An onboarding welcome email is read twice: once for the greeting and once for the details, and it has to work both times. At the top, two or three sentences in the manager's own words about why this person and what the first weeks are about. Below, the lines the hire needs: start date and time, the place or the link, who meets them, what to bring, and the contract and the handbook attached with the date to return them signed. The onboarding checklist on this site carries the email as its first dated line, free and without an account.
The greeting
Written for this hire, not for hires: what in the interviews decided it, what the team is looking forward to, what the first month will be about. A greeting that could be sent to anyone reads as sent to everyone.
The practical lines
Start date and time; the address or the link; the person who meets them, by name; what to bring; what has been ordered for them; and a line saying the detailed first-day schedule follows two days before, so the silence in between is expected.
The attachments and the date
The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print the contract and the handbook with the hire's details. The email states the date to return them signed; without a date they arrive on the first morning.
The record
Sent on the day the offer is accepted, the checklist line ticked, the signed attachments kept against the hire when they return. HeadcountDesk Pro sends and keeps; the checklist prints the line. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: Homebase lists its Essentials plan at $30 per location per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with unlimited employees, and a Basic plan at $0 for one location with up to 10 employees; BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month for Core and $17 for Pro; Deputy's Core plan is $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 per month per location.
Questions people ask about onboarding welcome email
How long should the welcome email be?
A screen: the greeting, the lines, the attachments.
Should the owner send it instead of the manager?
The manager; the owner's note goes in the welcome packet.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.