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Often provided to employees on their first day, a welcome packet typically consolidates key information about your business, onboarding paperwork, and branded company merchandise.
Welcome packets will be valuable during your employee’s first week and should also be a resource they can consult at a future date if needed.
Why You Need Employee Welcome Packets
A welcome packet is a valuable tool for communicating essential information about your business and employees.
Key benefits of a successful welcome packet include:
Introduces company culture
A welcome packet can be a great way to convey your company culture by setting out your values, goals, and mission. You may also want to include information such as your policies for sustainability and charitable giving.
Likewise, you can include references to any social activities and traditions within your business. Doing so can help new employees feel more like part of the team.
Saves time
New employees are likely to have similar questions about your organization and its premises—for example, the location of restrooms or how parking works. Providing answers to these frequently asked questions in your welcome packet can greatly reduce the amount of time you spend repeating this information.
Creates excitement and anticipation
It’s natural for an employee to feel nervous when starting a new post, but it can—and should—also be an exciting life event. A welcome packet can be a reminder that the new team member has a lot to look forward to in their new role.
What to Include in the Employee Welcome Packet
Whatever their role, all your employees will need certain key pieces of information about your business. Your welcome packet should therefore include:
A map of the office
If your employees work from the office, you’ll likely give them a tour of the building on their first day. However, if they get lost at any point during the beginning of their employment, an office map can be incredibly helpful.
Company vision, values, and culture
According to a study, 46% of jobseekers claim that company culture is an important factor when deciding where to work. Therefore, highlight the values of your company as well as your mission and/or vision statement at the beginning of the employee handbook so employees can quickly gain insight.
Health and safety information
Providing your employees with relevant health and safety information is a key function of a welcome packet. Include details such as:
- Emergency evacuation procedures
- Location of fire exits
- Names and locations of fire aiders
- Location of fire extinguishers
Employee handbook
All welcome packets should contain an up-to-date copy of your employee handbook. This could be a link to the online version to save you having to print it.
💡 Pro Tip:
Store your employee handbook in an online company knowledge base that staff can access directly from their mobile devices. That way, they’ll never lose it and they can refer to the document whenever they want to.
Workplace policies
When beginning a new role, your employees need to know the expectations for workplace behavior. Your welcome packet should include the following policies, where appropriate:
- Dress code
- Holiday booking
- Expenses
- Disciplinary procedures
- Harassment policies
- Permitted break times
- Personal internet usage
Onboarding forms
When your employee begins their new roles, they will need to complete certain forms as part of their onboarding experience, such as:
- I-9
- State withholding form
- Non-disclosure agreement
- New hire questionnaire
If you haven’t already provided your new employees with these forms, you should include them in your welcome packet.
Remember, it may be more helpful to send onboarding forms before your employee’s first day. You might therefore want to include these when you send your employee their welcome letter, after they’ve accepted the job offer.
Company structure
You could include details of the key individuals within your company, such as the CEO and chairperson, to help new hires become familiar with your business’s structure. Likewise, it is a good idea to provide details for key contacts within certain teams, such as HR and IT.
Information on employee assistance program
If your business offers employees mental health or crisis support, you should include this information in your welcome packet. It’s also useful to provide emergency hotline numbers and details of how the employee can access support.
Parking information
Your welcome packet should include how to obtain a parking permit and contact details for whoever organizes parking within your company. If your building doesn’t have on-site parking, you should provide information on other local parking options.
CEO welcome letter
You will likely send new hires a personalized welcome letter as part of the onboarding process. In addition, you may want to include a standardized letter or video from your CEO. This can include information on your company’s objectives and core values. Having this encouragement from the CEO could be a great boost for the employee’s confidence and generate goodwill toward the company.
If you have relatively few employees, your business leader may even have time to write a personalized letter for each new starter. It could focus on the reasons you hired the employee and how you envision their future within the business.
IT details
Getting to grips with new software is one of the biggest challenges many employees face when starting a new role. Your handbook should therefore include the following details to help your new employees get started:
- WiFi access code
- Log-in details
- Details of social media accounts
- Which apps to download and how to set them up
Details about the local area
If your team work in the same area, it can be helpful to provide details about your business’s area. You might, for instance, offer recommendations for popular restaurants and coffee shops they can access during lunch or on breaks.
Work social activities and leagues
A welcome packet should also include details of any activities your business hosts outside of working hours, such as happy hours, sporting leagues, and volunteering initiatives.
Compensation and benefits
Give new employees details on payday, health insurance, retirement and any other benefits they’re eligible for.
Contact details
Provide new staff with vital contact details, such as their direct manager and HR staff.
Role-specific Details
You should personalize the employee handbook to each new employee and include details such as:
Job description
Your new hire should already be well aware of the requirements of their role. However, it can be helpful to confirm these within the welcome packet. As well as their day-to-day responsibilities, you may want to include their expected working hours and any performance targets.
Pay
It is also helpful to reiterate your new employee’s compensation for their role. As well as details of their salary or wage, you should include information on any company benefits.
Details of immediate team
You may want to include information about the individuals your new employees will interact with as part of their role. This could include:
- Their manager
- Other key team members
- Key clients
- Relevant suppliers
If your new employee is working from an office, a team seating chart may also be useful.
Team objectives
It can also help your new employees to understand a little more about their new team’s goals in both the shorter and longer term. The welcome packet needn’t go into great detail, but outlining a few key goals can help your employees better understand your company’s priorities.
Company Swag and Employee Gifts
Many companies also include fun welcome gifts and branded company merchandise in their welcome packets. These gifts don’t need to be expensive; something as simple as a tote bag, branded notebook, or stickers can be a nice perk.
Tips for Creating a Welcome Packet
The most effective welcome packet for your business will depend on factors such as the industry you work in and your budget.
Following the tips below should help you design a packet that adds value for your new employees.
Put yourself in your new employee’s place
Understanding the needs of someone new to your business is key to creating an effective welcome package. Imagine you’ve never been inside your office before or are completely new to the team structure.Then, consider what key pieces of information you would need to feel comfortable and prepared to start work.
💡 Pro Tip:
You can also ask recently hired employees what other information would have been helpful for them to include in the welcome packet.
With Connecteam, for example, you can create customized employee surveys and send them out directly to your team members from the app. They will receive a notification as soon as they receive a survey and can fill it out right from their mobile devices, from wherever they’re located. Then, you can adjust the welcome packet as needed.
Ditch paper copies
Rather than including paper copies of all your policies and handbooks, store the employee handbook in an employee management app. That way, you eliminate printing costs, ensure the welcome packet is accessible from anywhere, and reach all your employees at once.
Review the content
Once you have compiled a successful welcome packet, your job isn’t finished. You should revisit your material on a regular basis to keep it current. For instance, you will need to regularly update your organizational chart and policies as they evolve.
Make it readable
Use bullet points, short paragraphs, and visual aids, such as charts, graphs, or images, to keep the content readable and easy to digest.
