Building an Onboarding Packet That Welcomes and Retains Employees

Create an onboarding packet that welcomes new hires, sets clear expectations, and supports lasting engagement and retention. Include culture details, training tools, policies, and thoughtful gifts to lower turnover and reduce hiring costs.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Onboarding packet for new hires

3. Contents of the onboarding packet for new hires

4. Optional elements of a welcome package for new hires

5. Choosing what to put in your onboarding packet for new hires

6. Does a welcome packet for new hires matter?

7. Examples of welcome packets for new hires

Introduction

Retaining current employees always gives you better results than hiring new ones. A thorough new hire onboarding packet is the greatest approach to retaining your recruits and ensuring they are immediately up to speed.

To identify and educate their replacements, businesses will have to spend 6 to 9 months of their compensation, according to a SHRM study. This means that, before paying the recruit the $60,000 compensation, your business will have to spend between $30,000 & $45,000 hiring and training a replacement for the outgoing employee.

Onboarding packet for new hires

An onboarding package, often known as a welcome gift for staff, is a set of supplies given to new personnel. A welcome letter, worker handbook, business regulations, benefits details, forms, and occasionally company products are all included. New hires are introduced to the company, its culture, and key resources in this package.

The following are some typical advantages for companies that provide new hires with an onboarding packet:

Saves money and time for the business.
Increases the satisfaction of new hires
Lowers employee churn
Accelerate the ramp-up for new hires
Gives employment expectations and goals from a perspective.
Responds to their frequently asked questions
Demonstrates the effectiveness of the organization

Contents of the onboarding packet for new hires

The contents to be included in a new employee onboarding packet are important. How can you distinguish between what is and is not essential? Informing someone who is new and overburdening them are two very different things.

The following essential elements must be present in an onboarding packet for new hires:

A copy of the press release or new hire email
Letter of welcome from the CEO
Forms and paperwork
Strategy and culture
Team structure and management
Handbook for Employees
Technology
Continuous training
Worksheet for personal information
Pre-onboarding questionnaire

A copy of the press release or new hire email

Every new recruit wants to feel valued & accepted. Create a copy of the press announcement or new hire email you sent out about this fresh hire. This will help the entire firm know about their new role. This will also help the recently hired employee feel like a part of it from day one.

Welcome letter from the CEO

You want to welcome the newest team member and describe your business. This is an excellent tool for communicating your company’s culture. You can mention what people enjoy about working for you and your goals for the future. Your company’s general tone should be reflected in the format.

For instance, you could include a welcome message with your learning materials if you’re utilizing a learning management system. In addition to welcoming them to the organization, this also connects them to the training & educational resources.

Forms and paperwork

Unfortunately, new employees must fill out a number of forms on their initial day of work, even though nobody enjoys doing so. These essential onboarding docs should be included in new hire welcome packages. Forms for emergency contacts, benefits, taxes, and compensation should all be included. Think about making any or every course you can open online using a learning management system to save time and headaches.

Strategy and culture

The new employee can have trouble understanding your company’s culture. Some materials can help them. A copy of the company’s annual report and the most recent employee newsletter can be shared. A video of some staff members at work can also be of good help. The new hire should know how they integrate into the team.

Team structure and management

A new employee’s daily interactions with other departments may vary depending on their position they have. It helps to have a basic firm structure chart with leadership titles and images. Including the different departments and the staff members in each department, along with their contact details, could also be a great touch. Additionally, if your business is an enterprise, you must know where every division is located in the facility. If you additionally hire freelancers or contractors, don’t forget to specify the time zone they are in if they are located in different regions of the nation or the world.

Handbook for employees

You should also send a copy of the business’s employee handbook. All of your company’s rules, legal documents, board members, employees, values, and much more can be stored here. One excellent source of company data for new hires is the employee handbook.

Technology

Information regarding the corporate policy should be included in this section of a new worker’s onboarding packet that deals with technology. Things include which websites are permitted to be visited while at work, whether the company has an intranet, and the way employees use it, and the whereabouts of other essential papers.

Inform this new hire of their new phone number, email address, and any login credentials they will require to access documents and/or files, in addition to Internet policies. Information on the devices that this fresh recruit will be given, such as a computer or business cell phone, should also be included. Additionally, what are the rules on using any corporate property for business travel or taking it home?

Constant training

You have previously presented your LMS to this new hire in your welcome packet. It’s important to stress, nevertheless, that this individual will continue to get training during their employment.

You must enhance employees’ careers if you want to retain them for longer. One excellent approach to do this is to provide them with several chances for development and training. To demonstrate everything in the learning management system, schedule some initial onboarding time. Make sure to highlight all of the opportunities for learning and development for this new hire.

Worksheet for personal information

You want to recognize this new employee as more than just a part of the team. Ask them to complete a quick self-report form to help them feel welcome.

What pastimes do they have?
Did their path leave a lasting impression?
Do they have any favorite meals to eat?

You can utilize these details in an email welcoming the new hire to their division. It can act as a way to start a conversation with their team.

