Creating a Welcome Booklet
19 January 2009
Read by 2411 persons
The welcome booklet is the first official document given to an employee when they join a company. It marks their integration into a team and company culture.
While it's a ‘nice’ tool in the minds of employees and communications departments, a welcome booklet is primarily a management tool.
The unwritten goal of such a tool is to make the new hire operational and productive as quickly and efficiently as possible. To achieve this, it's crucial to make them self-sufficient and provide them with the ‘keys’ to how the ‘house’ works.
Key factors for a successful welcome booklet
• User-oriented.
It's essential to address the questions and doubts of a new employee and put yourself in their shoes as they enter the company. What will their expectations be? How will they be welcomed? What will their first questions be? Therefore, you need to shift from the company’s organizational structure and adopt the newcomer’s perspective; in short, don’t organize the information based on the company’s structure but according to the new hire’s search process and needs.
• Up-to-date.
By its very nature, the welcome booklet must be current. It should include the latest key figures, the most recent organizational structure, and the latest organization charts, etc.
• Updatable.
It’s therefore essential that it is designed from the outset to be easily updated. Will it be a binder with loose-leaf pages? A CD-Rom, if the company culture allows? There isn’t one right solution, but the one that’s most consistent with your company.
• Respect for the company culture and image.
The welcome booklet is likely to be taken home by the employee. It’s crucial that the image they have of this document, once disconnected from their professional environment, is consistent with the company's image. It would be unacceptable for the employee's family or social environment to make comments, however valid, that are detrimental to the booklet's ‘look’ and therefore the perceived look of the company.
Main expectations of new employees.
The expectations of employees joining a company generally fall into four main areas.
• Company culture and organization.
It’s important for them to know where they are going and how the company is structured.
• HR issues.
From pay to skills development, vertical or horizontal advancement—all these sensitive elements need clarification.
• Communication and procedures.
What communication tools are at their disposal, where to find them? What information is available? These are all questions a new employee will ask.
• Practical matters.
The cafeteria, parking, expense reports—the simpler things are written, the less time the new hire loses and the less time they make others lose, and the more reassured they will be.
Example of contents
The welcome booklet presented below is not a magic bullet! It is not suitable for all companies, but it seems complete to me. That's why I present it to you here, for whatever use it may be.
Part 1: Discovering Aventis Pasteur MSD
1. A - Fundamentals
a-1. Vision
a-2. Mission
a-3. Values
a-4. The vaccine: a unique, innovative product that saves lives
a-5. History (key dates)
1. B. Locations and organization
b-1. Our responsibilities
b-2. European locations
b-3. The ‘Corporate’
b-4. The French site
1. C. Our products and markets
c-1. Infant range
c-2. Children's range
c-3. Adolescent range
c-4. Adult range
c-5. Senior range
c-6. Traveler's vaccine
c-7. Country vaccination schedules
Part 2: Your professional career...
A. Stages of your professional career
a-1. Performance and development interviews
a-2. Training
a-3. Mobility
B. Remuneration systems
b-1. Fixed component.
b-2. Variable component
C. Your working time
c-1. Office staff group 1 to 5.
c-2. Office staff group 6 to 8b.
c-3. For Medical Information Delegates
c-4. Reduced working time, leave and other absences
D. Some HR information
d-1. The HR guide
d-2. Social coverage - Insurance and mutual insurance
d-3. Occupational health and the social worker
Part 3. A communicating company
A. Internal communication tools
a-1. Intranet: sections, access and publications
a-2. Outlook: rules to be observed
a-3. Eurocombos: European monthly
a-4. The Quaterly Review: optional meeting
a-5. Official notices and personal announcements
B. External communication
b-1. A graphic charter: a reflection of our history
b-2. For doctors, healthcare professionals: structured communication
b-3. To the general public: regulated communication
b-4. To journalists: the conduct to be followed
Part 4: And on a daily basis...
A. Services at your disposal
a-1. General Administration
Security, Maintenance
Travel service
Taxi booking
Mail, parcels, couriers
Supplies
Destruction of confidential documents
a-2. MIS: Management Information Service
Information security: a shared responsibility
Training assistance
Loan equipment for travel or meetings
B.Halle borie in practice
b-1. Historic buildings
Access and opening hours for employees
Private parking
Welcoming your visitors
Booking a meeting room
Catering and breaks, smoking areas,...
b-2. A century of construction sites and boats along the lônes
An extraordinary story
Buildings to maintain
Souvenir photos
C. You are a Medical Information Delegate... a few specific points.
c-1. The DIM network
c-2. Equipment at your disposal
c-3. A daily reporting and analysis tool: Teams
c-4. Your key contacts
D.Your business trips and expenses
d-1. Your business trips
d-2. Your expenses
Muriel Jouas-Duval
Posted on January 19, 2009
com2crise.com
While it's a ‘nice’ tool in the minds of employees and communications departments, a welcome booklet is primarily a management tool.
