Gift-giving from employers to employees can be a little sticky as gifts may be considered a gift, an award, or a reward (or coercion for certain behavior). How employers view gifts is different than how most employees view gifts.
In order for your gifts to create the greatest positive impact, you’ll need to understand how employees view gifts and what you can do to make your gifts more meaningful to your team.
Employer Gift-Giving Statistics
The difference between gifts and awards are important. Generally speaking, employees tend to view a gift as something that wasn’t earned. Holiday gifts, birthday gifts, or life event gifts are examples of this.
But, employees view awards and rewards as part of their benefits package (not the IRS’s definition) and are a result of the employee “earning” or “deserving.” Gifts, something given independent of the employee “earning,” it are not expected by most employees.
According to one survey, 45% of under-30 yrs old employees expect a gift from their employer at the holidays, while only 27% of over-60 yrs old employees do. Even so, roughly 56% of the employees surveyed felt that their gift was “too generic” or “impersonal.”
Employees Don’t Value Tangible Gifts As Much As Employers Believe
As we, here at Thanks, have talked to employers, we’ve found an overwhelming belief that employers think employees want gifts. Employers want to give employees tangible gifts. That’s why we offer redeemable gift cards and printable awards.
But, the idea that employees want gifts simply isn’t accurate. A study of 100,000 employees found that only 6% of employees want a tangible gift as a primary form of recognition. In fact, the same study found that 47% of employees prefer words of affirmation or expressions of gratitude as their primary way of receiving recognition. Quality time came in second, with 36% of employees preferring it.
Simply put, employees want to feel appreciated, and gifts alone don’t convey true appreciation. Expressing gratitude, appreciation, and recognition sincerely does far more to make employees feel appreciated than a gift.
And spending time to develop or mentor an employee speaks volumes as to how much you value them.
Employees Care About the Thought Behind a Gift
Employees care about the thought and intent behind the gift. The thought is more important than the gift. SHRM found that employees care more about how much thought and effort was put into the gift than how much it cost.
Hani Golstein, the co-founder and CEO of Snappy shared that “Our research points to one key insight; The most appreciated gifts aren’t impactful because of their actual monetary value. What matters most is what the gifts are and how they are given.”
Gifting Traditional Gifts to Employees: Mugs, Pins, SWAG and Gift Cards
Gifts like coffee mugs, SWAG, and gift cards are customary gifts to give, but may not have as much impact as you believe. Paul Wright, author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace stated, “For employees who value gifts, either giving everyone the same item or giving them a generic gift with no thought or personal meaning is actually offensive.”
The problem with traditional gifts such as a pin, briefcase, coffee mugs, or other “everyone” gifts is that they take little time or effort to put together. Yet, many employers may feel cautious about varying holiday gifts for fear of appearing to favor some employees.
This can be overcome by thoughtfully selecting a group gift that represents something the group has gone through together. For example, a symbolic gift that everyone gets that reminds them of a team’s challenge will create more meaning than a generic water bottle.
Employees do not generally consider SWAG a gift because logo-bearing items are considered marketing, not gifts. That’s not to say that employees don’t enjoy SWAG. It’s just that employers shouldn’t consider SWAG a “gift” to employees. According to SHRM, 3 out of 4 employees prefer gifts without their employer’s logo on them.
Creating a Memorable Gift
Gifts that are personal and have thought behind them are more meaningful because it takes effort to give those gifts. It takes more time, something many managers have precious little of, to come up with and get meaningful gifts, which is why it means so much.
But, the delivery is also important. Expressing appreciation and showing how much you value your employees should always accompany gift-giving.
It’s also important to remember that a gift is not an award for excellent performance. Nor is it a reward for compliance or good behavior.
Gifts are usually given to express appreciation for the person receiving the gift. They are given to express a token of the value you place in the employee. It’s important that you express that sentiment when gifting, and don’t simply leave the gift on the employees desk at the service anniversary.
Conclusion
Gift-giving is an integral part of our culture and taking the time to give a meaningful or personal gift speaks volumes to employees in how much you appreciate them. The thought and process behind the gift is much more meaningful to employees than the actual gift and cost.
Employers shouldn’t’ rely on gifts for their recognition program because giving words of affirmation and quality time are two of the things managers can do that will truly convey appreciation to employees.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.