This is the Business English Podcast, episode 147.
How to help your new coworker with first aid jitters in English.
Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
Still translating in your head when you speak English?
It's time to change that. The Connected Communicator course from All Ears English helps you train your ear, speak naturally, and finally connect with real people.
In our tailored study plan, you'll hear unscripted interviews from tattoo artists to entrepreneurs from all across America. and you'll use new AI tools to practice speaking anytime you want.
No more stiff, scripted English. Build confidence, fluency, and cultural insight all in one course.
Plus, get real-life speaking experience at our Open Conversation Club every single week and build community with Allers English teachers and students.
Go to allersenglish.com slash connection to save $50 this week only.
Offer ends August 10th. allearsenglish.com slash connection. hello lindsay how are you i'm doing well michelle i'm excited for the weekend coming up soon here and doing good how about you how's it going i'm good yeah everything is good over here you know what it can be hard the first day of a new job don't you think oh my god it can be very stressful you know you want to make a good impression but you also have a lot of information coming at you Yes, yes, exactly.
So that's what we're going to talk about this first day situation, but we're actually going to talk about it from the perspective of someone who already works in a company and there's someone new coming in.
Right, because this is a huge... huge connection skill is to make someone feel comfortable make someone feel welcome on the first day of a new job so this this is going to be an interesting one um to talk about first days from that perspective and what you can say to be a you know a nice co-worker Yeah, this is all about empathy, right?
So again, just to be clear, guys, this is not about the person coming into the company, receiving all the new information.
It's about the person who already works at the company.
That's, you know, if you work at a company and you notice, hey, there's a new coworker that just showed up on a Monday morning. what are you gonna do to build the connection, make that person feel welcome, make sure they feel like you understand their position.
I haven't had a ton of jobs in my life, I guess, right?
But I do remember first days at different places.
And I remember coworkers kind of helping me out by making comments and saying things like, oh, first days are never easy.
Take it one step at a time. Don't worry about anything.
Things like that really make a difference, those comments.
What do you think, Michelle? Yeah. Tell me about your first days a little bit for a second here.
Oh, my first days. Well, I did have a job where I was really excited about the job.
I'm not going to say which job. Is that Allers English?
No, no, no, no, no. Anyway, no, not Allers English.
That's so funny. And I had a coworker. Well, not...
Some actually. Well, OK, fine. A co-worker who started complaining to me a lot about the job and the workplace on the first day.
And it was really upsetting because I was so excited to be there.
Like I was, you know, and so that felt uncomfortable.
So you don't want to do that. Like, don't do that. don't do that i mean even if it's true you know there's no reason to ruin someone's you know like yeah i was yeah because you think about what the person's been through they've probably maybe they've chosen this job over another potentially great job they have to be excited about coming into this they're coming in with a fresh mind and i don't think it's right to impose your issues yeah a lot of your issues might be due to your personality know what i mean yeah yeah right maybe systemic issues in this company yes and that person will learn about them sure gradually but a lot of the issues that come up are because of how the person reacts to the world in front of them right i think right yeah right right right so that was kind of disappointing sorry that happened so don't do that that's okay and did that how did that i'm just curious how did that affect you like getting into the company how did that ultimately how did it work out was it actually an issue with the company or was it that person Like there were certain things like both, I think like there were certain there were, you know, it was a kind of a cynical outlook.
But like there were like there were definitely problems, but like kind of like in a funny way.
So it ended up being fine. And I do think I developed a little bit of a cynical attitude, but I still think overall I was like pretty upbeat about things.
Yeah. Everyone sees the world differently.
So don't bring your own frame into that person.
Like I said, it's probably been hard for them to make that choice and they're excited.
It's, it's, you don't want to disappoint someone.
Yeah. Okay. You know, being a, you know, These things are going to help you build connection.
You want to put yourself in their position, like Lindsay was saying, that empathy aspect.
So that's what we're going to be getting into.
But before we do that, guys, we want to let you know we have episode 131 of the Business English podcast was get your foot in the door with these business idioms.
So go ahead and listen to that as well. Yes, we have tons of business idioms on this entire podcast.
So really, you should just make sure you follow this podcast, right?
Go ahead and hit that follow button. wherever you are listening, uh, and hit it and then go check out that episode.
Business, business English one, three, one.
Okay. So what can we do then if we want to make them feel welcome on the first?
All right. Well, we have five steps. We're going to break it down into some steps.
The first one is in, we'll get into each one soon.
Like we'll say them all and then we'll go into each.
Um, the first one is introduce yourself.
Lindsay, what is the second one? All right.
Second one is say you're happy the person is here.
Offer something calming, inspiring words.
Yeah. The third one is ask them questions.
Good. Number four is offer help. And number five.
Sorry. Number five is invite. So you can do this.
It doesn't have to be in this order. I mean, introduce yourself should probably be first.
But like you can mix things. You can mix things around, of course.
