So what do you have in mind…a nice bottle of red wine, a luxury hamper maybe? Apparently, the top 5 gifts to give your staff are:
- A monetary bonus (no surprises there).
- ‘A night at the movies’ - cinema tickets for 2 including popcorn, chocolate and a drink(worth in the region of £40 by my reckoning, based on my last trip to the cinema where I baulked at the cost of the edible goodies that almost out-financed the price tag of the film itself!).
- A selection of scratch cards is a popular option, and great fun if handed out at the office Christmas bash. Everyone can then feverishly scramble for a 10p piece, before scratching off the silver coating in the hope of winning the £500k jackpot (followed by a hastily scribbled note of resignation which is then passed along with the bottle of Merlot to the boss 2 seats down). With 10 scratch cards per person given to 10 employees, someone’s bound to get a winner and great fun will be had by all in the process (It may be worth considering a little gift on the side for those who don’t win and feel deflated when they realise that their Christmas gift, consisted of 10 pieces of useless card, now lost amongst the remnants of the Christmas crackers and other table decorations)
- A portable USB storage drive, an extremely useful tool for most people however do be careful with this one, it could be misconstrued that you’re trying to give your staff the ability to take more work home with them!
- A day off! This really is a winner of a gift – after all who wouldn’t an extra day off?
Some food for thought indeed in terms of Christmas presents, but what if I were to suggest a gift that needed no wrapping paper, sticky tape or fancy bow to stick on top? Budget isn’t an issue and you won’t have to trawl the internet for hours to find this item in stock. Even better, at the end of a hard day at work, there’ll be no need to take a bull-like stance, head slowly lowered, elbows stuck out, ready to barge through the crowds of people, late night shopping on many a town high street in the run up to Christmas.
This gift comprises quite simply of just two words.
Thank You.
Seems simple right? You may frequently think you say those words to your staff, but more often than not, it’s been thought but not actually said.
I’m not suggesting that you label yourself a cheapskate by only saying thank you and not giving a gift. Christmas is the time of year, when you can show your appreciation to your staff, for all the hours and effort they have put in over the year. But a verbal gift of a sincere ‘Thank you’ will not only sweeten whatever gift you have wrapped, but can go a long way toward building motivation and commitment – and that’s priceless.
