constitutes one of the first impressions an employee will have of the company. It can be provided during the pre-boarding phase, but is generally given to the employee on the first day, at the same time as the welcome pack.
Intended primarily for new employees, the employee handbook is also useful for all employees. It remains a valuable resource, serving as a reference guide throughout their career. Employees can consult it to find the necessary information without having to contact the HR department.
There is no rule governing the implementation of the employee handbook in a company. Each company is therefore free to include the information and sections it wishes, but some remain essential:
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This introduction creates a sense of belonging in the new employee from their first steps in the company. By directly welcoming them and presenting the purpose of the employee handbook, management shows that it values its employees.
Don't forget to send a welcome email to your new employee. In this email you can send them the digital version of their integration handbook!
The "identity card" of the organization is a must-have in the employee handbook. The idea is to provide an overview of the organization, from its history to its aspirations. This presentation can be composed of different sections:
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This section helps the employee envision the stages of their career path. This allows them to better understand how the company works. This includes onboarding processes or annual reviews for example.
This section is essential in an employee handbook. It allows the employee to find answers to their questions about their daily professional life and work environment. You can include useful information, such as:
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The employee handbook can also be an opportunity to introduce the various communication tools that are used internally (Slack, Teams, Notion, Intranet, etc.) as well as all other software such as those for managing leave or payroll. Make sure to tell your employees who they can contact if they have technical questions about these tools and provide them with the links to access them and the procedure for obtaining passwords.
The employee handbook is a good place to include a section dedicated to employee representatives. You can indicate their contact information and their role within your organization. Beyond these contacts, you can also include the contact information for the HR department or a reference employee. This way, new employees know who to turn to for answers to more complex or personal questions.
In this section, you can attach different types of documents that will allow the new recruit to be immersed in the internal operations of your company. An access map to find your way and better understand the different spaces that make up the offices or even a glossary to help the employee better understand abbreviations or jargon used, include everything you think is essential!
The first days of a new hire are never easy. Between the stress of the first day, the amount of information to absorb, understanding the processes or meeting the teams and different departments, it can be hard to find your way. This is especially to help the new entrant take their bearings from their start date that the employee handbook proves to be essential
A new position is often synonymous with thousands of questions and uncertainties. To offer a smooth start peaceful to your new employees, the employee handbook is very helpful as it provides them with quick, reliable reference points and allows them to find answers to their questions. It thus helps to improve the experience experienced by new recruits, by supporting them in their onboarding journey and by giving them the tools to feel ready to start a new professional life.
The employee handbook is the true bible of the company that the new employee joins. It is full of practical information about their new environment, their work position, how your company works and their daily routine.
Reflection of your employer brand, the employee handbook is an essential relay for transmitting the values of the company and its vision. It is partly thanks to the employee handbook that the new recruit will create a sense of belonging towards the company from their integration.
Through the employee handbook, the HR department can thus distribute administrative documents such as the internal regulations, the collective agreement or any other applicable charters that employees need to be aware of.
The employee handbook is there to support HR in their role, by ensuring the transmission of a large amount of information in a clear, accessible and autonomous way. This HR tool in no way replaces the support that the HR department must provide to the employee but serves as a complementary ally and frees up time to focus on human relationships.
The employee handbook reduces the time needed to train new employees in their position by providing clear and concise information about your company and how it operates.
Despite the many benefits it brings to employees and companies, the employee handbook is mandatory only in health care facilities (since 2002). While it remains optional in all other companies, it is still strongly recommended to implement it.
Always appreciated by new recruits who see it as a reassuring document and a sign of welcome, it allows the company to enhance its employer brand and more easily integrate an employee.
It is not always easy to get started on creating a welcome handbook when you don't know where to begin or how to go about it. Here are 5 key steps that will serve as a guide and give you an overview of the process:
Made up of HR, managers and a small group of employee volunteers, team brainstorming is an effective way to surface ideas you might not have thought of on your own. It is a very effective approach, especially when the project directly concerns the teams. Each stakeholder has their own perspective and day-to-day needs that are probably different. Involving them in the process is a major asset for creating a practical, useful and comprehensive welcome handbook.
