Remote Onboarding Kits for Distributed Teams
For a remote hire, the kit is the only part of onboarding that arrives by post. Getting it there means split-shipping to homes across the US, choosing pieces that suit a home office, and ordering early enough that it lands before day one.
An office kit can only fail by not being on the desk. A remote kit can fail at the address, at the doorstep or on the calendar, and each of those is a process problem with a fix. In short, collect size and address from the hire on the share link, split-ship one order to every home, and order six weeks before the start date once your design is on file. The team onboarding kit guide covers what makes a kit worth opening, and the rest of this page is about getting it to the door.
Every remote hire is a separate shipment.
In an office program you order kits and hand them out. A remote program is an order of parcels, each with its own address, its own size and a delivery window that closes before a start date the hire may observe a few time zones away from you.
Collecting sizes and addresses on one link
The HR system has a home address, and it's often wrong. People move between offer and start, accept from a parent's house, or leave off the apartment number. Ask the hire directly, once, at offer acceptance, using a share link with these five fields:
- Size and fit preference (XS to 4XL). The sizing guide has the fit notes that get people to pick right the first time.
- Delivery address exactly as the hire types it, apartment number included, with no normalizing on your side.
- A phone number for the carrier. Last-mile drivers call before they deliver more often than you'd think.
- Delivery notes such as concierge, buzzer, safe place or "leave with a neighbor."
- Colorway, if you offer a choice, because choice raises wear and costs nothing at order time.
The same link works for a cohort of twelve or one senior hire, and the sizes go straight into the order without passing through your inbox.
How split shipping works
Split shipping means one order fans out to every address on the list. We sleeve each hire's pieces with their name, pack them as one parcel and send it to the address from the link. You get one invoice, the hire gets one box, and your team never tapes up a carton.
Shipping is quoted per parcel, so a kit that goes to a home costs more to deliver than one that goes to an office in a case of twenty. The budget math guide leaves that line blank for this reason, and the quote fills it in. If you run the 90-day program, the day-30 and day-90 pieces each become a single-piece parcel, which is fine at home and worth batching by cohort.
Hires outside the US
Split shipping covers every state, and we don't ship outside the US yet. A hire based elsewhere needs a US address that can forward the kit, or the kit waits for their next visit to the office.
Every parcel goes out with the name sleeve and your note inside and nothing to pay at the door, and the full terms are on the shipping and returns page.
When to order across time zones
A reorder needs three weeks of production, counted from the day you approve it, and then two weeks of shipping. The date it has to beat sits in the hire's calendar, and a Monday start in Honolulu begins hours after yours in Chicago. Aim to land the kit on the Thursday before, wherever the hire is.
| Order type (anywhere in the US) | Shipping after production | Order by (before start date) |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder, design already on file | 2 weeks | 6 weeks |
| First order, design still to approve | 2 weeks | 8 to 10 weeks |
| First order with a paid sample set first | 2 weeks | 10 to 12 weeks |
Every row is measured from the day you approve the order and includes a week of buffer. Because sizes and addresses arrive at offer acceptance, the order-by date is rarely the constraint. When it is, send a one-size cap or beanie from a small buffer for day one and let the full kit follow, and batch cohorts by month so parcels leave together.
What to include for remote hires
Where an office kit is built around a desk, a remote kit has to work on camera and in whatever climate the hire lives in.
- The hero piece is the 330 GSM hoodie ($23.96 with one DTF print) in a mid-tone colorway, chosen for the camera. Pure black and pure white both misbehave on video, while navy and slate read as intended. Tonal left-chest embroidery stays legible at webcam distance, and we quote it in one business day. The hoodie is cut roomy, and people who want a closer fit should size down.
- The everyday piece is the 220 GSM tee ($17.02 with a print), which runs true and gets worn on the days the hoodie is in the wash.
- The accessory depends on climate, with a cap ($10.85 with a print) for warm markets and a fleece-lined beanie for cold ones. Both are one size. The beanie is priced on a quote, so run two variants and let the address decide.
- A card with the team's names and time zones costs nothing and outlasts the box.
Leave out office things like lanyards, desk plants and mugs. A remote kitchen already has mugs, and every extra item is extra weight on the parcel.
The unboxing happens at home.
At home the unboxing is private and usually photographed. Each piece arrives sleeved with the wearer's name in plastic-free packaging, so the first thing out of the box is their name and not a poly bag. Put the manager's handwritten line on top, and keep the invoice and anything with a barcode out of the box. If you want the photo, ask for it, because a line in the welcome message naming the team channel gets more posts than any hashtag.
Seven common failures and their fixes
- A stale address sends the kit to whatever the HR record says. Have the hire enter the address on the share link at offer, and confirm it with a one-line email a week out.
- Nobody answers the carrier and the parcel goes back to the depot, which a phone number on the label prevents.
- Nobody is home and a signature is required. Collect delivery notes on the link and pass them to the carrier.
- A size guessed from a photo is avoided when the hire picks their own size on the link.
- The kit arrives on day ten. Order at offer acceptance against the table above, and keep a one-size buffer for short-notice starts.
- The same kit goes to Phoenix and Minneapolis. Run the climate variant, which gives you two kits from one design.
- A kit shipped to a coworking space that closed is the reason to use home addresses only for remote hires.
Distributed technology teams hit most of these in their first year. Design the collection once in the Design Studio, approve the design once, and after that every hire is one line on a monthly order and one parcel at one door.
Related reading
Questions people ops asks
Can onboarding kits ship directly to remote employees' homes?
Yes. One order can split-ship to a separate home address for every hire. We sleeve each hire's pieces with their name, pack them as one parcel and send it to the address they entered on the share link. You place one order and get one invoice, and nobody on your team repacks boxes or prints labels.
Can you ship onboarding kits to hires outside the US?
Not yet. Delivery is US only for now, so for a hire based elsewhere either send the kit to a US address that can forward it or hold it for their next visit to the office.
How early should I order a kit for a remote hire?
Six weeks before the start date for a reorder, anywhere in the US. That allows three weeks of production after you approve the order, two weeks of shipping and a week of buffer. A first order needs 8 to 10 weeks because the design still has to be approved. Collect size and address at offer acceptance so the order goes in the same week.
What should a remote onboarding kit include?
One hero piece that reads well on camera (a hoodie in a mid-tone colorway, $23.96 with one print), one everyday piece (a tee, $17.02) and one accessory chosen by climate, either a cap for warm markets ($10.85) or a beanie for cold ones, which we price in one business day. Add a card with the team's names and time zones, and leave out anything that's only useful in an office.