Welcome on board!

1. Look at the lesson title and say who might say this and where.
[After the task, ask students what 'onboarding' or 'the onboarding process' is. If
they find it hard to explain, you can give them this definition:
the process of introducing a new employee into an organization that helps them
get the knowledge and skills they need to become effective members of it.]

2. Do the quiz on some onboarding statistics and choose two facts that
surprised you the most. Explain your choices.
a) A great onboarding process helps to keep … of employees in a company for
three years.
1) 45% 2) 58% 3) 69%
b) … of employees leave their job because of a negative onboarding experience.
1) 10% 2) 15% 3) 20%
c) … of businesses have an onboarding platform so their new employees can
complete their onboarding online.
1) 30% 2) 38% 3) 45%

Sources: SHRM, Zavvy

3. Complete the pieces of advice about onboarding using the pairs of verbs in
the box.

give/feel give/introduce make/set up

show/fill out take out/meet welcome/get

a) Ask someone in your team to welcome your new employee when they get to
the office.
b) Give them a detailed office tour and introduce them to everyone they will work
with.
c) Take your new employee out for lunch so they can meet some of their team
members.
d) Show them their workspace and give them some time to fill out any necessary
paperwork.

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 Welcome on board!

e) Make sure they have all the technology they need and help them set up their
laptop.
f) Give your new employee a welcome gift box of company products like t-shirts,
coffee mugs and notebooks to help them feel like part of the team.

4. Discuss the questions.

• Which three pieces of advice in ex. 3 are the
most important in your opinion?
• How might the advice in ex. 3 be different when
the company hires remote workers?
• Have you ever had an onboarding experience?
What did you like or dislike about it?

5. Watch a video [https://youtu.be/JQ6OkrH7d1s] and choose the verbs in the

box that might be useful to describe what you see in it.

give feel fill out get introduce

meet set up show take out welcome

6. Work in pairs. Watch the video again and list the reasons why Christian’s
onboarding was bad (Student A) and why Georgina’s onboarding was good
(Student B). Then, use your notes and the verbs you chose in ex. 5 to
describe their experiences of their first day at work.

Christian/Georgina had a horrible/an amazing first day at work…

Possible answer A:
Christian had a horrible first day at work. The manager looked confused when he
met him. When he showed Christian his office, it looked messy, and he didn’t help
him set up his laptop. Instead, Christian had to fill out a lot of paperwork. The
manager didn’t explain anything to him about his duties. The manager didn’t take
Christian out for lunch and he didn’t introduce him to his new colleagues.

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 Welcome on board!

Possible answer B:
Georgina had an amazing first day at work. The manager met her when she got
to the office, welcomed her and asked if she wanted a cup of coffee. He showed
Georgina her office and gave her information about the company and how things
worked. She didn’t have to fill out any paperwork. The manager gave her some
time to set up her laptop and took her out for lunch to introduce her to other
colleagues.

7. Say which option you would choose on your first day at work. Explain why.
• not getting a proper office tour or not receiving a gift box with company
products
• offline onboarding or online onboarding
• getting too little attention from your manager or getting too little attention from
your colleagues
• filling out paperwork for a few hours or having lots of meetings
• a team-building activity or a lunch with your teammates

8. Read the conversation between Christian and Georgina from the video.
Decide if Christian is going to leave his new job.
Georgina: So how was your first day at work?
Christian: It was a disaster! I expected someone to tell me what to do, but I
only filled out lots of paperwork and I have no idea what I’m
going to do tomorrow.
Georgina: Oh, you must be so confused. Wasn’t there anybody to give you
an office tour and explain everything?
Christian: There was this guy, but he wasn’t very helpful.
Georgina: He might not know everything himself.
Christian: Perhaps. Anyway, it was really disappointing. What if I quit this
job tomorrow?
Georgina: What? You can’t be serious about that! You’ve just started!
Christian: OK, OK. It was a joke.

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 Welcome on board!

9. Look at the underlined sentences in ex. 8 and complete the grammar notes
with ‘might’, ‘can’t’ or ‘must’.
a) We use ‘must’ when we feel sure that something is true or it's the only
possibility.
b) We use ‘might’ to say that we think something is possible but we're not sure.
c) We use ‘can't’ when we feel sure that something is not possible.

10. Read the messages different people shared with their friends on their first
day at work. Respond to each message using ‘might’, ‘must’ or ‘can’t’.
EXAMPLE: All the team members were super sweet and helpful. And the
manager asked me how I was before I left.
Cool! They must be very happy to have you on board!

a) I was quite nervous at first, but after the manager gave me an office tour and
introduced me to the other team members, I felt more relaxed.
Possible answer: So happy for you! You might feel part of the team now!
b) I can’t believe it! I’m alone in this messy office and I have to fill out tons of
paperwork!
Possible answer: Sounds awful! They can’t expect you to spend your first day
at work like that.
c) One of the managers helped me set up my laptop and they’re taking me out
for lunch in a few minutes. So far, so good.
Possible answer: Sounds great! You must be so excited!
d) I hoped to get an office tour or something but so far, they’ve only shown me
my desk and given me a gift box of the company products.
Possible answer: That’s nice! And they might give you an office tour a bit later.
e) There is no one to even say ‘hi’ to me! I feel like they want to make sure I
never return to this office!
Possible answer: I’m so sorry for you. They just might be very busy today.
f) I had a great meeting on company culture and my manager explained what I’m
going to do in my first week. I feel ready to start to work.
Possible answer: Lovely! You must be quite excited about your first project.

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 Welcome on board!

11. Work in pairs. Have a conversation based on one of the models.

[Tell students they can use the dialogue in ex. 8 for inspiration.]
MODEL 1:

Ask about your friend’s

first day at work.

Say it was good.

Ask what they liked

about it. Say what happened
during the day.

Answer and say

how they must feel.

Agree and say what you

think about the next day.

Wish the person good

luck in their new job.

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 Welcome on board!

MODEL 2:

Ask about your friend’s

first day at work.

Say it was bad.

Ask what was wrong

about it. Say what happened
during the day.

Answer and say

how they must feel.

Agree and say what you

think about the next day.

Wish the person good

luck in their new job.

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