Why you need an employee welcome package in your onboarding

Making sure that new employees feel welcome is key to getting them started on the right foot. Beyond that, setting a clear outline for what’s expected during the first few days—for both new employees and those training them—will help to ensure a smooth onboarding process.

Here’s a look at a few more reasons why having an onboarding package is so important.

Free download: The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Employee Welcome Package

Help new team members be productive right off the bat

Not being given the tools to be productive during one’s first days can be a frustrating experience, and from an employer’s point of view, it really doesn’t make sense to hire someone new only to fail to help them be as productive as possible right off the bat.

Work out your working relationship

With so many companies adopting open, relaxed corporate cultures, it’s important to make sure that new team members still know what is expected of them, and the best place to outline those expectations is in an employee welcome package. You can go into more detail in an employee handbook, and of course, new members of your team will learn more about their role as they grow and evolve with the company.

When outlining your welcome package, it’s wise to keep in mind that you should point out basic rules for what the working relationship should look like early on—it’s easier to set expectations right away than to ask someone to change their behaviour later.

Communicate clearly

There’s certainly more than one way to communicate at work. Speaking in person or over the phone, sending an email, or starting an online chat are all good ways of getting in touch with someone, but it can be difficult to know what’s appropriate in a given situation, especially for a new team member with lots of questions.

It might seem like overkill, but clarifying which forms of communication are acceptable at different times can help new employees feel more at ease. A welcome package is a perfect place to iron out such considerations.

Proactively answer questions

Beyond helping employees feel at home, a good welcome package acts as a guide to frequently asked questions, streamlining the learning process for some of the routine administrative tasks. In other words, new employees can look at the book for the office WiFi password and save question time with supervisors for more valuable topics.

Define your company culture

A healthy company culture is an increasingly important aspect of the workplace. Certainly, it’s something we value at Rise. We have wellness and community outreach programs as well as games and events to help foster a feeling of purpose and community.

However, if you’re not proactive about it, you might wake up to find that your company’s culture isn’t quite what you think it should be. In order to create your culture, you’ll have to work to inspire your employees to get on board, right from day one. Your welcome package might be a handy tool and a friendly hello, but it’s also a place to tell new team members about life at your company and to get them excited about working there.

Discover how to create the ultimate welcome package that makes a monumental impression on your new employees right from day one by downloading our ebook, The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Employee Welcome Package.