But those are the main areas that I thought of there.
Lindsay, maybe you have other things that you think could be good, but let's go through this.
Yeah, I'm excited to know what we mean by invite.
So let's wait till we get there. Let's see.
Let's keep our listeners intrigued here in the episode.
The first basic right introduction. So name, job title, position in the company.
What do you do there? For example, hi, I'm Lindsay.
I'm the admin or I'm the office admin or something like that. right?
And then the second one for being happy that the person's there or being inspiring.
So you could say, glad you're on the team.
It's really great here. Or what else could you say?
Or welcome. I'm excited to work with you.
I know there's a lot to learn, but you'll get it and you'll do great.
Yes, yes. Um, the third thing is ask them questions.
So about themselves, like, where did they work?
How did how did they feel about the first day?
What do you think about that, Lindsay? Yeah, I would just go for one second back to the happy, say you're happy.
I think that's kind of in line with what I said at the beginning of the episode, making a comment about first days.
I just think that's good because that immediately shows that instant empathy.
You've had a first day. I've had a first day.
It's not your first first day. We know what it's like.
And so just naming that right away immediately releases stress in the other person.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So I'm saying something adding on to our happy thing is, hey, excited you're here.
I know first days aren't easy, but you'll do fine.
Something like that would be great. Exactly.
Exactly. Okay. Right. So yeah. And then ask them about themselves.
You know, you're starting to build that connection right away.
Yeah. So just questions like, where are you from?
Or what about, what's another one? Yeah.
So where are you from? Where did you work before here?
Right. Mm-hmm. Or even how are you feeling so far on your first day?
Yes. Yes. And there comes that first day piece.
Also really good. First day question. And then we can offer help.
So this is nice because it's not going in immediately and saying, what can I help you with?
It's saying, I'm here. For example, I'm here to help if you need it.
Or you could say, feel free to ask me any questions.
I've been in your spot before. I know it's hard to adjust.
Yeah. So this is pointing to the first day thing, too.
Or let me know if you have any questions at all.
And again, that's not that's not hovering in and saying, what do you need help with? that's just saying you are around the corner if you're needed exactly exactly so now the elusive invite step what do you think lindsay do you think you should invite the person to lunch or to coffee or like do you have to or is it just depends on the situation Um, I would, I would sort of feel it out.
Like I might not do it the first time I talked to the person that might feel like a lot, right.
Coming in with all the questions. How's your first day?
And do you want to get lunch? Maybe they won't have time for lunch that first day.
I don't know. I'd say just see how they're doing and see, you know, if maybe in the first week you might, maybe at the end of the first week on a Friday or something.
That's a good idea. Yeah. Yeah. Or the next week.
Yeah. It's, you know you can feel it out like you don't like guys in these steps you know of course there's going to be space in each of these steps like yeah you don't want to just like boom boom boom everything right away like hi I'm Lindsay I'm the admin I'm excited to work with you there's a lot to learn you know where did you work before come out to lunch with me like you can't like you don't need to yeah like don't Don't come on too strong.
Not too strong. Play it cool. Play it cool.
But yeah, exactly. So Lindsay, that's a good idea.
I mean, maybe you wait a little bit. But I mean, let's say you get into more of a conversation.
Let's say you're kind of like in the break room and you kind of get the conversation going.
Maybe that is a time. to invite them. So yeah, I mean, you could also like say, you know, maybe if you notice, I guess this is more like if you're kind of maybe you're in an admin position, a setback from the rest of the team a little bit.
If you notice they're having a hard time adjusting or just not getting some things in terms of office politics, maybe that's when you invite them if they might get a little like an extra friendship on the side or something.
Well, so you can say something, though, if you if you do feel comfortable, you could say, I'd love to get coffee with you and tell you all about working here and get to know you.
Yeah, sure. Or are you up for getting lunch tomorrow?
I can introduce you to the whole team. So maybe this means that the team goes for lunch together.
Right. Maybe there's like, oh, like, you know, Fantastic Team Fridays or something like that.
Oh, cool. Yeah. Very cool. Love that. Abercrombie's viral denim sale is back.
And Spotify listeners get an extra 15% off with code SPOTIFYAF.
Abercrombie is known for their denim. With 30-50% off all jeans, find out how denim should feel.
Shop the viral denim sale in the Abercrombie app, online or in stores.
Valid in stores and online through August 11, 2025 in US and Canada.
Excludes clearance, price reflects discount.
Code valid in US and Canada through August 11, 2025.
Exclusions apply. See details online. Okay, Michelle, let's put it into a role play.
And again, remember, guys, you want to feel out your own company culture.
Every company is different. So you want to check in with these phrases based on what you're seeing other people saying in the office.
Would these make sense in your context? Okay.
That's right. That's right. So Lindsay, it's your first day.
Oh, my first day. Okay, here we go. Okay.
