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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

#111

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

protomyth wrote: post #51
MichaelCollins wrote: post #11

> It’s also best to avoid socks. Everyone already has socks, and realistically, they will likely also get socks from someone else during the holiday season. What is this crap? Socks are the best gift. Didn't the author stop to wonder why everybody gives people socks during the holiday season? Because virtually everybody uses socks, because socks wear out fast, because new socks are the most comfortable and it's alway…

This must be regional/cultural because for my family and friends socks is the kiss-off gift of a person who doesn't give a damn about you but needs to buy you a gift.

Definitely regional/cultural because in my region, socks would be something given within family or close friends. I've never seen an acquaintance or a company give socks here. (Not that I would mind to receive some, good socks are a great gift, it's just that it's not done here).

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#112

Post by jonasdegendt »

smsm42 wrote: post #15
club_tropical wrote: post #5

Some 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).

If it's cash-equivalent (i.e. I can actually use it in a store I commonly go to) then I don't mind even $5. I mean, it's not something that would make me particularly happy, but $5 is more than $0. I have also used some company swag for years (cups, water bottles, hoodies, scarves, backpacks, etc.) with no complaints, if it's not cheap-ass stuff but a proper product with a logo slapped on it, why not. I mean, if it's…

> like gift card for a place I don't go to

When I first moved to the US I wasn't particularly flush with cash and had maybe a 1000 bucks in my pocket by the end of the first year. At some point I worked a Saturday and my manager gave me a $50 gift card to Ruth's Chris as a thank you. So I went with a friend only to come to the conclusion the cheapest steak on the menu was $60 to begin with, oh the shock I felt.

The gifts that really get me going are the 500 mAh power banks that probably cost all of $2, tiny terrible speakers were a thing for a while too. They'll end up in a drawer or the landfill.

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#113

Post by roel_v »

lostlogin wrote: post #108
jerlam wrote: post #49

Not just employee gifts, but nearly all gifts are valued less by the receiver than the giver. A gift represents a decision made on behalf of the receiver by the giver. In very few situations would the receiver make the same decision as the giver with the same resources. It's assumed that the receiver will use the same resources in an optimal manner, so gift-giving is a net negative. In some circumstances, gifts are v…

> Not just employee gifts, but nearly all gifts are valued less by the receiver than the giver. You need to try giving someone honey from a beehive you maintain. People seem to love it and come back for more. I have hundreds of kilos spare.

So do I (well, from my father's bees, that is...). But it illustrates exactly what the OP is talking about - this honey comes at low cost or free to us, but for the receiver it represents a much higher value. (prices around here for local, pure honey are 7 or 8 euros per 450 grams / about a pound). My kids sell my parents' honey for 5 euros and people are grateful for those low prices even, and treat it like we're doing them a favor.

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#116

Post by nindalf »

jerlam wrote: post #49

Not just employee gifts, but nearly all gifts are valued less by the receiver than the giver. A gift represents a decision made on behalf of the receiver by the giver. In very few situations would the receiver make the same decision as the giver with the same resources. It's assumed that the receiver will use the same resources in an optimal manner, so gift-giving is a net negative. In some circumstances, gifts are v…

Your grand theory isn't new. The 1993 paper The Deadweight Loss of Chrismtas (https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/104699/original/christmas...) explores this in detail.

The basic idea is let's measure what the gift cost and what the receiver valued it at. But not everything that matters can be measured and not everything that is measured, matters. The study should have accounted for the strength of relationship between the gifter and gifted and how it was affected by the gift. It should have measured social status of the gifter before and after. These deepened bonds and increased social status could pay off later in the year. The 2001 paper Poverty and public celebrations in rural India (https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/2528.html) examines that idea and finds it to be true.

When you're looking at an institution that has developed independently thousands of times across human history in wildly disparate cultures, you need to ask yourself what benefit it brings before dismissing it.

This comment reminds me of the teenage atheists who think religion is worthless because it's a bunch of made up stuff they don't believe is true. Regardless of what they believe, religion has independently developed and flourished in a number of cultures. Religions that involve regular congregations bring benefits to their members, such as living longer, happier lives.

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#118

Post by ehnto »

nomilk wrote: post #117
tdeck wrote: post #50

Looks like it's down, here is a cache link: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:...

First time encountering a 406: Not acceptable.

I had a giggle. It seems we have disappointed the server. It's kindof ambiguous as a response too, I wonder what they intend it to mean.

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#119

Post by lostlogin »

roel_v wrote: post #113
lostlogin wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not just employee gifts, but nearly all gifts are valued less by the receiver than the giver. You need to try giving someone honey from a beehive you maintain. People seem to love it and come back for more. I have hundreds of kilos spare.

So do I (well, from my father's bees, that is...). But it illustrates exactly what the OP is talking about - this honey comes at low cost or free to us, but for the receiver it represents a much higher value. (prices around here for local, pure honey are 7 or 8 euros per 450 grams / about a pound). My kids sell my parents' honey for 5 euros and people are grateful for those low prices even, and treat it like we're do…

I should have paid more attention, you are correct and it does illustrate their point.

Re: Employee gift ideas that make people feel bad

#120

Post by piva00 »

roel_v wrote: post #113
lostlogin wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not just employee gifts, but nearly all gifts are valued less by the receiver than the giver. You need to try giving someone honey from a beehive you maintain. People seem to love it and come back for more. I have hundreds of kilos spare.

So do I (well, from my father's bees, that is...). But it illustrates exactly what the OP is talking about - this honey comes at low cost or free to us, but for the receiver it represents a much higher value. (prices around here for local, pure honey are 7 or 8 euros per 450 grams / about a pound). My kids sell my parents' honey for 5 euros and people are grateful for those low prices even, and treat it like we're do…

I gift people some sourdough bread I make. The price of a loaf of bread is ridiculously cheap, much cheaper than my time would cost if I factored it in and my breads aren't perfectly baked every single time like a bakery with professionals can do.

Still, people appreciate it a lot, much more than if I purchased a better-looking loaf of bread from a professional baker for 2-3€.

I don't think it's necessarily tied to the value it represents to the receiver, it's the act of kindness with the unexpectedness of a gift that gives it value.

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