Day one is a print deadline
A new employee's first morning tends to go one of two ways. Either there is a desk with a name plate, a box of name cards, a welcome booklet and a notebook with the company logo, or there is an empty desk and an apology that "the cards are still being printed". The second version is common, and it is almost always a planning problem. The start date was known weeks in advance; nobody connected it to the print order.
This guide is for HR teams, office managers and procurement staff at Singapore companies who want every new joiner to arrive to a complete welcome kit. It covers what goes into a printed onboarding pack, which items to stock in bulk and which to print per person, and how to set up a simple process with your print supplier so day-one items are ready without anyone chasing.
What goes into a welcome kit
There is no fixed list, and a kit for a 20-person design studio will look different from one for a 2,000-person bank. Most kits draw on the same building blocks:
| Item | Personalised? | How to source |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome booklet or company guide | No | Bulk print, update yearly |
| Name cards | Yes | Per person, from a template |
| Desk name plate or door sign | Yes | Per person, short run |
| Branded notebook and pen | No | Bulk, held in stock |
| Welcome card signed by the team | Partly | Bulk blank cards, handwritten message |
| Folder with forms and policies | No | Bulk folders, forms printed in-house |
| Staff pass | Yes | Per person, often via facilities or security |
The split that matters is between items that are the same for everyone and items that carry a name. The first group can be ordered in volume once or twice a year. The second group needs a fast, repeatable process.
The welcome booklet
A short printed booklet often gets read more carefully than the intranet page that holds the same information, because new joiners have it in hand during the quiet hours of their first week. Keep it focused on what a person needs in the first month: who does what, how to get IT access, where to find policies, office facilities, and a few lines from leadership about how the company works.
- Format: A5 saddle-stitched, 12 to 24 pages, is easy to hold and cheap to update.
- Paper: a 250 to 300 gsm cover with a 120 to 150 gsm inside paper feels substantial without the cost of a hardcover.
- Update cycle: print a year's estimated hires plus a margin. Put anything that changes often, such as names of team leads or office phone extensions, on a separate insert sheet or link to the intranet with a QR code.
If the booklet is closer to a full handbook with policies and procedures, our guide to printing employee handbooks and SOPs covers binding and version control for longer documents.
Name cards that are ready on the start date
Name cards are the item most often missing on day one. The reason is usually the approval chain: HR has the name, the manager has the job title, marketing owns the template, and the printer needs all three in one file.
A simple process that works
- HR sends a standard request form to the print supplier when the offer is accepted, not in the week before the start date.
- The form captures the name as the employee wants it printed, the title approved by the manager, the department, the mobile number if the company issues one, and the email address.
- The printer sets the card on the approved template and sends a proof to HR for a single check.
- Cards are printed with the next batch and delivered with other office stationery.
Ask the new joiner directly how their name should appear. Singapore teams include people who use an English name with a surname, a full Chinese name in a particular order, Malay or Indian names with patronymics, or a name they simply prefer. Getting it right on the first card is a small thing that people notice. For card options and finishes, see our name card printing page.
Stock items: notebooks, pens and folders
Branded notebooks, pens and presentation folders are the same for every hire, so they belong in a stock cupboard. The risk is ordering too much and holding boxes of notebooks with an outdated logo when the company rebrands. Our article on ordering branded notepads and notebooks in bulk explains how to size an order to your real usage, and the guide to storing and reordering printed stock covers reorder points.
A practical approach for onboarding stock is to link the reorder point to your hiring plan. If HR expects 40 hires in the next quarter and you have 25 kits in stock, the order goes in now, with enough lead time to avoid a rush charge.
Packaging the kit
Some companies hand items over loose. Others use a printed box or a branded tote so the kit feels like a welcome and not a pile of supplies. A rigid box with a printed lid makes the strongest impression but costs more and takes longer to produce. A folding carton printed on one side is a good middle ground and stores flat. A simple paper bag with a sticker works for smaller offices.
Whatever you choose, check that the box fits the contents before you order a thousand of them. Ask the printer for a blank sample of the box structure, put the real booklet, notebook and card box inside, and close the lid.
Remote and hybrid joiners
Not every new hire walks into the office on day one. For staff starting remotely or based at another site in Singapore, the kit has to travel. Courier it to arrive a day or two before the start date, and include a printed note explaining what to expect in the first week and who to contact. Make sure the box survives a courier: a mailer box with inserts that hold items in place works better than a gift box designed for hand delivery.
Keeping costs predictable
- Agree unit prices for name cards and personalised items for the year, so each order does not need a new quote.
- Batch name card orders weekly or fortnightly. One batch of ten sets costs less than ten separate orders.
- Keep stock items on a blanket order with call-offs if your supplier offers it.
- Review the kit once a year. Remove items nobody uses and spend the savings on the ones people keep.
Welcome kits printed and delivered to your office
We print onboarding material for Singapore companies of all sizes: welcome booklets, name cards on your approved template, notebooks, folders, welcome cards and printed packaging. We can hold stock items and print personalised items in weekly batches tied to your hiring calendar, then deliver everything together to your office. Look at our booklet printing options, or send your current kit list and an estimate of hires for the next six months through the contact page, and we will suggest what to stock and what to print on demand.
