Worst employer gifts ever

We’ve been in the gifting business for eight years and we’ve seen what works and what can go terribly wrong. Sometimes I shake my head in disbelief as people share with me how thoughtless or simply dumb some employers are about giving a gift. People have worked harder this year than they have in years – and for most there will be no Christmas bonus. So a well thought out gift will make the difference.

Recently we surveyed 3,000 employees about the “best” and “worst” gifts they had ever received and why.

Here’s what NOT to do:

Effort versus reward imbalance and offensive to employees:

• “A sparkly nail file for working hard, my manager’s heart was in the right place but it was a strange ‘reward’ to receive for working my butt off”.
• “A mars bar for the anniversary of working with the organisation. It made me feel unappreciated”.
• “Microwave popcorn and one bottle of sparkling to share amongst 10 people to celebrate major account resigning”.
• “For my five years of service – a choice of a wallet, a $5 bottle of wine, a plastic picture frame, playing cards and two other pieces of garbage – what an insult”.

Tacky:

• “A Taco Bell watch for five years of service and a letter misspelling my name”.
• “Being told at Christmas time that I should be giving my employer a Christmas present to demonstrate my gratitude for working for him”.
• “A pen that didn’t work”.
• “$5 iTunes gift card for Christmas”.
• “Herb sachets from a channel promotion”.
• “20 cent pay rise”.

Not so much the reward but the way it is delivered:

• Certificates with misspelled names.
• Sarcasm.
• Little thought.
• Obvious mistakes and generalist “one size fits all” approach.

Standardised clutter:

• “Gold spoon – who needs that?”
• “A magnetic trophy with paper clips – it can destroy a hard drive in seconds”.
• “A kettle – the qualification criteria was too strict just to win a kettle”.
• “A video history of the company – not personalised, again focusing on the company and not focused on you”.

Not knowing employees interests, rewards never used:

• “Bath salts, don’t have a bath and they smell awful”.
• “A daggy cap, it was pretty ugly and not really my thing. I couldn’t even give it away”.

Employee perceiving company as stingy. No recognition/ reward at all feel like another number or disregarded:

• “Christmas ham… I am a known vegetarian”.
• “Box of chocolates… I am a diabetic”.
• “Tickets to footy – don’t use them”.
• “Dinner at boss’ house”.

Please take a moment to think about what employees (and family and friends) really want… An authentic gift that shows true appreciation will make the New Years employee engagement so much easier.

What is the worst gift you ever received from your boss (or best, if you want to tell someone how great they are)?

Naomi is the 2008 National Telstra Women’s Business Award winner for Innovation. Naomi was also a finalist for the Australian HR Awards and a finalist for the BRW Most Admired Business Owner Award in 2008. Also in 2008 RedBalloon achieved a 97% Hewitt employee engagement score. One of Australia’s outstanding female entrepreneurs, Naomi regularly entertains as a professional speaker inspiring middle to high-level leaders on employer branding, engagement and reward and recognition. Naomi writes a blog and has written a book sharing the lessons from her first five years.

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