Corporate gifts have become a bit of a standard among many companies in terms of employee motivation. Whether it’s a personalized birthday gift or a gift given to everyone over the holidays, it’s definitely a great way to show the employees that their hard work and loyalty to the company have not been ignored.
Unless you’re like these folk on Reddit who themselves, or their friends and family, had to endure getting gifts that leave much—much—to be desired. It does beg the question of whether getting nothing would’ve been a better choice.
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It goes without saying that corporate gifts are a good idea, if done right. It was reported that 42% of businesses claim relationship management is their top reason for why they’re gifting things.
Corporate gifts are considered a pretty effective tool for humanizing the company and thus strengthening coworker relationships.
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Besides that, corporate gifts are a meaningful way to express appreciation for the hard work employees do. Not only are the employees happy to be appreciated, the company can benefit from it too with increased business growth.
And it’s not just employees—corporate gifts work just as well with business partners and inter-company relationships too.
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Other reasons to use corporate gifts include providing an opportunity to stand out as a company, overcome physical distance barriers (especially in light of remote work and the pandemic), and it allows everyone to focus more on the positive. That last one in turn can foster a more effective relationship if trouble arises.
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So, what’s the best strategy at approaching corporate gifts? Assuming a budget is set and the logistics are all figured out, all that’s really left is to pick out a gift, to make it personal, and then to put the plan into motion.
In terms of what to pick, the short answer is it depends. On what? You have to pick out a gift that your employees will actually like.
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The general rule is to find gifts that would be both personalized and practical. One of the more popular approaches is choice-based gifting, which commonly takes shape in the form of gift cards.
Alternatively, you can compile a curated collection for employees to choose from.
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A bonus on top of all this gifting would be to make sure that sustainability is taken into account. So, organic and eco-friendly materials is the way to go. Well, that, and also if you do end up getting something that one person absolutely hates and will likely get rid of it, at least the carbon footprint is minimized. But let’s hope that’s not the case.
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It helps to add a personal note to the recipient. It doesn’t have to be a long message—heck, it doesn’t even have to be from the boss per se. From management or from the company can suffice, as long as it shows appreciation. Explain why you are sending the gift, make it personal, and sign it.
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But if gift cards don’t sound like the best idea, consider compiling a gift box that might include some of the following items:
Hydro Flask, reusable lunch containers, work essentials for remote work, DoorDash coupons, mug warmers, plants like succulents, personalized alcohol, subscriptions to learning or self-development platforms, wireless chargers, books…
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… wireless speakers, item tags, noise canceling headphones, beauty and health care packages, eye wear or other accessories, DIY boxes, coffee, tea and anything in between.
And then don’t forget to slap that personal note on top of it and you’re golden. And if not, leave a feedback form and improve upon it.
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So, ever got something from your job that made you silently say “what the flip?” Share your experiences and thoughts on anything you’ve read here today in the comment section below!
And if you want more insultingly stupid gifts and perks that companies thought of giving, then look no further than this article.
