You have a choice as a boss—you can choose to motivate your team with a carrot or a stick. If you select the carrot (a recommended option!), gifts are an excellent tool to show that you are paying attention. You can use a token or memento to say “Thank you for all your hard work on a project,” or “Great job on hitting your sales goals last month!” You may be surprised by the positive effect of even the smallest gift. Below are five great ideas to give your team for any reason you deem necessary.
1. Personalized gift
Everyone loves a trinket with their name on it. Why not say “Thank You!” to your team with personalized, high-quality promotional products? A relatively inexpensive flash drive or stainless steel water bottle can mean a lot to employees—they show effort and thought. The item can be even more special for the individual with an atypical name or unusual spelling.
2. Steak
If you have a team of meat-eaters who love an excellent piece of beef, consider gifting them high-end steak for a job well done. You have a few options if you pursue this route: you can order a big box of steaks and grill them up as a special lunch for the office, or you can purchase custom gift certificates where people can create a selection of goodies to their liking.
3. Massages
A lot of companies claim to offer a work-life balance but usually fall short in articulating how they help employees achieve it. One clear way to demonstrate the importance of rejuvenating time away from work is by offering a corporate massage program. Some chain massage businesses offer corporate group membership rates which would allow you to gift massages to your employees without paying full price. Some benefits of this gift are that it can improve both employee morale and retention rates while reducing stress.
4. Wine and painting
Another great way to demonstrate how to enjoy the hours outside the office is to gift your employees a relaxing evening of wine and painting. Their only cost will be childcare if they have young ones or an Uber to and from the event. Depending on the interests of your office, wine and painting can be either: manicures/pedicures while sipping wine, or an evening of wine and actual artistic creation. You can select whether everyone enjoys the event on their own or as a group.
5. Trophy
When you walk around business offices, you may have noticed various glass, wood and marble trophies and awards decorating walls and bookshelves. It’s a fact—people value tangible recognition for their work. Consider creating an annual awards celebration in which you honor the hard work of your employees over the last year.
You can recognize both serious and silly accomplishments to keep the mood light. You may find that your employees look forward to the event and proudly display even the silliest trophies on their desks afterward.
It takes time, thought and money to give your employees gifts, but few things can be more motivating to your team. Consider acknowledging your employees’ hard work with a personalized product or some high-end steak. Help them achieve work-life balance through gifts of massages or an evening of wine and painting.
Create an awards evening complete with trophies to recognize annual accomplishments. Regardless of what you choose, you are showing them you are paying attention, and you are grateful for their effort.
