How Welcome Kits Make New Employees Feel Like Part of the Team
When it’s time to welcome a new hire to the team, employee welcome kits are the first opportunity to make good on all those nice things you said about your business during the hiring process. But more importantly, it’s a creative way to make new hires feel at home. Changing companies and starting a new job is already a stressful experience for employees. They have to navigate a foreign workspace, assimilate into a group of people that may have been working together for years, and find out the basic job stuff, like what they’re responsible for. When you’re unprepared for a new employee’s first day, it only adds to that stress. It may even make them feel like a burden.
Existing employees might already love your company culture, but someone walking in the door for the second or third time knows very little about it. They might be nervous. They might even be skeptical that this was the right choice for them. It’s important to make them feel comfortable, to ensure they’re well-equipped to take on the new role. It doesn’t take extravagant perks or some mind-blowing presentation to get them to feel this way. Sometimes it can be as simple as a well-thought-out employee welcome kit, and that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about here.
Make New Employees Feel Like They Belong with a Custom Welcome Kit
Whatever you put in your employee welcome box, and however it is designed immediately communicates a message about your company culture and the way you view new employees. This article can help you tailor that message to your vision, and create welcome kits that are truly reflective of how you see your company. But first, let’s ask a few questions to get started.
Questions to Help You Start Your Employee Welcome Kits
You might want to think about starting with some of these questions, as they can lead you to the purpose behind your employee welcome kits:
- What information do you want to give a newcomer about your company? What message are you trying to communicate, and what do you hope new employees will think about your company?
- How do you want to convey this information? This is all about your business branding. What should this kit look like? What should be the tone of any writing? Should you invest in design work? You should even consider things like design and packaging.
- Will this make a newcomer feel welcome and want to stay? Does this kit prepare them for their job or is it more about making them feel like a part of the team? Realize that it can do both.
- What training will you provide this employee with? Is this a position that requires a large amount of training? Think about how this kit can prepare them for that.
What Goes Inside a Custom Welcome Kit?
What goes inside your custom welcome kit is the most important question you can ask. Your welcome kits should be more than official documents and materials your employees need to sign and return to you by the end of the week. This is about your internal branding and your company culture. It’s too important to ignore.
Some businesses include employee handbooks when they create a custom welcome kit, and others go heavy on the company swag with branded T-shirts, stickers and reusable water bottles. You might see gift cards to a nearby coffee shop or something more practical, like your benefits package or the device you’ll use in the office. For example, when SeatGeek designed their welcome kit, they wanted something exciting for new hires first day at the office. Each new box was filled with:
- A SeatGeek branded baseball t-shirt
- A t-shirt branded with the same logo as on the box
- A leather notebook
- Pens, sticks, USB sticks, and keychains
- ID badges
Choosing the Right Packaging
Flaunt the goods while protecting what’s crucial. You can choose from various options to elevate your product and make a lasting impression.
| Packaging Type | Features and Benefits |
|---|---|
| Cardstock Product Boxes | Elegance out of the box, ready to elevate your product. |
| Corrugated Product Boxes | Strong enough to ship heavy items and protect fragile goods. |
| Econoflex Shipping Boxes | A no-brainer budget box. Ultra affordable and eco-friendly. |
| Standard Shipping Boxes | Durable and stylish for subscription boxes, gift boxes, and more. |
To finish the look, you can add an elegant and eco-friendly layer to your void fill using Custom Tissue Papers, or secure your items with Water Activated Tapes and Poly Tapes.