A positive employee experience starts on day one with your new hire onboarding process. Therefore, offering a welcome kit for new employees is essential.
A well-executed onboarding not only sets the tone for the company’s culture and what a new hire can generally expect with their role, it can also positively impact their motivation within the first 90 days.
Additionally, over time, a well-executed onboarding process can lead to better employee retention and engagement.
Check out now what a welcome kit is for new employees and what to offer in one!
What is a welcome kit for new employees?
A welcome kit for new employees is a way for the company to communicate with newcomers in a casual and appreciative way.
By offering a welcome kit, it is possible to set the tone for an enjoyable and, hopefully, long professional relationship between the employee and the organization.
Also, in the kit, it is essential that the company include its mission statement, goals and any policies that newcomers are expected to adhere to.
In the welcome kit, it is also common for the company to provide information regarding the structure of the organization, the workplace and the internal culture of the teams.
In this way, it is possible to familiarize new candidates with the company more quickly and effectively.
Check now the most common benefits for organizations that implement a welcome kit for new employees:
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- Saves company time and money;
- Improves the satisfaction of new hires;
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- Reduce employee turnover
- Increase the speed of new hires;
- Provides context for work expectations and goals;
- Responds to the most common questions from employees;
- Demonstrates organizational efficiency.
What to offer in the welcome kit for new employees?
Now that we know what a new employee welcome kit is, how about we better understand what companies can offer to their newcomers?
Check out what a welcome kit might include below!
1. Welcome email
All employees want to feel appreciated and welcome, especially new hires.
Therefore, for an effective welcome kit for new employees, it is ideal to send an appreciative email or make a social media announcement about the new hire.
This will make the new hire feel part of the company from day one and will inform the company and/or the general public about their new position.
2. CEO welcome letter
Another important item for a good welcome kit for new employees is the CEO letter of initiation.
Ideally, the chief executive introduces the company and welcomes the new team member.
This is a great tool to communicate the organizational culture, the level of satisfaction of other professionals and the short and long term goals of the company.
Ideally, this welcome letter matches the overall tone of the organization.
For example, if the company uses collaborative management and organization systems, it is possible to create a welcome letter and insert it into such programs.
This serves a dual purpose: the first is that it welcomes you to the company and the other is that it introduces you to tools used by the company.
3. Paperwork and forms
Nobody likes filling out a bunch of paperwork on their first day, but unfortunately, a new hire must complete that process.
Inside the welcome kit for new hires should be all the necessary onboarding documents, from benefits and taxes to compensation and emergency contact forms.
To save time and less headache, consider making all or as much of it available online through a management and organization system.
4. Culture and Strategy
It’s hard for a new hire to understand what the company culture is like.
Some options that offer greater integration for newcomers are providing a copy of the annual report, the latest employee newsletter or even a video showing some professionals at work.
No matter what department this new hire is in, they’ll want to know where they fit in and how their work helps the company at large!
5. Management structure and team
Another item that can be offered in a welcome kit for new employees is the management and team structure.
Depending on a new hire’s job, they may interact with multiple departments on a daily basis.
For this reason, a simple chart of the company’s structure with photos and management titles is useful.
It can also be good to include the various departments and employees within each sector with contact information. And, if the company is corporate, where each department is located within the building.
