5 Essential Steps to Infuse Your Brand into Employee Onboarding

Your brand is not just for your customers. In fact, when your brand is executed well internally, your best brand advocates will be your employees. Yes, you may spend countless hours and resources refining your brand and crafting the perfect marketing strategies to attract the right audience, but if you’re leaving your employees out of the brand experience, then you’re neglecting the backbone of your brand and setting yourself up for turnover and fragmented company culture.

The best place to start building brand goodwill with your team is right from the get-go. Chances are, your brand is part of what attracted a new hire to your company in the first place. Now they’re getting a peek behind the curtain. You want them to see a backstage as polished and impressive as the main show, which is why a well-developed onboarding process that aligns with and reinforces your brand is a critical part of building company culture and retaining talent.

In fact, a LinkedIn survey of over 7,000 workers found that companies with a strong employer brand enjoy a 28% drop in turnover rates and cut their hiring costs by 50%. If that’s not a reason to amp up your onboarding game, we don’t know what is!

Luckily, building an effective branded onboarding experience isn’t rocket science. Check out our best tried-and-true ways to enhance your onboarding process with a branded experience.

1. The Brand Book

Before you start handing out swag and setting up training sessions, you need to have a solid foundation to build on. This is where your Brand Book comes in. 

When onboarding new employees, the Brand Book is your best friend. It gives new hires a quick but thorough understanding of the organization’s DNA, helping them to understand the brand starting at its core. This isn’t about teaching them the finer points of your visual identity or the nitty-gritty details of your activation strategy; it’s about instilling a sense of company culture and understanding right from day one.

By having a well-crafted Brand Book, you ensure that every member of your team, from the intern to the CEO, has a shared understanding of what the brand is all about. This shared knowledge fosters a cohesive internal culture and ensures that everyone is on the same page when it comes to representing the brand.

Brand Guide vs. Brand Book

If you already have a Brand Guide, you may be wondering, “Why do I also need a Brand Book?” A Brand Guide is an extensive document laying out the strategy, structure, and rules for maintaining consistency across your visual identity. While the Brand Guide is an essential part of any brand, it delves into the finer details and minutiae of visual identity development and brand strategy, while the Brand Book aims to be a more accessible, streamlined version meant for everyone in your organization.

Your Brand Book should include the high-level essentials: the brand’s core identity, purpose, promise, values, and key messaging. It’s a comprehensive yet concise document that captures the essence of your brand without bogging down the reader with too much detail. The goal here is to provide a clear and engaging snapshot of what your brand stands for and how it should be represented.

2. The Welcome Kit

A great onboarding experience starts with a killer first impression, and one of the best ways to make that impression is with a thoughtfully curated branded Welcome Kit. This isn’t just about handing out generic promotional items; it’s about creating a meaningful and memorable welcome that reflects the consideration you’ve put into your brand experience.

The key to a successful Welcome Kit is to be creative and intentional. Think about what makes your brand special and how you want to convey and reinforce that to your new employee. Sure, a swag box with a branded t-shirt, water bottle, or tote bag is a solid start, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box!

Does your office have a favorite kind of coffee everyone loves? Include a bag of that coffee along with a branded mug. Does your team enjoy listening to music while they work? Add a branded card with a QR code to a collaborative playlist where new hires can check out what their colleagues are listening to and add their own tunes. The goal is to integrate your brand’s personality and visual identity while adding personal touches that make the new hire feel genuinely welcomed to the team.

Your Welcome Kit should also include essential documents like the Brand Book and the employee handbook. These resources provide a solid foundation and help new employees understand your company’s core values, mission, and expectations from day one.

To add an extra layer of warmth and personalization, include a welcome card signed by co-workers. This small gesture can go a long way in making a new hire feel like they’re already a valued part of the team.

3. Branded Training Materials

Just like with external branding, consistency is king when it comes to onboarding. Every single touchpoint of the onboarding experience should align with your brand identity, from the lock screens on computers to the forms new hires fill out and even the environmental design within the workspace. This level of consistency shows new employees that you are genuinely committed to your brand. It’s not just about optics; it’s about the authentic way your company shows up every day.

