our guide to employee onboarding
awesome employee onboarding ideas for companies
This article will feature a step-by-step guide all about welcoming and onboarding new employees and helpful ideas and tips to ensure employee satisfaction!
As we welcome the new year, many of us will also we welcoming new employees which is exciting and our process should reflect that! We have created a step-by-step guide to welcoming new virtual hires to your team through starter kits, welcome gifts, and a fun team building activity. Making new employees feel welcome is really easy! Think about all the things that make our jobs a positive experience: feeling supported, being part of a team, feeling valued, and of course, perks! That is exactly what this onboarding guide will help you communicate to your employees. Your new hires chose your company, remind them they made a great choice!
When we are intentional and thoughtful about welcoming new team members, we help them establish a sense of belonging and camaraderie. This will build employee morale and engagement and will lay the foundation for a positive working culture and environment! Putting ourselves in the shoes of our new employees is the easiest way to identify what is important. We want to ensure that they have the tools and resources in place to begin fulfilling their duties, and the right support and understanding of the company to access help when they need it. The first few weeks are hectic enough as it is, and streamlining your onboarding process will help reduce stress for management and employees alike and leave more room to focus on what matters.
Here is our step-by-step guide to welcoming remote hires to your company and ensuring your onboarding process is a success!
1. Remote onboarding welcome kit for new employees
Let’s begin with the practical stuff! A good remote onboarding welcome kit should include all the basics: the who, the why, the how, etc. It should be a resource for employees to have everything important on hand, and to give them a feel for the company. Check out some great component ideas for your employee welcome kit:
A company overview: Invite your new employee to get to know the company and the team! Provide an overview of the company, departments, and your mission. This will help position themselves within the wider company and help them feel settled.
First-day information and employee essentials: Build an FAQ of sorts with any questions your new employees may have! Include useful information like an employee handbook, company calendar, upcoming training and inductions, channels of communication and log-ins, etc.
Quick Tip: While remote onboarding is not orientation, there may still be documents involved. By digitalizing the majority of your paperwork, you will prevent risking overwhelming your teams with paperwork galore.
2. Welcome letter for new employees
Speaking of personalizing this experience, let’s say hi to your new team member! Instead of a generic letter from the company, a personalized welcome letter from your CEO or a handwritten letter from their direct manager can help your new employee feel welcome and valued!
3. Welcome message to new employees
A great way to help onboard remote employees and help them feel like part of the community is to get to know the rest of the team! You can set up a chat on your employee platform and introduce your new colleague to the team. This can be a great way to establish points of contact for your new employee, so they know to reach out to for different matters.
How about introducing your new team member to your wider community? Take to social media, and introduce your new colleague to your Linkedin connections! This is a great way to establish the growth of your company and to share your employees’ talents.
Quick Tip: Make sure you touch base with your new team member and get the green light to go ahead with these introductions. Let them lead the way and do what makes them comfortable! They may prefer to update their own LinkedIn profile and be tagged on your company page, or they may love a feature, picture included.
4. Welcome pack for new employees
This is the fun part! Create a company starter kit to include awesome swag for your new employee! You can include the classics: a company mug or water bottle, a tote bag, apparel, backpack, notebooks, and more! A super fun way to elevate this is by personalizing an item such as engraving your new employee’s name on their notebook.
While your new employee may not be new to working from home or a hybrid approach, they are new to the company and that’s exciting! How about a gift set of office supplies? You could include the classics like a notebook, pens, post-it, a USB et. To make this more exciting, add some neat little gadgets like headphones, a lanyard, stickers for their computer/journal, a camera blocker, or even a studio light for meetings!
5. Welcome gifts for new employees
Since you already covered your traditional gifts with your company starter kit, add a special touch to your welcome kit by treating them to lunch or some fun snacks! This is a great way to remind your team that their health is a priority to your company!
An UberEats or DoorDash gift card can help your new employee by taking one thing from their plate as it will likely be a hectic period.
Offering a meal kit subscription can help reduce the work involved in prepping, shopping, etc.
How about a snack box? SnackBox offers curated boxes, themed boxes, and even pick-your-own so your new employees can choose items that will fit their lifestyle and taste.
6. Fun ways to welcome new employees virtually - Terrarium Making Kit
How about providing your team with a two-in-one experience? A DIY terrarium kit is both a beautiful accessory for your new hire’s home office and a great experience they can look back on fondly!
Provide your team with a DIY terrarium planting kit with all the materials needed to assemble, design, and take care of a succulent! The goal of this kit is to help your new hires integrate with the team and connect through a fun and engaging team building experience.
Elevate this kitted experience with a custom and personalized welcome card, a custom garden sign which could include your company logo, and some branded decorative stencils to allow your team to decorate their planter!
The main take-away
Taking the time to plan out these events and experiences for your team will ensure that employee satisfaction and morale are high, that your team will feel proud to have joined your company, and that they feel supported in their journey.
By clearing any questions or concerns, you will be showing your team that ensuring this process is smooth is important to your company, which shows your company values and culture. We want our new hires to feel seen and celebrated and to know we have their backs from the get-go.
About KraftyLab
KraftyLab’s event coordinators help the world's top companies onboard and welcome their employees, and boost employee morale and engagement through fun team building activities!
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