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My mom’s boss gave everyone a pen (a really cr*ppy, normal pen) with their names printed on normal white printer paper that was scotch taped down the side of the pen. This sounds made up even to me as I type it, but it’s still in our junk drawer.A small, nickel-sized, heart-shaped rock sent in the mail. It was supposed to represent their appreciation for the extra work during Covid. All I could think of was Charlie Brown trick or treating, “I got a rock.”Not me, but one year the company my brother works for gave each employee a CD of the owner playing Christmas songs on the harmonica.A letter from the CEO telling us how he is going to celebrate Christmas with his family up north to go skiing. That was all.Two free tickets to a cinema. The issue was that the closest cinema in that particular chain was about 800 miles away from me.That year the company decided it wasn’t going to provide basic office supplies for the break room. Coffee, tea, eating utensils, napkins, nothing. That year for Christmas we all got a brown paper bags fashioned like lunches. Inside was a metal straw, cloth napkin, a child sized set of plastic cutlery that fit in a travel case, a copy paste printed piece of paper with food puns in relation to our job, and a single fun sized hundred grand candy bar. This Fortune 500 company had over a billion in raw profit that year. Oh, and the cutlery ended up getting recalled due to some terrible forever chemicals in them. Company coffee mug with the company name misspelled. It was a large company.We were told we were receiving our Christmas bonuses soon, and then we were all given a poinsettia. The poinsettia in itself wasn’t so bad, mine is actually still alive years later, but the fact that they had the audacity to call it a bonus was absurd.I worked at a hospital in the billing department. I got a travel thingy of hand sanitizer. Meanwhile, the IT department who shared our building got North Face puffy jackets. Jokes on them though, it was Christmas 2019 and I had hand sanitizer for COVID. ?An ultra-religious self-help book so we could become less miserable, incompetent and immoral.During the pandemic, my partner’s company sent employees each an envelope through the mail with a sticker in it for some appreciation week I laughed so hard at that. It literally was a sticker that said “happy appreciation week”.I was re-gifted a gift basket given to my boss by a client and he forgot to remove the card that was addressed to him.A coin commemorating a billion dollars in sales.Jelly of the Month membership instead of my Christmas bonus. I wanted to put a pool in the backyard but nope.An email that only upper management would be getting the end of year bonus (sent to entire company by accident instead of just upper management). Then laid off 2 weeks into the new year.
Found out from a friend in the company a little while later that the board of directors held a vote. They keep their car allowances at the expense of a wave of layoffs, or lose their car allowances and 10-15 people get to keep their jobs. Pretty sure it was unanimous.
No matter how many times a company says you’re family, just remember that it’s the type of family that would gladly cut your throat to make sure the fat cats get to eat.Not me but a friend - all staff at the hospital received a kitchen scrubby for Christmas. Not even themed. Just random browns, greens, pinks, and yellows... seems like the boss bought dollar store multi-packs and opened them to give everyone one piece. A pack of 10 tissues at the onset of COVID.Teacher here.
One year, as our Christmas bonus, we got a defective plastic keychain that read "I love teching!" Spelled exactly like that.
Normally, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.. but after the s**t we had been through, with zero support from admin, s**t pay, disrespect, etc. the keychain set us all off. It was adding insult to injury.
Like, not only is our "bonus" a keychain that didn't even work (the hasp had no spring), but the spelling error meant that a) someone didn't even check them when they arrived, and b) someone put them in every teacher mailbox without looking at them.
Admin sent out an email that basically said turn your keychains back in so they could send them back and get corrected ones. So, adding insult to injury.
I appreciated the sentiment, but all of us could've done without that.5 dollar Subway gift card. My boss made me come in on an off day to pick up because, “she did not want me missing the company bonus”. I really wonder if our managers need how much was on the cards? We talked about it for months.An email from the boss saying he is donating "on behalf of the company" to a charity he is a chairman of.Expired food.A cheap plastic key ring with the company logo on it after working 16-hour days for months to win a massive contract. No overtime paid either.Starbucks gift card that had no money on it and they had no receipt for it.I used to work in a record shop in the UK and usually got a bottle of wine as a Christmas bonus. Then the company was bought by Virgin and our Christmas bonus was a copy of Richard Branson's (Virgin's CEO) autobiography.A pink slip. And I don't mean lingerie.A pink slip (in the US anyway) can be a notice of termination of employment or the title to a vehicle. I’m guessing OP didn’t get a new car as a gift, so… got fired.New owners this year. Old owner gave us 10% of our salary as a year end bonus. New guys gave us $100 amazon cards that were drained by the time we got them. Everyone was pissed but didn't wanna say anything so I did. He asked everyone and they claimed to be delighted with their cards. Spineless bastards. Lmao.My last job the company broke all sorts of financial records and gave everyone a very expensive glass thing with a decal of the refinery. Not only did it suck but all employees ended having to pay 75 dollars in taxes on it. So the 'job well done' cost 75 bucks.A long sleeve denim shirt with the company logo in the front above one of the front pockets..