All right. Hi, Lindsay. I'm Michelle. I'm the project coordinator.
Hi, Michelle. It's nice to meet you. Oh, same here.
Glad you're on the team. It's really great here.
Where did you work before here? I was over at Jazz Tiles.
Oh, nice. So how are you feeling so far on your first day?
Feeling good. Thanks. Getting adjusted. I know it's a lot to learn.
You know what? Feel free to ask me any questions.
I've been in your spot before. I know it's hard to adjust.
Thanks so much. Are you up for getting lunch tomorrow?
I can introduce you to the whole team. That would be so great.
Amazing. Amazing. I feel like that's very trendy right now.
We should do another episode on that. I'm seeing that a lot in emails. even at All Ears English between like partners or I don't know sponsors or things like that people saying amazing as a response like instead of saying oh that's great or wonderful amazing it's interesting that is interesting yes trending trending so maybe we explore that on the All Ears English podcast guys check out All Ears English podcast as another way to connect with us four days a week Yes.
Yes. What do we do here, Michelle? How do we do it?
All right. So I introduced myself. I said, I'm Michelle.
I'm the project coordinator. And then you said, glad you're on the team.
It's really great here. Where did you work before here?
And you told me you work at jazz tiles. I love making up the names.
Okay. Anyway, how are you feeling so far on your first day?
And then I thought this was interesting.
Just as an important point for modern language, guys, I said, feeling good.
Thanks. Getting adjusted. We're completely dropping the subject.
Yeah. Yep. And that's super, super, super common right now.
Another trending function of language. Okay.
For sure. Even in the business world, right?
Yeah. This is business English here, guys.
That's why we don't lock ourselves into being robots in the business world.
We're all about informal, formal, semi-formal business workplace English.
This is it right here. That's right. Exactly.
Very good point. Yeah. Because we do it twice.
Feeling good. Thanks. Getting adjusted twice.
So right there. And then I said, feel free to ask me any questions.
I've been in your spot before. I know it's hard to adjust.
So that empathy piece. Yeah, that's fantastic.
And then you said... I went for it. You just went for the invite.
You're going all out here. You said, are you up for getting lunch tomorrow?
I can introduce you to the whole team. You may add a little more context.
Like if you're going to introduce me to a team, I should probably know, oh, we do a team lunch on Fridays.
Would you like to join? You can meet the whole team.
So you might add a little more context there to connect those two, right?
That's right. Yes, that could be good. So yeah, well, I mean, I think... lindsay the takeaway is you got to be friendly right like we said you're not robots in the business english world you want to connect don't be a robot you know let the person feel comfortable first days are rough um and like you said we've all had first days of things and it's a little uncomfortable so and and the other thing is like you never know what connection you'll make you never know who's going to become your close co-worker or you know we've talked about on the show like yes exactly you never know you never know so moms that kind of thing right yeah that's nice yeah i think and i think taking it even one step further than friendly and the connection skill here right michelle is making them feel making it very clear that you know what it's like on a first day because first days really are super super overwhelming No matter where you're working, there's so much to learn.
Especially like, yeah, on the first day, I remember one first day, you know, they, you know, they kind of tore you all around.
And then I remember they brought me to HR and there were these documents.
That's like, you know, because you're not even, you know, you're onboarding, you're, you know, you're just kind of getting adjusting.
And it's, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's a lot.
Actually, this brings up another topic I think we should cover on All Ears English.
Hit follow, guys. Maybe we do this on the All Ears English podcast is remote onboarding.
And maybe this is not happening quite as much because we're moving out or we're out of the pandemic pretty much.
But I know that a lot of people have said that they felt like they missed a lot if they if they onboarded remotely. in companies, right?
They joined a company remotely and never got that office time as they were onboarding.
So maybe there's something we can pull up from HBR or something in the news where we can look at that and see what our listeners think.
I'm sure many of our listeners onboarded to a new company.
I mean, that was two, three years that we were going through that.
A lot of life changes happen for people during the pandemic, right?
Yeah. Oh, well, that's for sure. So... Anyway, well, I hope guys, if you have a first day coming up, I hope you have a friendly coworker who will help show you the ropes.
And or if you notice someone's new at work, you know, definitely reach out and use some of these tips.
Decide if you want to invite them that day or not.
If you want to play it cool like Lindsay or if you want to go for it like me.
I usually play it cool. I play it cool. Yeah.
Yeah, no, guys, come back to empathy. Come back to connection.
And this is how you do it in English. Good stuff.
All right, Michelle, we'll talk to you very soon.
You have a good day. You too. Bye, Lindsay.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
Want more from All Ears English? Don't miss our biggest and best podcast with 8 million monthly downloads.
Just search for the All Ears English podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency, American culture, grammar, and so much more.
Or tap the link in the show notes. Remember, we believe in connection, not perfection when it comes to learning English.
Follow the All Ears English podcast now.