The training experience itself should be contemporary and engaging. Gone are the days of boring corporate videos and monotonous training sessions. Today’s onboarding process needs to be dynamic and in tune with current trends. Your new hires should feel engaged at every touchpoint, not like they’re just cogs being added to a machine. Encourage organic conversations throughout the training process and ensure that any team member heading up training efforts is transparent about the company culture and willing to answer questions enthusiastically.

The goal is to keep your new hires interested and excited about their new role, reinforcing the idea that they are joining a company that aligns with their values and interests. This approach helps new employees feel valued and connected to your brand from day one, setting the stage for a successful and fulfilling professional life with your company.

4. Demonstrate Company Culture

Nothing is more important than having an authentic company culture. Employer branding cannot just be lip service. While great visuals are essential parts of the brand experience, they are not enough on their own. There’s no faster way to lose an employee who could have been a major asset to your business if you don’t follow through on the brand messaging they aligned with during their job search and recruitment. Consistency and authenticity are key; if your brand promises one thing but delivers another, new employees will quickly become disillusioned.

In fact, in a 2022 survey of over 2,500 millennial and Gen Z jobseekers, 72% stated they “have felt a sense of surprise or regret that a new job or company was very different from what they were led to believe.” 20% of millennial and Gen-Z jobseekers also say they would leave a job in a month or less if it did not align with how it was initially presented during the hiring process.

True company culture stems from the genuine connections you have with people, and it’s these connections that shape and define your brand. Your employees should be so well-versed in your brand that they can talk about it elegantly to new hires, embodying the brand’s values and mission in their everyday interactions.

If your team isn’t sold on your brand, how can they sell it to others? Your brand should be more than just a set of guidelines; it should be a tangible part of your organization’s daily operations from entry-level positions all the way up the ladder.

5. Stay Engaged

So, you’ve given your new hire a fantastic first week—how do you keep that momentum going? Once you’ve established your company culture, it’s crucial to keep your new employees engaged with the brand. Marketing your brand to an internal audience consistently is key to loyalty in the same way it is for your customers.

One way to maintain engagement is through regular check-ins. Schedule weekly check-ins to offer open and honest opportunities for new hires to provide feedback about how they are doing in their new position. This helps identify any issues early on and shows your commitment to their success and well-being. If possible, assign a team member as a mentor to help the new hire acclimate to the company culture and their new role.

Social events and team-building activities are another great way to keep new hires engaged. Organize opportunities for fun, outside-of-work events, or consider team volunteer opportunities that align with your organization’s mission. This not only helps the team bond but also reinforces your brand values in a meaningful way. If you have a remote team, consider creating a Discord or Slack channel (or whatever comparable communication tool you use) for casual conversations about non-work topics. This helps build camaraderie and a sense of community, even from a distance.

Recognition of success is another crucial aspect of keeping employees engaged. Celebrate achievements and milestones with branded merchandise, and make sure to provide positive reinforcement when someone exemplifies your brand values. However, avoid corporate clichés like calling your company a “family.” It’s okay to acknowledge that employees are there to work. Instead, focus on fostering a genuine work community culture where employees feel like they’re an essential part of an orchestrated team. 

Keeping Your Brand Promise, Keeps Great Employees

Onboarding is more than just a checklist to get through; it’s an opportunity to weave your brand into the fabric of your employees’ professional journey from day one. By creating a solid brand foundation with new employees, you’ll be creating your best brand advocates.

Take the time to invest in your onboarding process. Make it memorable, engaging, and aligned with your brand. Show new hires that your brand isn’t just a logo or a slogan but an essential part of the company they’re now part of. In the end, a strong, consistent onboarding experience paves the way for long-term success and a thriving, connected workforce.

Ready to create the perfect branded onboarding process? We can help you craft a brand experience that works from the inside out.

From designing comprehensive Brand Books and curated Welcome Kits to creating engaging training materials and environmental design elements, Quill has the expertise to make your onboarding experience exceptional.

Want to learn more about how Quill can elevate your brand? Let’s chat!