Birthdays, joining anniversaries, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are some of the most enjoyable times of the year, but the stress of finding the perfect gifts for friends and family can put a damper on the festivities.
The only thing that’s even more complicated is buying gifts for your office staff, whether you run your own company or are in management or HR.
These gifts have to be personalized rather than generic, but not too personal, align with the company’s values and, of course, fit your budget.
Continue reading to find out more about tips to find the perfect gifts for office staff.
Rules to Keep in Mind While Choosing Gifts for Office Staff
The perfect gift will vary depending on your budget, the occasion, and the employee, but you should follow a few general principles while selecting one.
These will help you narrow down your options and ensure you don’t accidentally commit any corporate gifting faux pas!
1. Consider company culture
An appropriate gift at McKinsey & Company would be very different from an appropriate one for employees at Buzzfeed! As a rule of thumb, the younger and more relaxed a company’s culture is, the more comprehensive the range of acceptable gifts.
The industry is also an important consideration: copywriters would generally appreciate a slightly amusing gift more than investment bankers.
If your company has a more conservative culture, it’s best to avoid personal or casual gifts like perfume or celebrity-themed products. Instead, leather goods like wallets, tech products, and helpful desk accessories would be more appropriate.
Location is also an essential factor: For example, it would be highly inappropriate to give an executive a bottle of fine wine in the Middle East, even if it would be a very thoughtful gift in many other parts of the world.
If you’re unsure where your company falls on this spectrum, it’s better to err on the conservative.
2. Edible gifts are always a favorite
There’s a reason food and beverages are such popular gifts for office staff—and it’s not just that they usually won’t break the bank! Sweet goodies like cookies and chocolates are almost universally beloved.
But if promoting healthy choices is essential to you or you want to accommodate staff with dietary needs, nut products like trail mixes, flavored cashews, and almonds or artisanal crackers made of flax, herbs, and seed blends are fantastic choices.
If you want to go experimental, allow employees to choose something unique but scrumptious, like mushroom jerky.
3. Gifts for play are usually better than gifts for work
Desk mugs and clocks are a convenient, inoffensive pick, but your staff will likely be more satisfied with a gift meant to help them relax or have fun than one that will make them more productive.
Gifts for leisure should be personalized to the employee. It wouldn’t be good to give a hiking kit, for instance, to someone who likes to read and watch art films in their free time.
Rejuvenating gifts like massagers, essential oils (and diffusers), and candles are great for most-stressed out employees. Skincare enthusiasts may enjoy jade facial rollers; fitness freaks workout bands, and amateur photographers a polaroid camera.
4. Gift sets are a blessing
If you don’t want to buy something extravagant but don’t want to disappoint with a bit of knick-knack, gift sets are the perfect middle ground—and there’s one for everyone!
We’re all mobile photography enthusiasts today, so a pro lens kit for a phone camera could be just what a member of your staff needs to take his clicks to the next level.
A plant growing kit is the perfect gift to liven up their home or desk space for a person with a green thumb but not enough time or energy to gather all the supplies themselves.
Or, if in time of COVID an employee is particularly concerned about hygiene and freshness, a desk care kit with a hand sanitizer, surface spray, pulse-point oil, and fluffy little washcloth is both practical and thoughtful.
5. Coffee
Today, we have perhaps the greatest variety of coffee supplies available to us. Yet, for most of us, the choice often comes down to sub-par instant coffee or tea and overpriced, sugary drinks from chain cafes.
Instead, give your office staff the gifts of convenience and flavor all wrapped up into one in the form of coffee supplies like a coffee grinder, portable french press, or just a handy insulated bottle to keep their favorite beverage warm. Or, choose from a variety of roasts or even high-quality instant coffee.
6. Give them options
If you’re buying gifts for a large group of people or even your entire company, it can be impossible to tailor them to individual employees. So, you often give everyone the same generic but inoffensive gift, like a mug or a pair of headphones.
A much better option is providing a set of gifts your office staff can choose from. This lineup should include a wide range of products so that everyone can find something perfect for themselves.
It’s also best to include gifts in roughly the same price range. For example, an ideal set of gift options could include a luxury sleep mask, a tea infuser, a box of gourmet, hand-crafted candies, a portable solar lantern, and a multi-tool pen.
Even better, use Eva Gifting Assistant, an AI-based chatbot that does all the gifting for you! Then, you simply send Eva’s link to your employees and have them answer just a few of her fun questions about their preferences.
Eva finds the perfect gift to suit them and makes sure it gets to them in time for the special occasion. There’s no need to curate a set of options to suit hundreds of people or even more, and all of the products mentioned in this article are available with Eva, so you certainly won’t lack variety.
Don’t they like their gift? There’s no need for them to pretend to love it or have an awkward conversation with you about it because Eva takes care of returns and exchanges too. Free of cost.
Get started with Eva and find the perfect gifts for office staff at your company here!
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