Your first week at a new job may have your body pumping with adrenaline, excited nerves, sweaty first handshakes and involuntary stutters; it may not have been an enjoyable experience until you settled in.
Maybe you’re the type of person who thrives under the pressure of new challenges. Or perhaps you don´t remember it much at all. But, what would leave a lasting impression on you, after all the nerves seep away, was how you were welcomed.
New employee starter packs are the perfect complement to the new employees onboarding ritual.
Lost in Remote Work
In the current climate surge of remote work, employees may feel lost and disconnected, drowned in a sea of confusion. It is imperative as ever to find innovative ways to rescue and engage these individuals again, and a new employee welcome pack is just the life-raft!
Welcome kits are great tools to not only connect teams together with a sense of belonging to a little tribe but also help boost cultural connection and integration. Not to mention what an unforgettable first impression! Not everybody is doing these, so get ahead of the everchanging curve.
Employers should honour the onboarding ritual.
The Vital Integration Advantages Could Be:
- As soon as the newbie adapts they can begin producing work
- The initial days decipher whether the newly-hired person has found the right place for them or not
- When you feel appreciated you tend to stay
- Simply being nice evokes a positive and lasting response
There are several ways to acclimate a new hire and a welcome pack is a perfect compliment. When the employee reaches the reception of their new corporation, they are equal parts nervous and excited. How will they survive?
They can choose to wander aimlessly and lost around the new halls in desperate attempts to stifle nerves and familiarise themselves with the layout. Or, they can be guided by an assistant to their new desk where they will discover a package of well-thought-out gifts, or, under the new normal, receive this bundle of happiness in the post. Which sounds tastier to you?
How to Meaningfully Design an Employee Welcome Pack
From having a creative leaning, or a corporate one, welcome packages differ depending on the industry. A universal truth: a well-thought-out welcome, with attention to detail, will impress, inspire and embolden the fresh meat.
Imagine the glow on their face as they pull back the creative wrapping to reveal a care package for the work ahead. Like a desert island survival kit, but just for the office – an altogether possibly scarier place. A present full of tools and knowledge catered to help begin their journey ASAP.
What Should be Included in a Welcome Pack Kit
Essential employee welcome pack items are as follows, in no particular order and not limited to:
- A personalised touch to a welcome letter
- HR documents and payroll/ benefits info
- Map of the office/ company building
- Mission and vision of the corporation
- Notebooks and pens (obviously)
- First month´s checklist of orientation activities
- Key to the building
- Parking instructions
- Flash drive
- Branded mouse pad
- Local cafes, gyms, restaurants
- Coworker directory
- Employee ID badge
Well, that’s what everyone else is doing but let’s see how to stand out from the crowd.
Snazzier Welcome Pack Ideas are:
- Laptop case
- Company stickers
- Enamel pins
- Coffee mug
- Branded apparel!
- Company umbrella
When you’ve exhausted mind-maps and mood-boards and brainstormed all corners of your mind of what you design to be your welcoming hello, it’s time to fish out a supplier.
[find-more]At Printsome we can offer you dedicated expertise in multiple printing techniques on T-shirt printing, hoodies/ jumpers, sportswear, polos, bags, caps, beanies, …and even umbrellas! (Something that famously wouldn’t go amiss in the UK!) We are experts in clothing printing for companies in London and all around UK! Start your quote now!
[/find-more]You really can’t go wrong with a good ol’ T-shirt, simple and yet still impressive, they show effort on your part, but really require very little effort to produce. Something fashionable and even cool, that can make the new hire feel a part of something bigger than themselves, a sense of community. Nearly any design can be printed boldly by us at Printsome, on a Tee, easily and hassle-free!
What Questions Should You Ask Yourself?
To ensure the appropriate welcome packs is designed to hold these questions in your mind:
- First impression, what do we want it to be?
- What’s the vital beginner info for the newbie?
- Any cute or creative ways we can make this person’s life easier?
- How can we communicate our values as a brand by means of the kit?
- How can we inspire new hires?
For example, at our office, we have a hanging picture that says “Fresh. Creative. Efficient. Fair.” These are some of our core values, and while we may not give away air fresheners, (turns out, they don’t send the right message), we would probably include a mug because coffee is life — just a cup or two daily. Okay, maybe five…
The point is coffee equals efficiency and its handy to have that covered. But don’t get the mugs confused in the communal kitchen! Better yet, to save confusion, chuck it on a Tee! The written company values on a T-shirt that is, not the hot coffee.
New and Fresh Ideas:
Need some inspo? Here are some ideas we cooked up:
T-shirts – The Safe Bet – Undeniably everyone loves T-shirts. You literally cannot go wrong, (especially in our expert hands!). We understand that if you have a budget limit to meet, T-shirts will always be well-received.
If uniforms are part of your company too, a printed polo could be waiting for them in the welcome kit as well. As aforementioned, you can bulk print a T-shirt per company value that you have. As well as this, Printsome’s transfer-printing technique allows you to go a step further and personalise the garment with their name, for that personal touch.
Printed Tote Bags – this simple and effective product could actually be the packaging of which your whole welcome pack is contained in. Shopping or to carry packed-lunches from A to B. Endless uses! And top tip: this bag could be used as packaging that will help escort the welcome kits to employee´s doors through post under lockdown if necessary.
From Vest Tops to Hoodies – is your new employee beginning their career in the winter cold or the hot, hot summer? We have items matching any season or climate.
