When onboarding new employees, Slack is a powerful tool to have in your back pocket. It allows you to connect with remote and hybrid team members easily, and the wide range of Slack integrations can transform how you onboard new team members. Here, we discuss three major ways to leverage Slack to onboard new employees, from setting up a mentor system to automating essential communication features. Let's dive into the topic at hand.

1. Set Up a Mentor System

It can be hard for a new employee to feel welcomed in a new workspace. Not only will they have questions, but they don't know anyone in the office, making getting answers to those questions difficult. One way to streamline the onboarding process is to set up a mentorship through Slack.

To set up a Slack mentorship, introduce two employees to one another. It helps if the mentor is in the same department as the new hire, as it allows them to answer questions and help demonstrate the workplace culture confidently. You can set these team members up with their own Slack channel for communication so the new hire has a place to ask questions, chat, or seek general advice about the workplace.

By setting aside a person to talk to if they have questions, you can help integrate new employees into the workplace more easily and help them connect with other team members. In fact, you can set up a mentorship with several team members at once to cover a broader range of questions about the job. This not only takes work off of HR but also helps build team connections and a positive workplace environment.

2. Create Specialized Slack Channels

On a similar topic to setting up a mentorship program, if you're not creating specialized Slack channels, you're missing out on a key feature of Slack. From setting up an integration to automatically answer questions to build a communication channel for the whole team, Slack channels are a great way to onboard a new hire.

A well-organized Slack channel reduces questions and confusion and helps new hires integrate into company culture seamlessly. Not only does organizing your Slack channel help with productivity, but it can also make onboarding a breeze.

To organize your Slack channels intuitively, take a moment to write out what you want each channel to be used for and name them appropriately. You should also take the time to write out a channel description so anyone using the channel knows what to expect. After that, make sure to enforce sticking on topic in the channel. If you have a chatting channel, but people keep posting work progress, you may want to set aside a separate channel and moderate that channel better.

Thankfully, with a Slack integration like CultureBot, you can set up a chatting channel that sends automated watercooler prompts to keep conversations flowing. This helps team members stay connected, increases engagement, and provides an easy spot for new employees to talk to their team.

Remember: try to avoid duplicate channels. If you need another channel for a separate topic, ensure the space is warranted. For example, if you find that one department talks the most in the chatting channel or takes up a lot of space in the work progress channel, consider making separate work progress channels for each department.

With a little fine-tuning, customized Slack channels can revolutionize your onboarding process and your work culture as a whole.  

3. Automate Communication

Another way to use Slack to onboard new employees is by sending out automatic reminders and events through Slack. Since you might forget to add a new team member to notices, having things automated through Slack ensures that everything reaches all your team members without issue.

On top of that, sending out reminders about birthdays and milestones, like one-year work anniversaries, can help show your new hires that you care about your team members. It also introduces employees to one another and lets them learn a little bit about their fellow employees.

On the topic of automation, one thing it can help to automate is team shoutouts. If your new hires go above and beyond or long-standing team members step into a mentorship role, what better way to celebrate these events than with a team shoutout through Slack? By acknowledging team accomplishments, you build a positive work environment while showing your new hires that you appreciate their contributions to the team. It's a win-win!

Of course, another way to use Slack automation for your new team members is by setting up wellness initiatives. New hires may need to understand the importance of taking breaks or prioritizing their overall wellness. By setting up automatic wellness initiatives using a Slack app like CultureBot, you can help ensure that your new hires don't burn out and take breaks throughout the day. Not only is it a great way to show your new team members that you care about their health, but it also offers opportunities for them to connect with other team members during a wellness initiative, leading to more team cohesion overall.

Conclusion

As you can see, using Slack to streamline your onboarding process, as well as connect new team members with established employees, can revolutionize how you run your workplace. From setting up specialized Slack channels for introductions, questions, and chatting to sending out automated event and birthday reminders, these tips will all help make onboarding a smoother process for HR and new team members alike.

If you're looking to streamline your in-person, virtual, or hybrid workspace, CultureBot can help. This all-in-one Slack integration has everything you need to connect with employees, keep the conversation moving, and drive both productivity and engagement at the same time. If you want to discover how CultureBot can help your team, check out some of our other blog posts today. Of course, if you'd like to get started with CultureBot, feel free to contact us today. We look forward to hearing from you!

~ Oswald