Think back to your first day on the job – any job. Were you welcomed with open arms and given the tools you needed to get up to speed? Or were you shown to your desk and given a stack of paperwork to fill out? Bonus points if they handed you a logoed pen to sign on the dotted line.

Strong onboarding sets the tone for how companies treat their employees. And, in fact, the quality of onboarding is a key factor in employee retention. Organizations with a strong onboarding process were able to improve new-hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%, according to research by the Brandon Hall Group. However, only 12% of workers say their company excels at onboarding, according to Gallup.

Try these tactics to ensure you’re not part of the 88% of businesses getting employee onboarding wrong.

1. Get in touch ahead of time.

Don’t wait until an employee’s first day to make a connection. As soon as an offer is made and accepted, managers should be reaching out to new hires and making them feel welcome. “New employees are always nervous,” says Lattice Hudson, a business coach, leadership mentor and social sales expert. “With so much to remember, and no idea if they’ll fit in at work, it’s safe to say it’s nerve-wracking.” Hudson adds that she reaches out to new hires ahead of their official start date so they “feel accepted as a member of the team and will have a good idea of some of the dynamics as well as what their first day will be like.”

It’s also a good idea to send any resources and information that will help workers acclimate to company culture and job responsibilities in advance, giving new employee breathing room and allaying first-day jitters.

2. Assign a “buddy” to each new hire.

One practice that many companies – including ASI – use to welcome new employees is to assign them a buddy who’s available for questions and to be a sounding board during their first 90 days and beyond. While HR and individual managers should, of course, be on hand to answer questions, having a peer to talk with can be less intimidating. Buddies can come from within the new hire’s department or from elsewhere in the company. Ask veteran employees to volunteer for the buddy program to ensure a more meaningful and fruitful experience for all parties involved.

Michael Hess, e-commerce strategy lead at the Code Signing Store, suggests creating one-on-one PowerPoint presentations between mentor and new hire for a more productive and powerful experience. “This is a chance for mentors to share what they know to facilitate integration and transition,” he says. “Mentorship between co-workers is also a fantastic method to develop friendships.”

Only
12%
of U.S. employees say their company does a good job at onboarding.

(Gallup)

3. Make an onboarding checklist.

There’s a lot involved in onboarding a new employee. One way to make the process less daunting is to spell out each step, making it easy for workers to cross them off as they’re completed. “Create a checklist that contains everything that a new employee needs to do and file in order to ensure smooth integration into the company,” says Sam Browne, CEO of HARO SEO, a boutique SEO agency.

Remember to include managers, not just new hires, in this process, says Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, a licensed psychologist, author, speaker and business coach. She points to Google’s strategy for welcoming new employees, which involves a checklist of five activities that managers can take to get their charges up to speed. Among the tasks are monthly check-ins for the first six months, an explicit discussion about roles and responsibilities, assigning a buddy and assisting with helping them build a social network within the company. “It’s up to management to decide whether or not to act on the information, and they’re not obligated to do so,” Lombardo says. But, she adds, “if their new employee is productive and effective right away, it will reflect highly on them.”

4. Create an employee portal.

Shaunak Amin, co-founder and CEO of SnackMagic, a build-your-own snack box service, has set up an employee portal with a bank of information about the company to help new team members get familiar with the organization. It’s also a window into company culture, listing its mission statement, story and behind-the-scenes videos. There are links to books, articles and podcasts to help with professional growth, an employee directory, form templates, media assets and even fun Zoom backgrounds.

Putting all the information together in an easily accessible portal ensures that “hybrid and remote workers will have the resources they need to perform well, be productive and stay connected to the team,” Amin says.

5. Put together a welcome kit of branded merch.

This should be a no-brainer for promotional products professionals. A curated box of self-branded swag is a surefire way to bring new employees into the fold. “Never underestimate the significance of a thoughtful gift,” Hess says.

Logoed T-shirts and hoodies are obvious choices for a new-hire kit, but they’re just the beginning. Other fun options include custom fidget toys and games, desk accessories, gourmet snacks, high-end water bottles, coffee-related accessories and tech products. Don’t forget a pen and journal, as well as a hand-written note welcoming the employee to the company. The kit you assemble should reflect your company culture and tell its unique story. Use the same care in presentation that you would for a kitting job you fulfill for one of your clients. Remember: The power of promo products starts internally. How can you expect your employees to sing the praises of branded merch unless they’ve felt its power and potential firsthand?