The unwritten goal of such a tool is to make the new hire operational and productive as quickly and efficiently as possible. To achieve this, it's crucial to make them self-sufficient and provide them with the ‘keys’ to how the ‘house’ works.
Key factors for a successful welcome booklet
• User-oriented.
It's essential to address the questions and doubts of a new employee and put yourself in their shoes as they enter the company. What will their expectations be? How will they be welcomed? What will their first questions be? Therefore, you need to shift from the company’s organizational structure and adopt the newcomer’s perspective; in short, don’t organize the information based on the company’s structure but according to the new hire’s search process and needs.
• Up-to-date.
By its very nature, the welcome booklet must be current. It should include the latest key figures, the most recent organizational structure, and the latest organization charts, etc.
• Updatable.
It’s therefore essential that it is designed from the outset to be easily updated. Will it be a binder with loose-leaf pages? A CD-Rom, if the company culture allows? There isn’t one right solution, but the one that’s most consistent with your company.
• Respect for the company culture and image.
The welcome booklet is likely to be taken home by the employee. It’s crucial that the image they have of this document, once disconnected from their professional environment, is consistent with the company's image. It would be unacceptable for the employee's family or social environment to make comments, however valid, that are detrimental to the booklet's ‘look’ and therefore the perceived look of the company.
Main expectations of new employees.
The expectations of employees joining a company generally fall into four main areas.
• Company culture and organization.
It’s important for them to know where they are going and how the company is structured.
• HR issues.
From pay to skills development, vertical or horizontal advancement—all these sensitive elements need clarification.
• Communication and procedures.
What communication tools are at their disposal, where to find them? What information is available? These are all questions a new employee will ask.
• Practical matters.
The cafeteria, parking, expense reports—the simpler things are written, the less time the new hire loses and the less time they make others lose, and the more reassured they will be.
Example of contents
The welcome booklet presented below is not a magic bullet! It is not suitable for all companies, but it seems complete to me. That's why I present it to you here, for whatever use it may be.
Part 1: Discovering Aventis Pasteur MSD
1. A - Fundamentals
a-1. Vision
a-2. Mission
a-3. Values
a-4. The vaccine: a unique, innovative product that saves lives
a-5. History (key dates)
1. B. Locations and organization
b-1. Our responsibilities
b-2. European locations
b-3. The ‘Corporate’
b-4. The French site
1. C. Our products and markets
c-1. Infant range
c-2. Children's range
c-3. Adolescent range
c-4. Adult range
c-5. Senior range
c-6. Traveler's vaccine
c-7. Country vaccination schedules
Part 2: Your professional career...
A. Stages of your professional career
a-1. Performance and development interviews
a-2. Training
a-3. Mobility
B. Remuneration systems
b-1. Fixed component.
b-2. Variable component
C. Your working time
c-1. Office staff group 1 to 5.
c-2. Office staff group 6 to 8b.
c-3. For Medical Information Delegates
c-4. Reduced working time, leave and other absences
D. Some HR information
d-1. The HR guide
d-2. Social coverage - Insurance and mutual insurance
d-3. Occupational health and the social worker
Part 3. A communicating company
A. Internal communication tools
a-1. Intranet: sections, access and publications
a-2. Outlook: rules to be observed
a-3. Eurocombos: European monthly
a-4. The Quaterly Review: optional meeting
a-5. Official notices and personal announcements
B. External communication
b-1. A graphic charter: a reflection of our history
b-2. For doctors, healthcare professionals: structured communication
b-3. To the general public: regulated communication
b-4. To journalists: the conduct to be followed
Part 4: And on a daily basis...
A. Services at your disposal
a-1. General Administration
Security, Maintenance
Travel service
Taxi booking
Mail, parcels, couriers
Supplies
Destruction of confidential documents
a-2. MIS: Management Information Service
Information security: a shared responsibility
Training assistance
Loan equipment for travel or meetings
B.Halle borie in practice
b-1. Historic buildings
Access and opening hours for employees
Private parking
Welcoming your visitors
Booking a meeting room
Catering and breaks, smoking areas,...
b-2. A century of construction sites and boats along the lônes
An extraordinary story
Buildings to maintain
Souvenir photos
C. You are a Medical Information Delegate... a few specific points.
c-1. The DIM network
c-2. Equipment at your disposal
c-3. A daily reporting and analysis tool: Teams
c-4. Your key contacts
D.Your business trips and expenses
d-1. Your business trips
d-2. Your expenses
Muriel Jouas-Duval
Posted on January 19, 2009
com2crise.com