Pre-onboarding questionnaire

What was the first day like for this new hire? Have you addressed all of their inquiries? Did they feel secure in their new position when they left this orientation day?

You should let this new employee give you feedback on how your company onboards staff. One excellent method to get this onboarding input is through a brief online survey provided by your LMS.

In addition to giving this new hire a sense of agency, you might receive positive feedback that improves your pre-onboarding procedure in the future.

Optional elements of a welcome package for new hires

You have covered the essentials in your new hire welcome packages. How can you go above and beyond? You may stand out from the competition with some entertaining and distinctive onboarding materials. Think of some optional items that you can include in your onboarding kit.

Customized/company merchandise: Presenting a personalized present to a new hire is a wonderful approach. It will surprise them and make them feel appreciated. Think of something that has their name and is also practical for the workplace. Anything tangible or even digital could be used.

Mousepad
Stickers for laptops
Coffee tumblers or mugs,
Socks, hoodies, and T-shirts,
A distinctive screensaver for the organization

Basically, everything that is personalized for the fresh hire and branded for the business. Additionally, using this product outside of the office is an option for some free advertisement.

Products for employee motivation: Think about giving them industry books, influencer links, or webinars; occasionally, staff could use some helpful words of wisdom. Regardless, adding this to a new hire’s welcome packet offers them an extra learning opportunity.

Work calendar: Providing a poster, tablet, or even a web calendar that is customized for your business is another potential branded item. Events like birthdays or job anniversaries could be included. This will help a new hire understand the milestones of other team members. Saying “happy birthday” to a colleague goes quite a way toward creating new relationships.

Offering a mentor or training buddy may not be effective for more experienced new hires. Pairing staff members with seasoned team members fosters an immediate bond. It gives a new hire the opportunity to build a strong working connection and ask questions. As an employee stays with your company, it might also indicate their future advancement.

Choosing what to put in your onboarding packet for new hires

Asking oneself these straightforward questions is an easy approach to begin putting this packet together:

How would you like this new hire to understand your corporate culture?
What information about your business should this new hire be aware of?
Is there anything this new hire needs to know right away?
What will the newly hired employee require each day to perform their work well?
How are you going to welcome and encourage this fresh recruit to stay?
What kind of training are you going to give this worker?

It’s time to discuss components after you have the answers to these questions. Although the requirements of each business vary, any welcome package should have a few standard elements. These details ought to be used as a reference manual for the onboarding of new hires.

Does a welcome packet for new hires matter?

Since it facilitates contact between a new recruit and the company right away, the new employee’s welcome package is essential. This new worker welcome package will give newly recruited team members the knowledge they need to become familiar with their duties and get up to speed much more quickly.

How can you keep their worries down both before and on their first day of work? Focusing on pre-onboarding makes it simple. You need to make sure this new hire is aware of what they can anticipate. Information must be shared even before they enter the workplace. Respond to the pre-onboarding inquiries in an email.

Dress code for the workplace
Where do they find a parking spot?
Who should they inquire with at the workplace, and at what time should they show up?
Who else are they going to see?

And a welcome package for new hires can accomplish just that.

Examples of welcome packets for new hires

A welcome packet for a new hire should include a number of useful items. Talking about what should be included is one thing, but seeing it in action is quite another. The bright side is that there are excellent examples of welcome packets for new hires.

For ideas, consider these imaginative and inventive welcome packets:

Ad Agency Cactus

The fresh hire welcome kit by Cactus Ad Agency comprises a USB drive, branded pen, rule, employee handbook, business card, and welcome letter. It is packaged in a single box container.

The PR firm Ogilvy & Mather

A USB drive, a branded journal, a personalized pencil, and a book on the company’s history and values—which all new hires are required to read—all included in Ogilvy & Mather’s welcome package. Everything is nicely packed in their recognizable red box.

The airline TAP Portugal

An excellent example of a welcome packet for new hires is provided by the airline TAP Portugal. It comes in a silver, metal-branded case. It has a notepad, a lanyard, a pencil, a pen, & a letter of greeting from the president of the company.

By naming their package “Welcome aboard!” they added a nice little twist to the slogan. It is used to greet passengers on airlines as well as new hires.

Marketing Technology Company Percolate

This organization approaches onboarding in two stages. A t-shirt, mug, granola, a backpack, a Kindle, & a handwritten note of congratulations are given to new hires when they accept. Stickers, planners, a mousepad, and other objects in the company’s designated colors are given to them on their first day.

The Interior Design Firm YourStudio

A sprouting plant in a customized pot is included with the set. The package includes an access code to a digital toolkit that includes goal-tracking, contact and communication information, and inspirational articles.

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Building an Onboarding Packet That Welcomes and Retains Employees

Introduction

Onboarding packet for new hires

Contents of the onboarding packet for new hires

Optional elements of a welcome package for new hires

Choosing what to put in your onboarding packet for new hires

Does a welcome packet for new hires matter?

Examples of welcome packets for new hires

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