If your boss gives you a thoughtful gift, does it brighten your day? Since it was recognized that positive reinforcement was a great way to boost staff morale and build team spirit, many companies encourage the giving of gifts to employees.
Gifts for employees
In the big business world where staff are often unknown to their managers, the results can be a little disappointing, as there isn’t much scope for choosing special, individual gifts when you don’t know the people you are buying for. However, a box of chocolates that all your co-workers have received is still better than no chocolates at all! It’s in smaller businesses where your work colleagues are like friends or family that you can get the nicest gifts. If you have responsibility for gift buying, take some time to consider what will be most appreciated by your staff. For many people, the simple allowance of an afternoon off to watch their kids’ school nativity would be much more appreciated than an actual gift.
Gifts to show you care
Christmas isn’t the only time for gift-giving. If a colleague has been sick, then a bunch of flowers or a pretty pot plant can be a great way of letting them know they are being thought about. In many offices, someone’s birthday is a great excuse to bring in cakes and have a discreet celebration.
Gifts between workmates
Some people form close bonds and friendships in their workplace, and naturally, want to give gifts to the person they are friends with. This is fine as long as you aren’t going to upset the other members of the team. It wouldn’t be received well for someone in a superior position to give a colleague a random present just because they are friends – this is a sure-fire way to cause mumbling about favoritism.
Gifts for customers
The idea of giving freebies to your customers has become a mainstay in the marketing plans of most businesses these days. However, did you know the first recorded promotional products go all the way back to the election campaign of George Washington in 1789? We think of branded gifts as being a fairly recent innovation, but these products have actually been employed for hundreds of years.
A Potted History of Promotional Gifts
In the 19th century, bespoke calendars and rulers (still popular promotional products today) were often used by entrepreneurs of the time to promote their businesses. A printer from Coshocton, Ohio named Jasper Meek had the idea of printing the names of local stores on shopping bags, and he was soon joined in his endeavour by fellow printer Henry Beach. Together they produced marble bags, buggy whips, fans, card cases, aprons, cloth caps and of course calendars.
As the printing industry embraced the technological revolution, it became possible to print your company logo on almost anything you could think of. Clothing was and still is one of the most popular ranges to use for promotion, and most of us have been given a mug, a shopping bag or a notepad when visiting exhibitions or open days.
Why freebies are relevant to you
As a consumer and having experienced the process of being given promotional items, you are in an ideal position to know what works and what doesn’t. Wherever you work, marketing is a fundamental aspect of business success, and in small businesses, everyone can get involved in the marketing strategy. Your job is a serious affair, but having fun at work is an essential element of enjoying your work life and building a positive team spirit.
Have a brainstorming session
Get all the staff in to discuss the products promotional companies like Dynamic Gift have to offer. The range is so wide now that any market, however niche, can be accommodated. Everyone can have a browse through what’s available and pick out the items that look like they would work for your business. Then everyone gets to argue their case for the items they’ve chosen, leading to a list of the products your whole team feels they can get behind.
Receiving gifts
Sometimes customers want to give gifts to a member of the team who has given them excellent customer service or helped them with a difficult problem. If you are a realtor, you have probably been bought flowers by some of your clients when their house gets sold. For most people, receiving gifts from clients is a very pleasant bonus, and the nature of the gifts means that they can often be shared or enjoyed by the whole team. If you are given a gift, make sure you thank your colleagues for their contribution and think of it as a positive result for the team rather than something you earned by yourself.
Rejecting gifts
For some occupations receiving gifts is not permitted, for example, police officers couldn’t take anything that might be seen as recompense for lenient treatment. Make sure you know what the rules are in your job and if you can’t accept gifts decline them when they are offered with grace and appreciation. You could suggest that the gift is donated to charity on your behalf, or auctioned for a benevolent fund if you have one. The other problem with accepting gifts is the tax implications, so make sure you know what you can accept and what you need to declare under the tax laws.