New hire welcome gifts

Ones that say "we're glad it's you", not "here's our logo". A few questions during onboarding go a long way: coffee or tea? Any hobbies? Anything they'd never want?

Then pick for the person: good coffee for the coffee drinker, a plant for the person setting up a home office, a cookbook for the cook. Add a short note from their manager about why the team is glad they're joining.

It can be, but don't count on it being loved. SwagDrop, which sells company merchandise, surveyed 2,500 full-time employees in the US and Canada for its own 2026 study: only 30.5% said the last branded item they got at work was something they would have chosen themselves, and 14.1% didn't keep it (ASI Central, June 9, 2026, read October 29, 2026).

If you do send swag, send something useful that they would pick for themselves.

Gratos buys a real gift from a real store, picked for the person.

Around their start date, at home. Each store sets its own shipping times, and nothing is bought until it's approved, so approve the gift a good while before they start.

1. Add the new hire with what you know about them, and their US delivery address.
2. Ask for a gift, in Gratos or in Slack with /gratos: "a welcome gift for Priya, who loves hiking, under $60".
3. Confirm the pick, or choose another. Gratos can draft a card message, and you can edit it.
4. Approve. Nothing is bought until someone approves the exact total.

Gratos places the order on the store's own website, and the store ships it to them.