The importance of corporate gifts, bonuses and welcome boxes

Bonuses, gifts, and social packages reflect the company’s values. In today’s world, it’s not enough for most employees to receive a stable salary; it’s also about being part of a team and sharing values.

Considering that most IT workers work from home, a nice gift or branded merchandise can be an opportunity to get attention. Health insurance and sports reimbursement are important because taking care of your employees’ health is an investment in the company. After all, healthy, medically protected employees are much happier. If these points do have a certain level of popularity, the trend with welcome boxes for newcomers is not so positive. Of course, large corporations have standardized merch kits for all employees. But smaller companies still quite often ignore the importance of this first contact with the company.

Onboarding is probably the most important stage of a newcomer’s acquaintance with a company. No wonder people say that the first impression cannot be repeated. There is a statistic that employees who have gained a great onboarding experience will stay with you for a period of 3 years or more.

What are the advantages of welcome boxes?

1. Feel like a part of the team. Having received a box or shopper with corporate branding, filled with useful and interesting things for work, an employee becomes part of the team.

2. The ability to provide instructions for the first day of work. In your box, you can add a postcard with useful links, provide a QR code for access to a video introduction, and suggest which programs to download to your laptop.

3. Promote your brand. A well-designed box will definitely make you want to share it on social media 🙂

4. Removing psychological barriers for new employees in the team. The first days of work can be quite stressful. It’s worth helping your new hire get over those nerves.

Any welcome box can consist of many interesting things, both useful and just nice. It’s common to create such sets from treats, such as coffee and tea with sweets, as well as business items: mouse pads, organizers, notebooks, and calendars.

Thank You Boxes are also becoming more and more common during employee off-boarding. Such a gift will help maintain loyalty to your brand and reduce the risk of negative feedback.

It’s important to note that gifts, intangible bonuses, and merchandise are not a replacement for a motivation system. Dealing with employee turnover, timely salary reviews and adaptation programs are more important than gifts. But gifts can add value, highlight your common interests, and remind you that you care about your employees.