Welcome Gifts Ideas For New Employees: Tips for Successful Onboarding
An employee’s first day working for a new organisation can be stressful. They may need to contend with a number of new experiences, such as a new commute, meeting colleagues for the first time, understanding new standard operating procedures, and finding a place to sit at lunch! Providing a welcome gift for employees can help break the ice and make them feel part of the team before they’ve done any work.
If you want to make a good impression with your new employees and provide them with the best onboarding experience possible, you may want to consider preparing a stock of welcome gifts. Read on for more ideas and tips for how to create your own employee welcome packs.
Do I Need to Give Welcome Gifts to New Employees?
The simple answer is no, it’s not necessary to give your employees a welcome gift. There are plenty of businesses that don’t give gifts to their employees during the onboarding process, but that doesn’t make it right.
Giving gifts to your employees has multiple benefits which can have an impact on the employee, as well as impacting the perceptions of the business and brand culture.
How Can Welcome Gifts Improve Employee Satisfaction?
A successful onboarding experience can be the difference between retaining a happy, efficient workforce or ruffling the feathers of new team members. This could lead to them making a hasty exit before they’ve finished their probation period. Research from the Brandon Hall Group suggests that a well-planned onboarding experience can improve employee retention by 82%.
When a new employee starts their placement in a new workplace, it’s important that they hit the ground running. The first 3-6 months is an important period for an employer to assess their new recruit’s impact in the workplace and make a decision on their future with the company. Research from Zippia suggests that employee productivity typically hovers at around 25% for the first 12 weeks in a new workplace. With that in mind, it’s important that you give your employees the best start possible.
What Other Benefits Are There to Giving Welcome Gifts?
Giving gifts during the onboarding process doesn’t just have a positive impact on the individual’s performance, but can also help enforce brand identity and create a company culture. These are essential for moulding the way people perceive the business, both internally and externally. Some of the many benefits include:
- Establish the core concepts of your corporate culture. First impressions really do count – in a new employee’s first week you have the opportunity to show them what your organisation’s values are. For example, an onboarding gift that emphasises wellness could communicate the value that you place on employee wellbeing.
- Foster camaraderie between your new team members. Onboarding packs can help to bond a group of new starters, giving them a shared experience that gives them a common talking point and an opportunity to break the ice, if needed. This offers a great opportunity for new friendships to blossom, which could lead to stronger working relationships going forward.
- Build positive sentiment towards your organisation. Your new starters’ relationship with your organisation is almost as important as their relationship with their colleagues. Your employees have the capacity to become your biggest brand ambassadors, so it’s in your interest to start building positive sentiment between them and your organisation as soon as possible – and a well-thought-out onboarding gift is just one way to do this.
- Break the ice between new and current employees. You can’t expect all of your employees to be social dynamos. By integrating welcome gifts into your onboarding process, you can create opportunities for an ice breaker between new and old colleagues alike.
Our Top 7 Gift Ideas to Welcome New Employees
Branded Note Pad
Despite only being a small gift, note pads are a great gift to give to new employees during the onboarding process.
It’s the little things that mould a company’s culture; branded note pads create a professional environment and ensure employees are taking in all the new information thrown their way.
Ideal for: employees working in a fast paced environment.
Browse our range of note pads and other office stationary in our office collection catalogue.
Branded Water Bottle
A branded water bottle is a great welcome gift to keep new recruits hydrated and alert on the job, especially during the warmer months!
Ideal for: your employees when they’re in the office, working from home, travelling on their morning commute or taking business trips.
See our range of water bottles and other bespoke merchandise, by browsing our drinkware collection catalogue.
Branded Pens or Stationery
An essential in any workplace. Everyone uses a pen, so why not show your brand logo on one? You can ensure that it’ll get used, both in the workplace and from home, so it’s worth getting one of these for new employees.
Ideal for: anyone who wants to make notes in the workplace. Whether you work in an office, kitchen, or even on-the-go!
Branded USB Stick
The USB Stick has stood the test of time, and is still a powerful component to any office environment for storing important information.
A cheap but useful gift, whilst ensuring your company’s data is kept safe and secure.
Ideal for: a business that works with computers or laptops.
