16 Best Employee Welcome Kit Ideas For HRs

The act of engaging an employee starts the moment when they enter your door. But, sometimes, even before that. Thus, it’s of the utmost importance that you have a list of the best employee welcome kit ideas with you for a successful onboarding process.

An employee welcome kit, also referred to as employees welcome packages or employee onboarding kits, is essentially a new hire welcome kit. It is designed to make a new hire feel like part of the team and appreciated.

Although it might seem like a non-essential but an employee welcome packages are an essential part of the employee onboarding process. It hugely affects the new hires’ perception of your company.

A fantastic welcome kit says that you care about your employees and want them to have a good company experience. Additionally, new hires feel more comfortable, happy, and engaged from the first day itself. Thus, such displays are necessary for showcasing and advocating the company culture.

“The Induction Box”- Ogilvy & Mather

A great example of an employee onboarding kit is the “Induction Box” presented by one of the giants of advertising agencies- Ogilvy & Mather.

The Induction Box is nothing sort of a design marvel that has won many accolades for its creativity. Nevertheless, here is a glimpse of what it looks like.

While you don’t necessarily need to design an award-winning welcome kit, you can certainly work on creating one which will make your new hires feel valued and welcomed at their new organization. So let’s take a look at our 16 favorite employee welcome kit ideas:

The Only List Of “Employee Welcome Kit Ideas” That You’ll Ever Need

1. Company Swag

Company SWAG (Stuff We All Get) is an excellent addition to any employee welcome packages. Company SWAG is a term used to describe fantastic company branded products that every employee looks forward to getting.

Ranging from water bottles, coffee mugs, t-shirts to notebooks- almost any essential can get turned into a company SWAG.

A great way to add a personal touch to the generic company SWAG items is to inscribe them with individual employees’ names. Company SWAG (Stuff We All Get) is an excellent addition to any employee welcome packages.

Company SWAG is a term used to describe fantastic company branded products that every employee looks forward to getting.

Related Articles: Company SWAG Ideas

2. Office Supplies

Nothing says “welcome” like supplying the essential items of a workday. Office supplies are perhaps the most basic but integral part of any employee welcome kit. Ensuring that the new hire gets them in their welcome kit overcomes the need to seek out these items by themselves.

Office supplies can be anything that an employee might require on a day-to-day basis of his work-life. We refer to these items as “necessities,” and the lack of having these can hugely impact the ease of doing a job. Here is a brief list of office supplies that will make a new employee’s life a lot easier:

• Notebooks/Notepads
• Pens, Markers, Highlighters
• Post Its
• Office Storage Box
• Folders and business cards
• Staplers and scissors
• Desk cleaning supplies

3. Employee Handbook

A new hire should be made well aware of the crucial rules and regulations of an organization. As an HR, you would probably have verbally informed them, but it’s debatable whether someone can remember them. Hence, the employee handbook.

An employee handbook is used for giving employees clear instructions on the dos, don’ts, and policies of the organization. Including the employee handbook in the new hires’ welcome kit ensures that they have a physical copy of the company’s missions and expectations that they can refer to.

4. Fun Employee Handbook

While an employee handbook is about highlighting rules and regulations, the fun employee handbook is about showcasing the company culture’s fun part. The idea behind the fun employee handbook is to display what makes the company culture so unique and exciting.

In this handbook, you can:

• Introduce team members through clever bios and anecdotes.
• Display pictures and experiences of the team building activities.
• Highlight the hall of fame, i.e., your top performers.
• A dedicated page where employees share what makes them proud to work for the company.

It is an excellent way for new hires to familiarize themselves with the team and get them excited about being part of the company culture.

5. Personalized Note

A personalized note from the CEO and other executives instills pride and belonging in a new employee. Personalize the note to include what the company stands for and what its expectations are from its workforce.