Bonus tip: Build a group of employee volunteers that includes both long-standing employees and newcomers; these two profiles will help you bring out different elements to create a thorough welcome handbook.
Once you have identified the topics and sections to include in your welcome handbook, the most important task is still ahead: gathering information. It is important to take the time to list all the essential information and to reach out to all the teams concerned so you have as much complete and reliable information as possible.
An incomplete or inaccurate welcome handbook is counterproductive for you and your employees, so take the time you need to see the task through.
Once all the information has been gathered, you can turn to the question of format. Whether digital or paper, the most important thing is to choose a format that suits you and is in line with your employer brand.
Bonus tip: Paper is still widely used in companies but is becoming less and less appealing to the new generation of workers, who are all about digital experiences. To modernize your welcome handbook, nothing stops you from choosing interactive, playful and video formats, or even creating a dedicated app.
A welcome handbook is bound to evolve over time as the company grows and its employees change. Whether it is the org charts or the tools being used that change, you need to update your welcome handbook regularly. That is the key to making it last and remain THE reliable source of information your employees can refer to.
A welcome handbook hidden away in some impossible-to-find folder is useless! For your employees to use it, it must be easy to access. If you have an intranet, you can store it in a shared space everyone can access. And to make sure all your teams know it exists, don't hesitate to communicate about it internally.
These steps are a first foundation to get you started, but they are neither fixed nor exhaustive! Feel free to organize yourself differently and make the creation of your welcome handbook your own, according to your needs, your preferences and the procedures you already have in place.
It is not always easy to create a welcome handbook that is comprehensive, attractive and well structured. To help you, here are a few best practices to know:
Even if the content matters most, the format should make it a pleasant read that makes your employees want to consult it.
This format makes it easier to update information, faster to distribute, and lets you include varied content such as videos, interactive elements, etc.
To define the content of your welcome handbook, there is nothing better than involving company employees in the process, especially recent hires. This opens the discussion beyond the HR department and helps gather what really matters to them day to day.
If it is too long or not attractive enough to read, the welcome handbook will not have the desired effect and will never be consulted by your employees.
The welcome handbook must be a reliable source of information for your employees. If the information is wrong or outdated, it becomes useless.
To be useful, the welcome handbook must be accessible to everyone. All employees should know where it is and how to consult it.
At Valve, the video game publisher, the welcome handbook is all about originality, humor and employer branding. What makes Valve special? It is a "liberated company": no managers, and employees are free and autonomous.
There, the main purpose of the welcome handbook, called the "Handbook for new employees", is to help new hires understand this specific organizational model and to think differently, the studio's trademark.
To do this, Valve uses the visual codes of its iconic games along with deliberately absurd or funny charts that gently poke fun at the traditional corporate structure. This approach immerses employees from the outset in the company's strong employer brand.
In its welcome handbook, the company also highlights practical information such as Valve's history through its various game launches, a welcome message, a guide to the first month at the company and to the first six months, how colleagues work together, work rules, etc.
The end of the handbook is devoted to a fairly comprehensive glossary designed to help new hires quickly understand the company's internal jargon.
Valve's welcome handbook perfectly reflects its corporate culture: offbeat and proud of it.
💡 Discover Valve's welcome handbook
In the end, there are as many welcome handbooks as there are companies, and there are no rules for creating one. What matters most is building a welcome handbook that reflects who you are and is attractive and practical, so employees want to consult it every day.
1. Cover page
2. Welcome message
3. Company presentation
4. Practical information
5. Internal procedures
6. Benefits and services
7. Useful contacts
8. FAQ
9. Employee commitments
This outline will help you structure your welcome handbook effectively. Feel free to adapt it to fit your own company!
To learn more about the welcome handbook and its impact on onboarding, Wobee offers a complete guide.
This detailed document will help you create an effective welcome handbook, with practical examples and advice for bringing this powerful HR tool into your company.
You will discover why it is crucial for new employees' engagement and retention, and how it can make it easier to pass on your organization's values and essential information.
Access the complete guide here: The Welcome Handbook Guide
A well-designed welcome handbook can transform the new employee experience, helping them settle quickly and effectively into their new work environment. This guide offers strategies and advice to ensure a smooth, effective rollout of this valuable HR tool.
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