The 8 Steps Of Onboarding A New Internal Comms Team Member

Internal communicators are busy people. And with research showing that most of us are significantly more concerned about ‘a lack of time and capacity’ than ‘a lack of budget and resources’ this year, internal comms (IC) team recruitment could well be on the rise in the coming months. While this is definitely good news, it’s important to think about the time and resources required to properly onboard a new joiner to the IC team.

Whether we’re welcoming somebody into a newly created role or backfilling a vacant position in the IC department, the onboarding process can take anything from a few weeks to a year. Because, regardless of how much experience the new joiner might have, we can’t expect them to be able to do their best work without being taken through a thorough induction process.

It can be easy to fall into a trap – we don’t feel we have enough time to give our new joiner the onboarding they deserve, which ultimately leads to a delay in them being able to get properly stuck in and start picking up some of the workload. It’s a vicious cycle. The longer we put off the onboarding steps and organizational induction, the longer the new joiner can’t do the job they’ve been hired to do. And so we continue spinning around in circles, trying to keep on top of everything, without the additional resource we’d hoped for. We’ve all been there.

This blog post is here to help. I’ve shared eight actionable steps that you can follow to ensure a smooth and effective onboarding that will have your new team member match-ready in no time!

1. Host a ‘Welcome 1:1’

The first step is always to sit down with your new team member, either virtually or in person, to introduce yourself and welcome them to the organization. I’ve heard horror stories of new joiners not meeting their direct leader for weeks on end, which can set a pretty bad tone and leave them feeling confused.

At the start of their first day, block out some dedicated 1:1 time to reiterate their role and responsibilities within the team, discuss the IC team structure, and explain where it sits within the wider organization. Try not to overwhelm your new joiner with too much information by avoiding getting too strategic – the step is all about the practicalities and context.

Be sure to check that they have all of the equipment they need, and all of the right access. This is also your opportunity to work through any outstanding paperwork, and share formal onboarding documentation from HR.  

2. Team introductions

This might seem like an obvious one, but you’d be surprised how many hiring managers simply forget to formally welcome their new joiner to the rest of the IC team. I’ve personally witnessed this at least three times! It’s certainly not ideal.

Early in week one, schedule a team meeting or huddle to introduce your new team member. Don’t leave it up to them to awkwardly make their way around the office (either in-person or on Zoom) introducing themselves to whom they think are their new colleagues.

Talk through who does what, who reports to who, and how regularly the team comes together. Depending on the size of the team, this can also be a really nice opportunity for each employee to briefly introduce themselves and share the main things they’re currently working on.

3. Wider department introductions

The next step is to introduce your new joiner to the wider department that IC is part of – perhaps it’s a broader Comms, HR, or Marketing department. Send an email with your new team member in copy, welcoming them to the wider team, sharing a brief bio, and explaining what they will be responsible for in their new role.

It can also be helpful to mention the onboarding journey that your new team member will be embarking on over the coming weeks. It will enable you to subtly suggest that any individual welcome meetings/1:1s that people might like to schedule are held off until the major induction milestones have been completed. 

4. Connection to core support team

It can be really helpful for your new joiner, and also time-saving for you, to invite them to connect with their ‘core support team’. This will differ in each organization, but I’m talking about people like the HR Business Partner who covers your team, the main IT support point-of-contact that you have, the Facilities Manager for their local office, etc.

Think about any other ‘support’ team members that it might be helpful for your new joiner to know about. Will they know who to contact if their access pass stops working, or will they always need to call you first for guidance? Will they know who to speak to in HR with a query about a particular benefit or policy, or will they always come to you?

Encourage your new joiner to start reaching out and saying hello to each person in their core support team. Having these valuable connections and knowing who to talk to will pay great dividends in the future!

5. Schedule meetings with key stakeholders

This is the point at which we start looking outward into the business, and getting a little more strategic. Think about the most important stakeholders that your new team member needs to meet. This will vary, depending on their role and the size of the business.

They may need to meet with department leads across the company, Managing Directors, or members of the C-Suite. Or perhaps there’s a wider HR Business Partnering team that they will be working closely with in the future, or a Digital Workplace Lead who sits as part of IT.

Take some time to think about who these ‘key stakeholders’ might be, before crafting introductory emails and scheduling brief welcome meetings.

6. Discuss strategy

Within their first couple of weeks, sit down with your new team member to talk strategy.

My suggestion is to start with the ‘big picture’, and then hone in on your departmental strategy after you’ve set the wider context.

Introduce the organization’s strategy, vision and mission, along with any strategic objectives that have been outlined. Then, take some time to discuss the IC strategy, and explain how it supports the wider organizational strategy.

Talk about the new team member’s role, and how their tasks and responsibilities will contribute to the strategy. Help them connect the dots between what they will be doing on a day-to-day basis and how the organization will meet its goals. This is also a good opportunity to clarify expectations and introduce the goal-setting and performance management process.  

7. Getting to know the business

Internal communicators are in a unique position – we’re one of the only departments that need to know the organization inside out. Within reason, we need to understand what every team does, where every employee is based, and how every leader leads. We need to understand the company strategy better than anybody, so that we can best advise on how to articulate and communicate it to the wider workforce. And we need to know who to talk to about what, by having the most substantial internal network.

Set your new team member off to the best start by helping them get out and about in the business. The only way to really get under the skin of the organization is to spend time in different teams and build your network. Encourage your new joiner to shadow key individuals in different departments to understand what they do, and how they support the business. You never know whose door they need to go knocking on in the future with requests for content or campaign involvement!  

8. Create a 3 or 6-month plan

Finally, round off your eight steps by creating a three or six-month plan that maps out the things you would expect your new joiner to have completed at the end of the period of time.

This should come in addition to their goals and objectives, specifically focusing on onboarding and induction-related tasks. Perhaps by the end of month two, you would expect your new joiner to have connected with all of their key stakeholders and introduced themselves to the leadership team. Or maybe by month three, you would like them to have presented back to the team to reflect on their first quarter with the organization.

Whatever milestones and tasks you add to the plan, be sure to create it collaboratively and discuss everything with your new joiner. The purpose of the document is to provide them with some direction and motivation to continue getting to know the business, rather than to make them feel panicked or overwhelmed.

Remember – the more time and effort you invest into your new team member, the quicker they’ll be able to get stuck in and start picking up workload. Following these eight steps will make sure they’re on the right path from day one!