Related Articles: Welcome Messages for New Employees

6. Tech Necessities

Every job needs the use of technology nowadays. Be it a desktop, keyboard, mouse, or (the most essential) wifi password. Ensure that your new hires get the proper access to the applications, equipment, and guidance to do their job without hassle. Remember to set up any required permissions or programs onto their workstation beforehand.

7. Information on Employee Benefits

Your new hires must have a clear picture of the benefits and perks available for them. Ensure that you include a list of the same during the onboarding process and help them understand what benefits entail.

Related Articles: Top Employee Benefits

8. Safety Essentials

Now that we are in a pandemic era, it’s of utmost importance to ensure our workforce’s safety even when onboarding new employees. It calls for some basic hygiene and safety measures for everyone. In your company’s employee welcome packages, make sure that the kit includes:

• Hand Sanitizers
• N95 masks
• Disposable gloves
• Instructional pamphlets on social distancing and Covid pandemic.

Related Articles: Workplace Safety

9. Gift Cards

Gift cards are great as welcome gifts for new employees. Since you have little to no idea of what they like, gift cards are a perfect way of letting them choose the gift that they want.

Also, gift cards allow employees to revel in the shopping experience, which increases the happiness factor. Non-fussy, cheap, easy to distribute- the benefits of gift cards are numerous.

Related Articles: Why Gift Cards Are The Perfect Employee Reward

10. Snack Box

Who doesn’t like to snack while working? A snack box is an excellent refreshment for the hunger pangs that strikes while working. Not only does it satiate a person, but it also makes a person concentrate and focus more.

However, if you want to incorporate healthy living as your company culture’s core value, invest in healthy and high-quality snacks. Healthy snacks ensure that your employees get the benefits of snacking while not compromising on their wellbeing.

Related Articles: Healthy Snacks For Work

11. Headphones

A good pair of headphones is a given in any work environment. Unless you want the hustle-bustle of every day to interrupt an employee while working, gifting a pair of noise-canceling headphones in the employee welcome kits should be a priority.

12. Desk Plants

Desk plants are a great welcoming gift to make new hires feel at home. Plants impart a positive vibe and act as a personal touch in brightening up an otherwise empty desk.

Additionally, desk plants will prove to be an incredible stress reliever and help clean the air (snake plants). Talk about being an all-rounder, huh.

Related Articles: Office Decor Ideas

13. Stress Balls

That might be a wrong indication that your workplace is stressful. But believe me when I say that the new hire will thank you for putting stress balls in their employee welcome packages.

No matter how calm and collected a workplace may seem, stressful times cannot be avoided. In such times, a stress ball will be more than helpful to dissipate stress and ease tension.

14. Fitness Bands

The health and wellbeing of an employee should be promoted from the first day itself. Given that most office jobs are sedentary, employees are at a higher risk of developing various health problems. An unfit employee is unfocused, unproductive, and disengaged. Thus, you must include some fitness options in your list of employee welcome kit ideas.

Fitness bands are great because they are an all-in-one tool that encourages people to move. Additionally, they are cool to look at and easy to carry. These bands lend a competitive edge to fitness, inspiring employees to compete with their peers on healthy initiatives such as step challenges. These are just a few of the many reasons why fitness bands are a great wellness perk for any company.

Related Articles: Gamification For Employee Fitness

15. Books

Books are perhaps a strange addition to the employee welcome kit ideas, but not without reasons. Not only are books great to relax for a short time, but they are also incredibly informative.

By gifting new hires with books covering their job roles, you’ll be giving them manual how-to’s. Additionally, you can present some of the motivational greats that’ll inspire them whenever they feel down or at odds.

16. Photo Frames

For new hires, the ability to add a personal touch to their desks will provide a lot of comfort and a feeling of belonging.

In addition, photo frames are a great option to add to their employee onboarding kits to get settled on the first day by surrounding themselves with pictures of their loved ones.

Finally: Additional Employee Welcome Kit Ideas

We are always open to suggestions and would love to hear from you. If you have any employee welcome kit ideas you love, tell us in the comments below.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR, company culture, and corporate buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.