Welcome to the Team Group Cards

Send welcome cards 2-3 days before the new hire's start date for optimal impact. This timing builds excitement and anticipation without being too early. For remote employees, this pre-arrival connection is especially critical for reducing first-day isolation. Avoid sending more than a week early (can feel premature) or on Day One (misses pre-arrival benefit). Learn more about remote onboarding timing best practices.

Keep welcome messages brief (2-3 sentences) and friendly. Include: your name, your role, a personal fun fact or hobby, and an offer to help. Example: "Hi! I'm Sarah, Marketing Manager. I've been here 3 years and love hiking on weekends. Feel free to ask me anything about company culture or where to grab lunch!" Authenticity matters more than formality. See our 60+ welcome message examples.

Absolutely! Digital welcome cards are perfect for distributed teams. Share the link with all team members regardless of location, and everyone can contribute welcome messages from anywhere. This is especially important for remote onboarding, ensuring remote colleagues participate equally in welcoming new hires.

Allow 3-5 days for team signatures. This gives everyone time to contribute without feeling rushed, while still maintaining momentum. As the organizer, you can send reminder notifications to team members who haven't signed yet, ensuring broad participation before the new hire's start date.

Yes! The direct manager should sign first to model participation and set a welcoming tone. Manager signatures signal to the team that welcome cards are valued and important. The manager can also add specific details about what they're excited about regarding the new hire's contributions, setting a positive expectation.

Yes! Research shows organizations with strong onboarding processes improve retention by 82% and new hire productivity by 70%. Welcome cards are a simple but powerful onboarding tool that makes new employees feel immediately valued, expected, and connected to teammates - all critical factors in early retention. The ROI far exceeds the $4.99 cost.

Yes! You can create individual cards for each new hire (recommended for personalization) or one group card for cohorts joining together (common for intern programs). Individual cards feel more personal, while cohort cards work well for orientation groups. Our Team Plan makes managing multiple welcome cards efficient with centralized billing.

You can still send the welcome card on Day One or during the first week. While pre-arrival delivery is ideal, a welcome card delivered during the first week still creates meaningful impact and demonstrates team warmth. The important part is that new hires receive collective team welcome, not the exact timing.

Focus welcome cards on personal greetings and team introductions rather than logistical information. Save company policies, IT setup, and orientation schedules for separate onboarding materials. Welcome cards should feel warm and human, not administrative. The goal is emotional connection, not information delivery.

Welcome cards are even MORE important for remote hires who don't get in-person Day One experiences. Digital cards help remote employees see faces, learn names, and feel personally welcomed despite physical distance. This reduces the isolation remote hires often feel and creates immediate connection before virtual meetings begin. Learn more about virtual onboarding strategies.

Yes! Team members can add profile photos, fun GIFs, and even short video messages to their welcome contributions. Visual elements help new hires put names to faces and get a sense of team personality and culture before Day One. This is especially valuable for remote teams where new hires won't meet colleagues in person initially.

Welcome cards are collaborative (whole team signs), more personal (individual messages), and permanent keepsakes that new hires can save and revisit. Welcome emails are typically one-way communication from HR or the manager, more transactional, and easily lost in inbox clutter. Cards create significantly more emotional impact and team connection than automated emails.