Employee Engagement with Quality Gifts
Increasing employee engagement is the age-old dilemma every HR department, office manager and small business owner is tasked with solving. According to Forbes, “Recognition has a physiological impact on performance.” An increase in engagement can yield decreased employee turnover, a massive boost in productivity and an increase in morale. Fortunately, achieving this end-goal can be less costly than you think.
Investing in employee gifts is a budget-friendly solution for increasing engagement. Being presented with occasional corporate gifts offers the reassurance an employee craves. When employees feel content, valued and secure within their role in the company, wonderful things begin to happen to their performance. If you're hoping to achieve these results, below are a few tips for successfully selecting employee gifts.
Personalized Gifts for Small Teams
The benefit of having a relatively small team is the ability to easily choose gifts based on personality types and personal interests. Gifts that are tailored to the individual employee will create a lasting impression. Consider a golf umbrella or arm band device holder for the sports aficionado. A folding chair or binoculars would be ideal for the outdoorsman. Or perhaps, a BBQ grill set, or portable cooler for the weekend warriors. The extent of employee gift personalization when working with a small team is truly limitless. Customized gifts are a great way to get the most bang for your buck on a small budget, all the while making an impact on the employee.
Versatile Gifts for Large Teams
The benefits of presenting employees with quality gifts that appeal to their specific lifestyles are clear. However, challenges arise when using this gifting strategy with a larger team. When the number of employees increases, not only is it time-intensive, but often far more costly to choose quality gifts that appeal to each of your employees. For this reason, the best approach is to choose more versatile gifts.
Examples of versatile gifts are custom-made tote bags that employees may use in both their personal and work lives; insulated gifts such as traveling mugs and lunch bags are one of the most-used gifts, as it is likely that a fairly considerable percentage of your employees have a need for keeping their coffee warm and their lunch protected. Custom-made workwear is an additional budget-friendly gift option that is sure to be well-received as it lessens the out-of-pocket cost of the employees' work wardrobe . The key to truly appeal to all employees is choosing gifts that provide both style and function – good looks and even better usability.
Tips for Making an Impact on a Budget
Below are two food-for-thought guidelines to follow when choosing gifts for your employees.
- Make it about them. Many businesses present their employees with gifts that are of little interest to the employee. If your goal is to boost employee engagement, provide them with a gift that speaks to their needs and desires, not just as an employee of your company, but as a person.
- Place an emphasis on quality. Nothing says “we appreciate you” like a tote bag with a zipper that breaks on the first use. Avoid negating the benefits of employee gifts by choosing gifts that are quality-made.
Often times, employees will relate the quality of the gift to their perceived value as an employee – this does not necessarily speak of the monetary value of the gift – but rather the quality. A well-made item that can withstand the test of time, as well as provides some utility to the employee, creates an overall more positive experience.