10 Onboarding Kit Ideas to Make Your New Employees Feel Welcome

So, you’ve hired some new team members, but how do you give them the warmest possible welcome? For many smart companies, the answer is to shower them with branded swag on day one! And it’s not a bad strategy—surprising new hires with welcome kits is a great way to instill company pride from the get-go and to encourage a positive work environment. As long as you make it creative, personal, useful and (perhaps most important) welcoming, you can be sure your brand-new co-worker will be glad he or she took the leap to join your organization. Here are some awesome onboarding kit ideas to make new hires feel right at home.

Include Something Personal

No matter how many logo hoodies, pens and sunglasses you throw into a given kit, nothing says “we’re glad you’re here” quite like a personalized note. Before the first day, pass around a welcome sign or card to the entire team to sign, with personalized notes, signatures and tips for brand-new hires. If you already know a little something about the newbie—maybe she’s an athlete, a music lover or a foodie—try to tailor a goodie bag to suit her personality.

Include Something They Can Wear

At the end of the day, employees are representatives of your brand. And if they believe in it, they will share it with everyone they love, acting as natural (and free) promoters. Thus, keeping employees proud and happy is key to solidifying a good Glassdoor review and reputation within the industry or community. Allow new hires to show their company pride with an onboarding kit that includes promotional apparel, like custom hoodies and tees.

Include Something That’s Useful

What do the welcome kits of the most forward-thinking companies have in common? Uber, Randstad, Facebook, IBM and eBay all give new employees the same single piece of branded swag: a branded notebook. The truth is that logo items simply get more use when they’re useful, so you can trust that they’ll stay in the game for years to come. Consider adding custom mouse pads, pens, planners and sticky notes to your onboarding kit for a practical appeal.

Include Something They Can Eat

You’ll be the onboarding hero if you add something sweet to your welcome kits! The idea is to pair valuable, branded items like apparel with affordable yet crowd-pleasing extras, such as candy, beverages and snacks. If your new set of hires has relocated for the position, make sure to give your onboarding kit a local flair with regional sweets and treats that welcome employees to the area and your company.

Include Something You Sell

If you have the ability to give every single employee your best-selling product or service, do so. This is more than just a perk for new hires; it’s also a way for them to get acquainted with the things they’ll be working with or using every day and to provide real, usable advice to potential customers, family and friends. Of course, if your service is an intangible—such as software or an app—be sure to offer all new hires the premium or top-tier version for personal and work use for free.

Include Something They Can Share

Again, your employees serve not only as the scaffolding of your business, but also as promoters and believers of what you do. In this spirit, it helps if you encourage your new hires to spread the word about your business with their closest family, friends and colleagues, and they’ll be much more likely to do this if they can hand out stickers, pens or buttons. Be sure that you don’t put pressure on this (especially if promotion isn’t their job), but simply mention that sharing is caring!

Include Something to Carry it All in

If you love the idea of creating a super neat, self-contained welcome kit for new employees, consider tying it all up in a pretty little package that serves dual purposes, like a custom promotional bag. These carry-alls serve as personalized gift bags and swag in their own right, so they’re pretty much guaranteed to check all your branding and welcoming boxes! Opt for something you know will get use, like a custom tote bag, drawstring bag or backpack.

Include Something in Your Company’s Spirit

Don’t choose onboarding kit items at random. Piece together swag and gifts that celebrate the essence and vibe of your company. Say, for example, your company is a fitness tracking app. Your employees will surely be interested in staying fit, so consider welcoming them with company water bottles. If your company is all about the high-tech, then a custom wireless speaker is a great option. All about the cool factor? Obviously, it’s got to be custom sunglasses!

Include Something Industry-Specific

Not everything in your welcome kit needs to be branded. Mixing in useful, iconic and industry-specific extras will give your swag kits a big-picture feel, helping to honor the history or importance of your work. For example, a limited-edition version of a significant book—Gray’s Anatomy for medical pros, The Elements of Style for writers, etc.—will always delight passionate employees!

Include Cool Finishing Touches

The devil’s in the details, as they say! Some of the most memorable and unique onboarding kits we’ve seen perfectly honor a brand’s spirit with special unboxing experiences, beautiful packaging and messaging and colors that honor a company’s branding and culture. Tie it all together by creating a new hire welcome basket that newbies will want to share on social media!

When designing your employee onboarding kits, make sure that they’re three things simultaneously: personal, inspiring and creative. The goal is to make your new hires feel like they’re part of the team—and part of something overall positive and inclusive—and to encourage them to build loyalty and pride so that they work hard and stay with your company well into the future!

Guest Post: About the Author

Lee Becknell serves as the Digital Marketing Manager for Pinnacle Promotions. She oversees digital marketing from the Atlanta, GA headquarters. Lee has been with Pinnacle for over six years.