Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
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Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
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Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#2A blank check but the check is yours.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#3Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic company pen in recognition for 30 years of dedicated service.
The socks complaint really bugs me. If I received a pair of socks from my boss, as long as they weren't tube socks, I'd actually like and use them! As long as you don't love in the tropics, it's hard to have too many socks.
Company swag can be great when it's medium or high quality, or at least a bit exclusive.
A few examples:
* Medium- or high-end backpack, jacket, or other clothing embroidered with then coolest version of the company logo
* Soft and comfy team- or project-specific designed t-shirt or hoodie
* Branded shades or tennis shoes
* Cash is always nice, too
As long as the gift isn't offensively cheap or completely thoughtless, I wouldn't respond harshly or harbor any bad feelings. Any token of appreciation is likely better than none at all.
Perhaps best to be considerate and ask around beforehand and allow people to opt out from the gift? This could help minimize the likelihood of negative responses and feels.
p.s. Who remembers Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation? That was a quintessential example of an offensive company holiday gift; IIRC, without any warning, the cheap-ass boss swapped a long-standing cash bonus for a fruit club membership.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#4Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic company pen in recognition for 30 years of dedicated service. The socks complaint really bugs me. If I received a pair of socks from my boss, as long as they weren't tube socks, I'd actually like and use them! As long as you don't love in the tropics, it's hard to…
Asking people if they want to opt out of all gifts could also backfire as a perceived loss. I.e. gift quality is higher than they expected, or perceived costs of this perk for others seem to be getting out of hand to them, while they feel committed to their initial choice of being someone who declined and is sort of against the whole thing.
At larger companies, I noticed that you can do a give away with tables along the path to the cafeteria, etc, and really get away with giving out shwag of pretty much no value in a way that pleases quite a few either because they get excited by anything free or they get caught up in the moment, branding as a sort of collectible, etc.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#5Some of these are objectively bad ($5 grocery card) while others (team dinner) are basically complaints about a job/coworkers you hate (now these fools are taking your free time, too).
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#6How about a crappy Windows CE netbook with your company logo on it:
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#7Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic company pen in recognition for 30 years of dedicated service. The socks complaint really bugs me. If I received a pair of socks from my boss, as long as they weren't tube socks, I'd actually like and use them! As long as you don't love in the tropics, it's hard to…
Jelly of the Month Club, instead of the bonus that he expected to cover much of the cost of his new swimming pool.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#8Some of these criticisms come across as pretty entitled and spoiled. Lots of places never give out any gifts, or give you a shitty cheap watch or a plastic company pen in recognition for 30 years of dedicated service. The socks complaint really bugs me. If I received a pair of socks from my boss, as long as they weren't tube socks, I'd actually like and use them! As long as you don't love in the tropics, it's hard to…
Asking people if they want to opt out of all gifts could also backfire as a perceived loss. I.e. gift quality is higher than they expected, or perceived costs of this perk for others seem to be getting out of hand to them, while they feel committed to their initial choice of being someone who declined and is sort of against the whole thing. At larger companies, I noticed that you can do a give away with tables along…
> ..could also backfire..
Yeah, agreed. After a moment of reflection I edited it down to opting out of a singular gift.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#9No post body was provided.
Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad
#10Just put money in a red envelope. The envelope can be company branded.