Textile Laptop Sleeve – maybe you don’t have enough budget to get all your employees new laptops, that’s fine. An affordable alternative would be a personalised laptop sleeve with printed logo.
Cotton Drawstring Backpack – perfect for carrying sportswear from office to gym. Print your company’s logo onto one, put it in the welcome package and tahdah! Free advertising.
The Westford Mill Tea Towel – perfect for a classy, very British edge and more than suitable for the embroidery technique, for extra class. Very posh. ´Keep calm and have a cuppa´?
Fabric Facemasks – in these uncertain times, it’s looking pretty likely that the new normal rules will dominate the future workplace. Things such as masks will become something companies want to invest in for quality. Get ahead of the curve and print your branding on a piece of the future!
A Little Psychology of Belonging Uncertainty
Studies confirm that it takes a couple of months before a newbie fully decides whether they fit in the new work environs, or still sussing out their place in the team dynamics. The term for this kind of sensation is ´belonging uncertainty´. Think of how a welcome pack can dash away any anxieties they may experience. Maybe they pluck up the courage to wear a company shirt out-and-about and they bump into a colleague by happenstance, also wearing one. It’s a smooth icebreaker encouraging the rookie to branch out, network and even make friends. Now, you cannot guarantee that your employees will wander around in your company garments, but you can do these little steps in order to foster a positive environment of growth where employees stay for life, promoting and advocating your brand and company with pride.
Examples of Awesome Employees Welcome Kits
Need some inspiration? Here are some examples we looked up:
Cheers to the New Coworker!
Twitter gives its employees a bottle of wine along with a tote bag, printed T-shirt, laptop sleeve and notebook.
Swag, Swag, Swag
Gregory Newton, a talent coordinator at FanDuel, proudly announced that they were welcoming their new employees by posting a picture of the company’s welcome kit on Linkedin. The package included a hoodie, a jumper, stationery, a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse and — a MacBook Pro. Not too shabby…
Redefining an Image
Led by awarded designer Gadi Amit, NewDealDesign is an industrial design agency that at some point hired* American designer Helen Shaffer to redesign its corporate image including their welcome kit. The agency’s new package included (not one but) two T-shirts, a tote bag, a lunch guide and a beer glass to celebrate on Friday after a long week of work.
* It seems like this was a while ago since NDD has got a different image now.
It’s Raining Solutions in NYC
More than if this was your smoking new office view, with Randstad, a recruitment agency in New York, the list of swag you receive is almost endless. Sunshades, mug, thermos, docking station, cap, stationary… and an umbrella!? Just look at that! And of course, you cannot go wrong with your logo on a T-shirt.
Everyone is a Hero
Contentpark’s welcome kit includes a Funko Pop Vinyl figurine. Enough said.
Want to be Facebook Friends?
Facebook has some of the most powerful and iconic branding in the world. Their logo is one of the most globally recognised assets. Simple, sleek, cool. Maybe a friend request from Mark Zuckerberg is included in their care package. No? Too ambitious a thought? Well, if not, their onboarding ritual still contains a stylish Moleskin notebook, a cheeky, almost-too-blue mouse and powerfully-simple printed T-shirt. Also, that view though…
Go GoDaddy
Godaddy, the webhosting company, went as far as to create a design for their welcome packs and have that printed on their tote bags, and with Printsome, you can too. Godaddy´s package goes on to include notebooks, reusable cups, a baseball cap, and a deck of cards complete with their logo – try and resist a game of coworker UNO over lunch. Not only does Printsome have a selection of tote bags to choose from it also supplies caps and beanies for you to have us print your logo on, fast and affordable!
Puppies Running Around?
Social Chain has got your back in the creation and development of social media brands. A social media agency with the balls to include a mini-bottle of Bacardi in their welcome pack. What confidence. And printed hoodies for cold evenings working overtime in the office – thoughtful. (Printsome offers jumpers too. Just saying.) Sean Brown, their Head of Talent, describes his first-day experience:
“Yesterday, was my first day working in the Social Chain office. Greeted by Kiera, the Head of Happiness, I was talked through what to expect on my first day and introduced to the team and given a tour of the office. The office has a slide, a ball-pit, puppies running around, free breakfast, a white room (with waterfalls), a beanbag room, sleep pods, a basketball hoop, and a (normally) fully stocked bar. The bar had been drunk dry at the Halloween party.”
I Know its Not Garments But I Couldn’t Ignore This
A new employee starter pack “focused on the concept of growth” from YourStudio, by literally giving the newbie a freshly potted seedling, to grow with as it were. Although this welcome pack idea is still in “conceptual form”, in the pot is an RFID tag linked to an app with goal tracking and articles to inspire the new hire, among other important info-bites.
And on that note! If this doesn’t inspire you to design your own employee welcome kit, I don’t know what will!
High-quality clothing printing for businesses in the UK
Thanks to our +7 years of experience in the clothing printing industry, we are able to satisfy the needs of even the biggest of companies. If you are in need of custom T-shirts, personalised hoodies, printed bags, embroidered caps, customised polos, we can help. Printsome’s printing services are not only perfect for events, but also for producing personalised workwear and merch.
From the moment you get in touch one of our printing experts will answer all of your questions and find efficient solutions to your needs. It is our mission to help you reach your goals.
We ship all over the UK with flexible delivery services that can adapt to most deadlines. Fast T-shirt printing has never been this easy. Start your quote!
