Holiday Employee Gift Giving

The holidays and year-end business traditions at many companies include holiday parties, bonuses, and employee gifts. But does your company take full advantage of these holiday employee gift giving practices?
For example, does your boss put a bonus with payroll so it is part of your paycheck, but not really acknowledge why you’re getting it? Or does the human resources staff deliver gifts to employees versus mangers or the company owner? If this is the way it’s done at your company, you may be missing the opportunity to connect with employees and share sincere appreciation and personalized acknowledgement.  Holiday gift-giving is a wonderful opportunity for employers to build engagement and let employees know their hard work and contributions are valued.
What Do Employees Want?
In the 2013 Land’s End Business Gift Survey, more than 75 percent of employees surveyed revealed that they’d rather receive gifts from their employers than have a holiday party for work, which is often seen as a work commitment rather than a gift. Land’s End Survey found that the top four types of gifts employees want, in order of importance, is cash bonuses, gift cards, apparel, and an extra day off. The survey found some other interesting tidbits about holiday gifts at work: many companies don’t have a gifting policy, and most employees give their bosses a holiday gift.
Employee Gift Etiquette
Emily Post discusses corporate gift giving for the holidays. She recommends that any gifts with corporate logos be understated, and gifts should be quality products and merchandise. She urges employees to follow company and regulatory gift giving rules about giving and receiving gifts. Her advice about gifting bosses is to do it as a group to avoid any impression of currying favor or inappropriate relationships. Her suggestion for bosses gifting employees is to be careful not to make the gift too intimate such as lingerie, perfume, or jewelry, and suggests that books, gift certificates, and theater tickets are appropriate employee gifts.
Incentive Magazine’s Top Employee Gifts for 2013
Tom Taraci, writing for Incentive Magazine in “Top 10 Holiday Gifts for Employees in 2013,” discusses 10 products that make great employee gifts. Things like custom dress shirts and custom-crafted shoes for executive employees, upscale headphones and speakers, Crosstech multi-task pen, and crystal glassware make this list.  But many companies do not have the budget for such luxury gifts.  Remember it’s the thought and sincere gesture of gratitude that counts, not how much you spend.  Industry research highlights the popular appeal of practical employee gifts such as gift certificates and gift cards in the current environment.
The right employee gifts are not intimate but not impersonal, and have the power to make your employees feel good about their work and their employer. They don’t have to be extravagant to have the right impact. And the best employee gifts are those that are delivered personally with a thoughtful and sincere note of thanks or with a handshake and a big “thank you”.

For more tips on great employee gifts and gift-giving best practices, download our free “Ultimate Guide to Employee Gift-Giving” now! Click the image below to download.

About gThankYou, LLC

Turkey Gift Certificates and Turkey Or Ham Gift Certificates by gThankYou! are two of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any Brand (Turkey or Turkey Or Ham), at virtually any Grocery Store in the U.S.
gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime.  gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and our free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo. And, nearly all orders ship same day.
gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Contact:  Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-484-1658.
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