Employee welcome packs may not be something you have given much thought to beyond ensuring that certain things are ready and available for new hires. However, a thoughtful and strategic welcome pack can make all the difference in how a new employee experiences the start of their work with you and ultimately in their level of engagement from day one. It is an essential part of your onboarding checklist.
In this article we explore what an employee welcome pack entails, why they are beneficial and examine some examples.
What is an Employee Welcome Pack?
You may also hear an employee welcome pack referred to as an onboarding pack, a welcome box/kit, or a staff welcome pack. A welcome pack is designed to help the new employee settle in quickly to their new role and to the company. It often includes a mixture of physical and digital products, some of which can be fun or practical and others will be essential resources to help the employee perform their role.
A welcome back is not an offer letter and it’s usually way more than just the onboarding paperwork such as accessing databases, providing details for payroll and so on that an employee needs to complete on their first day. Ideally, a welcome pack will be a curated set of items that showcase the company’s brand, corporate culture and anything specific to the team the employee is joining.
Benefits of Using Employee Welcome Packages
Companies that use employee welcome packages experience several benefits:
Supports a Positive Start to Employment
When an employee receives a carefully curated welcome pack, they immediately feel valued and supported, which also makes them feel positive about their future experience with the company. The sense of belonging that a welcome pack can create is key to an employee feeling engaged and connected to their new team. A welcome kit that has a detailed schedule for the first few days can also support a new employee hitting the ground running, because they never have to ask ‘what should I do next?’, which can help them to feel more confident.
Reinforces the Company’s Brand and Culture
An onboarding pack is an excellent opportunity for an organisation to reiterate its values, brand proposition, and company ethos to the new employee. Not only does the pack itself signal that the company values its employees, but what gets included can reiterate what the organisation is committed to. For example, a personal note from the CEO demonstrates that they value every employee.
Or a voucher for a lunch out of the office might indicate that the company wants employees to take regular breaks from their desks.
Improves the Onboarding Process
A welcome pack can include checklists, log-in details, the employee handbook and role-specific tools, all of which reduce the learning curve for the new employee and help them get started on the actual work involved in their new role. An office map, an FAQs sheet, and a jargon-buster can all play an essential role in helping new starters feel less anxious and, therefore, more able to engage in the work they need to do.
Increases Retention Rates
An employee welcome kit is one way to support job satisfaction from the very first day, thereby reducing the likelihood of a new hire leaving within the first few months. Feeling welcomed into the company and supported from the moment they arrive for work also plays a crucial role in setting the tone for a positive and rewarding relationship between the employee and the company, which in turn increases loyalty and productivity.
Clarifies Expectations
A welcome pack is also a good opportunity to clarify what is expected from a new employee, as it can include documents explaining the team structure, role expectations, and the way people communicate and work together within the company. These details can be beneficial if the new hire is working remotely or in a hybrid model. Clarifying expectations at the start of employment reduces misunderstandings later on, which can harm productivity.
What to Include in Your Employee Welcome Pack
When considering what to include in your employee welcome pack, think about what you want to achieve with the materials. It can help to break the contents down into different categories:
Role Essentials
Essential role items are everything the new employee needs to perform their role effectively. This category can include items such as:
- Lanyards or ID cards
- Office map
- Schedule for the first few days, including key meetings
- List of log-ins
- Objectives for the first day/week/month
- Employee handbook covering the company’s vision, mission, history, policies and culture
Items that Showcase the Company Brand and Values
Items that showcase the company’s brand and values are likely to be more enjoyable or fun and less essential to how the new employee performs their job. This category can include items such as:
- A personalised note from the CEO or department head
- Branded merchandise such as a coffee cup, water bottle, notebook and so on
- Anything that demonstrates the culture of the company, for example, any games, a map of the local area with places the team likes to visit,
Examples of the Best New Employee Welcome Packages
Here are some examples of what could be in a physical welcome pack:
- Company-branded notebook, pen or mug
- ID badge or lanyard
- Laptop, mouse pad, phone stand
- Planner
- Snacks or a gift card for coffee or lunch
- Desk decoration, such as a plant
- Personalised welcome card
A digital welcome pack could:
- Interactive welcome guide with links to tools and systems
- Video from senior leadership or the whole team
- Welcome email or post on Slack or Teams
- ‘Get to Know the Team’ document
- Calendar invites for the first month of meetings
- Log-ins for all necessary systems, including the employee portal and training
How Do Onboarding Packs Enhance the Employee Experience?
Onboarding packs enhance the employee experience by:
- Making new employees feel valued
- Reducing anxiety and supporting a sense of belonging
- Providing clarity of expectations
- Giving direction and guidelines for the first few days of a new role
- Reinforcing company culture and values
- Supplying practical tools which allow the new employee to hit the ground running
- Creating a strong start which contributes to longer-term satisfaction and retention
- Boosting a sense of psychological safety, which makes employees more likely to engage, ask questions and build relationships
Onboarding with Factorial
Factorial’s business management system can support your onboarding process with its dedicated employee onboarding and offboarding software. The software plays a significant role in creating an employee welcome pack by setting up communication to welcome and include the new employee, creating workflows to assign tasks, and generating documents to be read and signed digitally as part of the induction process.
With Factorial’s onboarding module, you can:
- Assign and automate employee tasks.
- Collect and safely store personal information, contracts, and documents.
- Electronically sign paperwork.
- Save time and enhance productivity by eliminating manual onboarding processes.
