What’s in a good welcome?
Nicole Hastie, CEO of Active Impact CIO, explains why being known as a welcoming organisation can be a very tangible way of demonstrating inclusive values in your organisation’s everyday actions. Read on to hear her tips
Making people feel welcome is a universal way of embodying inclusion. It’s something everyone can do, it generally doesn’t come with a high price tag, and it’s one of the most impactful ways you can demonstrate organisational values. An inclusive organisation is one that asks questions when thinking about welcoming new people and aims to put things in place to make it the best possible experience.
Why is a good welcome important?
Everyone has been somewhere for the first time, whether it’s to a place of study, work, medical care or socialising. And probably everyone has been a little nervous about what to expect, whether they’ll feel they belong and even simple things like will they be able to find the nearest loo or know where the entrance is?
Whether you’re expecting newcomers for the first time, or the hundredth time, everyone involved in planning and delivering a good welcome will have personal experience to draw on. Hopefully, that will include elements of when they experienced a warm welcome and memories of how this lessened any anxiety and possibly led them to feel favourably about coming back again.
Conversely, some people will have experienced poor welcomes or been made to feel entirely unwelcome. This may occur more frequently for anyone whose cultural or racial background differs from that of others within the group. Experiencing a lack of being welcome can also be a reality for disabled people due to negative attitudes or assumptions, lack of anticipatory action to remove likely barriers or lack of opportunities to communicate specific requirements in order to plan reasonable adjustments in advance.
So, ensuring your organisation provides a good welcome should be a priority especially where those you seek to welcome may have been let down before.
Where does a good welcome start?
Welcomes begin before someone is due to arrive, in fact they often begin before you know about that person and their interest in engaging with your organisation. Your digital presence, venue branding, marketing materials and any official reports about your organisation – like annual reporting that goes with accounts - are all actually a part of your welcome. So, these should all be within the scope of planning a good welcome.
The language you use reflects who you are interested in welcoming. If you focus on making it inclusive, someone who is wondering ‘is this place for me?’ is more likely to consider getting in touch. Consider what terminology you use and keep it consistent across all your platforms - ask your community how they prefer to be described. It can be powerful to acknowledge if some of the people you’d like to attract may have faced barriers elsewhere, and to state that your aim is to remove those barriers.
Imagery, videos and photos of your services in action all paint a vibrant picture of what it’s like to be part of your organisation. So, review who seems to be in the picture, and who isn’t. Can people see themselves in the types of faces that represent your organisation? If they can’t then this might create doubt around being welcomed.
How is a good welcome created?
From the first point of contact - be that a phone call, email, drop-in or even a response thread on your social media channels - how you communicate can help create a sense of trust, openness and curiosity and can show that your organisation values getting to know individuals and making them feel welcome.
Try and offer different ways for people to get in touch as not everyone will manage a phone call or be able to articulate their interest in a written format. Encourage people to get in touch before a visit or activity if they have any questions, or if they have specific access requirements that you’ll need to be aware of in order to for them to be involved. Forms are one way of doing this, but a conversation can be less daunting and you can make notes together, so everyone understands the important details about someone’s situation or access requirements.
“Make sure they’re ready to greet people - and not simultaneously trying to put the chairs out or getting the projector connected to the wi-fi!”
Give as much information as you can in advance; share some simple directions to your setting and include some photos or a video tour to give people a preview.
Make sure it’s clear where the entrance is. Have good lighting and signage. If there is more than one entrance explain this. If only one entrance has step free access, make sure that this information is easily found in advance – especially if it’s hidden from view when arriving at a main entrance.
Arriving somewhere and not being sure who to speak to can be very daunting, so have someone who is clearly that point of contact when you’re expecting new people. Make sure they’re ready to greet people - and not simultaneously trying to put the chairs out or getting the projector connected to the wi-fi! They should be ready and equipped to provide key information to anyone who might need any support.
On a practical note, if you’re providing refreshments, aim to meet some of the key specific requirements people might have – for example dairy/nut/gluten free, halal, kosher or vegan. If your catering is a bit more involved, then make sure you ask about requirements in advance and build in time to communicate about whether you can meet these.
Who should be part of a good welcome?
Everyone involved in your organisation can be supported to learn the skills of being a good welcomer and in doing so, being a positive ambassador. Friendly greetings, good knowledge of what to expect and the answers to common questions, and a patient, curious approach are good skills. Equally, everyone representing your organisation should recognise the importance of making people feel welcome as this demonstrates well embedded inclusive practice.
“Thinking about and planning a good welcome is one of the most underrated professional skills”
It doesn’t have to be a team member. If you run a group activity, perhaps established participants would be the best people to welcome a new member?
Consider if you have team members or participants with their own access requirements and ensure they feel confident to ask for assistance if needed to be able to welcome new people.
Back to the why
Thinking about and planning a good welcome is one of the most underrated professional skills – yet it has great potential to make or break your relationship with a new person.
Getting the welcome right can build trust and ensure that if barriers do present themselves along the way, people will have a positive first impression and be more likely to work with you to overcome those barriers together. Being known as a welcoming organisation will speak deeply to your values and can be a very tangible way of living those values in your day-to-day actions.
Nicole Hastie leads a team of innovative disabled and non-disabled professionals in developing, supporting and improving inclusive practice within local organisations.