For new ideas for technology gifts, browse our technology collection catalogue.
Branded Hooded Sweatshirt
Everyone loves a hooded sweatshirt. They’re comfortable to wear and can keep you warm in the office during the Winter months. As well as flexing your brand logo inside your building, a branded hoodie will increase brand awareness when your employees are out-of-work hours.
Ideal for: keeping your employees comfortable both inside and outside of work!
Branded Desk Pad
If your employees are using company laptops for their work, a desk pad is a useful gift to keep it clean and safe from scratches. A cost-effective option, but a great token gift for new recruits.
Ideal for: your employees regularly working with a laptop or computer.
Brands We've Worked With
Embrace Your New Employees With a Corporate Gift Box
What is a Corporate Gift Box?
Each of our corporate gift boxes comprises of bespoke branded merchandise that make the perfect corporate gift for new employees during the onboarding process. We offer an extensive range of bespoke branded merchandise suitable for all workplace environments. From office stationery, to clothing, to golf merchandise. We have it all! You can browse through our catalogues here.
Who Are Award Signs?
We have been designing and manufacturing corporate gifts for businesses all around the UK and internationally, since 2006.
Over the years, we have worked with a number of renowned brands and continue to satisfy businesses with our hassle-free service and high quality gift boxes. Why do we do it? We pride ourselves in going the extra mile for all of our clients, and helping them develop their brand.
Why Choose an Award Corporate Gift Box?
Finding ideas for welcome gifts often involve endless hours of researching on the internet and a prolonged checkout process. This can be both time consuming and costly to your business, which could be spent elsewhere.
At Award, our corporate gift boxes save you both time and money, with our bespoke consultation service and efficient shipping. We advise you on what is best for your business, based on your requirements and budget limitations, so you get the best value for your money. Get in touch with us and we’ll do the work for you, from product design to packaging to delivery.
How Do I Design a Corporate Welcome Gift Box?
It’s easy! Fill in the form with your details, including any requirements that you need, and our expert consultants will get back to you as soon as possible with a solution for your gifting needs.
We offer all of our customers a free bespoke consultation. We speak with you to understand your business’ needs, and what you want in a corporate gift box. Once we have come to a conclusion, we’ll do the rest! From design, to packaging, to delivery, we’ve got you covered.
Feeling inspired and want to find out more? Get in touch by filling in the contact form below, or give us a call on 01625 858585.
Design Your Employee Welcome Box
Whether you’re welcoming a single employee, or are planning out gifts for a new team in your company: we can help source, package, and deliver those gift boxes wherever you need them.
"*" indicates required fields
Welcome Gift FAQs
What is a good welcome to the team gift?
A good welcome to the team gift can be many things. It could provide a new employee with a selection of useful products that they can put to use in their day-to-day work. Or it could just be a care package focused around alleviating the stresses that they might have around starting their new job.
What should be in a welcome pack for new employees?
How you choose to pack your gift box is up to you, but it’s a good idea to ensure that you’re giving something that your employee can actually make use of, rather than a piece of branded tat that will sit in a drawer at home. If you’re not confident in choosing a branded item, then you could also consider food or drink instead.
What do you write in a welcome to the team card?
Your message in your welcome to the team card doesn’t have to be an essay! But you can easily create a personal touch by handwriting a thoughtful message that mentions how you’re looking forward to working with them. The take-home should be that you’re grateful that they chose to work with you in the first place!
Why is a welcome gift important?
A welcome gift is an important part of the onboarding process, as it can help ease your new starters into their first few days in a new role. In addition to establishing the core concepts of your corporate culture, a welcome gift can be a great way to foster camaraderie between new team members and encourage increased productivity, all of which can contribute to better overall employee retention in the long-run.
How do you welcome an employee on the first day?
How you choose to welcome a new employee on their first day will depend on your organisation’s culture, as well as the nature of your business. If yours is a very social work place, then you may wish to involve the whole team in welcoming your new starter.
Otherwise, if your workforce is predominantly remote and works in silos, then you may prefer a more personal one-to-one welcome. Regardless of which tack you take, you should consider a welcome gift to make their first day extra special.
