What to include

Pick a few useful branded items over a box of swag. Items people wear or use every week do more for a sense of belonging than items that end up in a drawer. A typical kit might be:

  • One or two tees or polos in the approved colors
  • A hat or a hoodie, depending on the work and climate
  • Any required uniform or safety gear for the role
  • One practical item, such as a bottle or a bag, if it fits how your team works

Keep required items separate in your list, so they are never skipped when an optional item is out of stock.

Capture sizes during offer or onboarding paperwork

Add size questions to the forms the new hire already fills in. Include a size chart, a note on unisex vs fitted cuts, and any name or personalization field if you use one. Save the answers to the same size list you use for team orders, so you never ask twice.

Have kits ready by day one

There are two ways to do this:

  • Keep a small stock of common sizes. Kits are ready right away, but you hold some inventory and will occasionally miss a size.
  • Order per hire. No stock to manage, but you need the sizes early enough for the order to arrive before the start date.

Many teams keep a few of the most common sizes of core items and order everything else per hire.

A simple first-order flow

  1. The new hire gets a link to the approved kit.
  2. They pick their sizes from the kit items.
  3. Their manager approves the order.
  4. The kit ships to them or is handed out on day one.

You can run this by hand with a form and an approval email. Custom Company Store is being built to handle this flow from one link.

Remote vs on-site hires

On-site hires can collect their kit on day one, which makes stock on hand useful. Remote hires need their address and sizes earlier, so the package arrives before they start. Confirm the shipping address as part of onboarding rather than in a separate message.

Record what each person received

Log the person, items, sizes, and date for every kit. This keeps new hire kits separate from regular allowances, makes reorders easy, and shows which sizes you use most when restocking.

Refresh the kit over time

Review the kit once or twice a year. Drop items people do not use, swap in items people ask for, and update colors if your brand changes. The ordering checklist includes a close-out step for this, and the store planner has a section for your new hire kit.