On your current or last job, what kind of welcome did you receive from your supervisor? Did he/she take the time to spend hours with you on your first day to go over your department, projects? How about take you around your campus, take you to lunch and introduce you to your co-workers?

One of my co-workers welcomed a new member to his team this week. He is busier than most people I know, working on multiple projects and managing a team with several members.  Despite his busy schedule,  he took a big part of his day to welcome  his new colleague, patiently explaining how our organization works and current projects we are working on. He works right next to my office and so I could over hear everything he was sharing and I kept on telling myself how I could be more patient like him. I saw him sometime that afternoon and he told me that he had taken his new colleague around the campus, even going to the highest floor of our library, one of the tallest building on our campus so he can show him a view of the entire campus, including the lagoon and the Pacific Ocean nearby. He also walked with him around the small town adjacent to our campus where students live.  He then took him to lunch where he and I, along with some of our colleagues frequently eat.

I thanked him for all that he had done to welcome our new colleague that day as I know all the things he took time to do was a start of their working relationship, a positive one. Taking time to welcome new employees or just to chat with colleagues we’ve worked with for years seems such a simple thing to do yet I know I don’t do often enough. The actions of my co-worker in making sure his new staff feels welcomed reminds me of this. I had made a commitment when the year started to spend more time with all of my staff, even if just having lunch or coffee from time to time to connect with them, exchange stories beyond what they’re working on.

What have you experienced or seen in your career we could all do to make new colleagues feel welcomed?