The Welcome Pack, or the art of welcoming new employees: examples and benefits

You've come to the end of a recruitment process and finally found the rare pearl? That's great news! But don't stop there: give your new recruit the warmest of welcomes with an onboarding welcome pack.

What is a welcome pack? What's the point of a welcome pack, and how can it help optimize your HR onboarding? Explanations and welcome pack ideas in this article!

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What is a welcome pack? Definition

A welcome pack, or welcome kit, is a welcome kit delivered to every new person joining a company. During your recruits' first week with the company, it may be a good idea to offer them this kit to make them feel welcome in the team, and that they are now part of yours.

It may seem trivial, but it's a real integration tool (also known as onboarding ). The person's arrival has been planned and prepared, right down to the smallest detail: their recruitment is not a matter of chance.

A welcome pack can contain a wide range of goodies, which can be personalized as required:

• a welcome message from management and/or the team,
• goodies reflecting your employer brand, such as a business card holder,
• office supplies (notebook, pen, notepad),
• items to make daily office life easier (a coffee mug, a computer cover for telecommuting days, a backpack, an umbrella),
• textiles (t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks),
• snacks for breaks.

Note: we're talking here about the employee welcome pack, but some companies are also adept at the customer welcome pack. The principle is the same: welcome a new customer, start a customer relationship on the right footing with the aim of building loyalty.

©️ Welcome to the Jungle

The welcome pack can be accompanied by or contain a company welcome booklet, a guide to understanding and adapting to life at the company.

Why create a welcome pack?

To welcome and help integrate new employees

This HR tool is a way of saying " welcome" to someone new to the company. It implies that their arrival has been prepared for, and that the whole company is ready to integrate and work with them.

It also helps to create a sense of belonging, from day one, and to develop team spirit.

💡 Remember to personalize the message and/or promotional items, with the person's first name for example, to take the welcome process all the way!

Convey your values

The welcome pack is the first thing a new recruit will see on their desk on the day they arrive. It's an opportunity to convey your corporate values and culture.

• Who are you? What's your DNA?
• What are your habits?
• What are the company's core values?
• How does the company or team function?

The choice of items that make up your welcome pack should convey the answers to these questions. Onboarding, or the first day of an employee's integration, is the moment when he or she must seduce their new colleagues, but the company must also seduce this new recruit!

Remember that the aim is successful integration, for rapid adaptation and successful long-term recruitment.

Engaging employees

Employee commitment is an increasingly important issue for corporate management and human resources. How can we ensure that employees are committed and want to invest themselves in their company?

Successful recruitment is not just about matching skills. The work environment, human relations and organization are all decisive factors in ensuring that an employee feels comfortable in his or her new position and wants to continue the adventure with his or her new company.

In this sense, the welcome pack is not just a material detail, but an attention paid to the new recruit so that he or she wants to stay in the job in the first place, and then so that he or she is motivated and wants to commit.

Strengthening your employer brand

Developing your employer brand must be part of your HR strategy to attract talent. But then again, recruitment doesn't end on the first day of onboarding a new person.

Knowing how to welcome, make comfortable, train and develop an employee is not necessarily easy, but it's also part of a successful integration. And a well-integrated, committed recruit means an employee capable of attracting new talent when other recruitment needs arise.

Another example of a welcome pack at Sega's London offices:

©️ SEGA UK - Company profile on Glassdoor

What to put in a welcome pack?

Let's get practical! How do you put together your welcome pack? Useful, corporate, ecological or gadgets? The choice is yours.

You can choose to :

• call on a service provider to prepare welcome packs according to your wishes (e.g. welcome-pack.net, pimpmypack.fr),
• opt for ready-to-use welcome packs, more impersonal but practical if you're short on time,
• choose all the elements that will make up your customized welcome pack: personalization guaranteed!

We've put together a list of original and classic ideas for creating your own welcome pack.

Welcome pack essentials

• a personalized welcome card with a message from the team,
• a notebook, a notepad,
• Post-it notes,
• pens,
• key ring,
• a USB key,
• a mug bearing your brand logo and the person's first name,
• a calendar,
• a personalized t-shirt, sweatshirt, socks or cap.

Welcome pack, some original ideas

• a team trombinoscope with offbeat photos,
• a universal charger,
• a portable battery,
• earphones or headphones for listening to music or making calls,
• a computer case or carrying bag,
• a cam cover,
• a photo frame so you don't forget your family or your cat at the office,
• a cinema or theater subscription,
• a gym membership,
• discounts at local retailers,
• a free lunch on the first day,
• coffee or tea,
• a snack by 4 p.m,
• fruit.

Why not an eco-friendly welcome pack?

Is ecology close to your heart and part of your values, or even your CSR policy? Show this in your welcome pack by choosing objects with a lower impact on the planet. A few well-chosen objects are more relevant than gadgets that will end up in a drawer.

• a message on seeded paper for planting,
• a reusable bag or tote bag, if your new recruit doesn't already have fifty at home,
• a mug made from bio-sourced materials (recycled plastic, plant-based plastic, bamboo, recycled coffee grounds, etc.).
• a water bottle to avoid the use of cups or water bottles,
• a lunch box to avoid meal-related waste,
• a plant to decorate the office.

Why not let your employees choose?

Some companies opt for a predefined budget and leave it up to new arrivals to choose what they would like to include in their welcome pack.

For example, the Lunchr company uses Panopli:

• the online store dedicated to Lunchr employees includes branded items with the company's image;
• new recruits choose what they prefer or need most.

©️ screenshot Panopli

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Create your welcome pack with your teams!

Would you like to set up or improve your company's welcome pack? Call on your teams' creativity and ideas! Collaborative composition of the welcome pack is also a way of engaging them, and, who knows, your employees may think of ideas you didn't.

What's your ideal welcome pack? Which item do you consider essential?