First impressions are crucial for every welcoming new members in the workplace. An intentional and thoughtful onboarding experience can dramatically reinforce a company's culture, reduce turnover, and boost engagement. The goal is to make new hires feel valued from day one, focusing on onboarding activities such as onboarding gifts, introduction to company culture, team introductions, and other activities until new hires are more likely to invest in their roles. Let's take a look at some of the things BestGiftHK has summarized for your organization's success.

What is the goal of impactful onboarding?

The main goal of impactful onboarding is to make new hires feel comfortable, valued, welcomed, and prepared. New employees can connect with their roles and teammates, plus company mission. Accelerated engagement will build new hires' confidence and clarity about any information needed in the office, and any support they need to succeed. Impactful onboarding is about making a new hire into a connected and motivated team member authentically and quickly.

What should be included in the pre-boarding process?

The pre-boarding process bridges the first day and offer acceptance. This will reduce anxiety and build excitement for the new hire. It starts with a welcome communication such as a personalized welcome email or congratulatory video from the team, and an introduction moment between the new hire and everyone in the department. Next, there is a first week overview showing the roadmap or clear schedule for the first few days, and information on things to bring such as devices, documents, or ID.

Top Motivational Gifts for Employees

Enter new hires into internal communication platforms and groups, assign a mentor or peer buddy to help answer informal questions and provide role guidance.

How do we introduce company culture effectively during onboarding?

Introducing company culture is necessary during onboarding, because it is not just about sharing policies. This is all about immersing new hires in a company's values, behaviors, and how companies treat their employees. Share the origin story of the company, highlight key milestones and cultural turning points that shaped the current company environment.

Explain company core values by showing up in real decisions, use real employee stories to demonstrate values in action. Let new hires ask about how leaders behave and live out the culture, not just talk about it. Explain the procedures for creating company feedback, how decisions are made, and how conflict is handled. For their first week, include new hires in team lunches, icebreakers, informal meet-and-greets to experience the culture firsthand.

How do we ensure new hires build strong internal connections?

Building strong internal connections during onboarding is essential for new hires to build up a sense of belonging, support, and collaboration. Strong internal connections can reduce isolation, speed up collaboration, and increase retention. If you succeed in getting great first impressions from new hires, this will be the most valuable investments you can make in a new hire's success. There are several ways you can do to ensure onboarding goes well and having strong connections between new hires and team members. Let's take a look at some points below.

Onboarding activities to make new hires feel valued

Here is a list of high-impact activities that strengthen a sense of belonging and appreciation:

• Personalized onboarding gifts

Giving a welcome kit to new hires is one of the best things to do to make a good first impression. You can give swag, handwritten notes, snacks, or personalized gifts. There are many items that are suitable for new hires such as stationery, custom T-shirts with company logos, tech accessories, or drinkware. You can order them at BestGiftHK.

We have more than a decade of experience in making customized gifts for various purposes such as advertising, promotions, onboarding, giveaways, etc. You can put your company logo or recipient's name on the item you choose, there are thousands of types of items that you can choose, as well as several printing methods that are suitable. Please check our website for more complete information, we accept orders in any quantity, including bulk orders.

• Set achievable goals for a new hire

You need to create a structured plan that measures the new hire's performance and achievable goals for their first 30, 60, and 90 days. For the first 30 days, focus on orientation and integration. Next phase, assign a small project to be completed by the 60-day mark and encourage new hires to work together with other team members to enhance their business understanding. For the 90 day mark, challenge the new hire to complete more complex tasks to test their acquired skills and prepare for future goal setting.

• Organize team building activities

Plan informal gatherings to welcome new hires such as coffee breaks, team lunches, or after-work social events. This will build connections between new hires and team members, and help them feel part of the team. You can hold these events on the first weekend and make the onboarding process more engaging and enjoyable. Create mini games so new hires can solve problems and complete challenges together with others.

• Regular feedback sessions

One-on-one feedback sessions are needed between new hires and their managers to get constructive feedback and discuss about what problems they faced during the onboarding process. You can schedule this method every two weeks, encourage everyone to share their problems, experiences, and successes in their new roles.

• Job-specific training

Let new hires get involved in real work tasks directly instead of having to watch training videos. Learning by doing is a quick way to make new employees understand their tasks, because their active participation will be much better than just passively listening. Encourage new hires to ask their mentors if there is something difficult in their role, and grow their courage to invite collaboration with other team members for joint tasks.

Conclusion

Effective onboarding activities are essential for integrating new hires into a company, to improve retention and productivity. Some things to note in welcoming new hires are onboarding gifts, introduction of company culture, team building activities, and several other things to clarify new hires' roles and responsibilities. If you need company swag or onboarding gift sets, BestGiftHK is ready to accept your order, and ship it directly to your place worldwide.