In Florida. Plus we couldn’t wear denim at work so the only time we’d be able to wear the company shirt is on our own time (not happening) or when we’d have dress down day (again not happening).
When a coworker inquired where we could wear this since we can’t wear it to work they listed places (like a BBQ joint, the movies, etc.) and said we should be grateful since most places don’t give their employees gifts.
It was a call center. Could’ve given a blanket (since it was cold in the center), travel mug, anything except a shirt we can’t wear.Nurses Week 2022 (height of Delta wave COVID). We were given rocks on a keychain. The rock was engraved with the word “Hope”. We might have gotten some chapstick too.Link to a page from which I can write thanks to my coworkers.A compulsory invitation to the holiday party.
Technically, I wasn't required to attend but it was a career-killer if you didn't. I had to spend money on a dress just for the party since I didn't have anything that was suitable, so not only did it cost *me* money, but I had to spend a precious evening pretending I liked my coworkers.Nothing. And I work for a giant company. Not surprised though.The MD of the company bought himself a boat ‘for the company’. We didn’t get a bonus that year.At a company Christmas party they would raffle off prizes; one prize for each person. They guy in front of me won a Budweiser mini fridge with LED lights. The guy after me won a LG flat-screen TV. My prize? A Pepsi baseball hat with broken snaps.The first company I worked for out of college gave everyone a “free turkey” around the holidays. It wasn’t really a free turkey, it was a $25 gift certificate to a grocery store that was inconvenient for 75% of the people working there. And $25 didn’t cover a turkey, of course. Turns out, the company owners had a stake in the store.A bottle of our restaurant’s “signature” steak sauce that no one really liked and that we all had free access to all day, every day at work. This was instead of the standard $100 cash bonus we normally got yearly.Worked for FritoLay. Went to the corporate headquarters and in my hotel room was a bag of FritoLay snack, all expired.I was gifted a ham for the holidays…..I’m Jewish.Welcome back in office postcard after the pandemic work from home period. We’ve got it minutes after receiving termination letters.
Like I was fully expecting it but still it was in a poor taste.A penny.
Specifically, a 1935 penny - representing the year the company was incorporated.A card from my CEO with a picture of him and his wife. Ripped up and thrown away. idc dude give me a bonus. you’re a $70m a year company.I had a manager give me a blood pressure monitor once because, in his words, "You're fat, eat unhealthy, drink massive amounts of coffee and seem stressed all the time and the company is afraid you might have a heart attack."I’m diabetic and my boss knows, but every year he gets me 2 dozen cookies, a tin of caramel popcorn and bag of homemade chocolate turtles.Swag that another company gave us for free months ago.$50 gift card but only $10 was left.A pencil. And it was just some generic pencil, like from a Dollar Store. Thanks BNYMellon.As an airline pilot, I worked Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day this year. On Thanksgiving Day, I walk into the cockpit to find one of those $0.75 (silver dollar size) pecan pies in the little cardboard box (the ones you get at the gas station checkout line). On Christmas Day, I found an iced sugar cookie.For Christmas in 2021, McDonald's gave me a $5 gift card to McDonald's. I ate more free McDonald's every single day I worked than that card would've bought, so I ended up just giving it away.Invited to a nice restaurant with other employees. Spouses were invited but had to pay their way. We were told to claim our meal on our expense forms. But our boss hadn't cleared it with his boss so all our claims were rejected.
So my wife and I went to a nice restaurant, had to pay for both of our meals and had to hang out with our boss while doing it. This was a twice a year date night type restaurant so we wasted one of our date nights with coworkers.
Edit: I've been thinking that it is possible this manager did this on purpose. The other thing he did is tell a few of us that we had been working so hard and putting in so much unpaid overtime (we were salaried) that he'd take three of us golfing for the afternoon. By the end of the round he said we should all probably use a half day of our holidays on our monthly time sheet.$20 in company credit lol. Not only is it such a small amount for something that literally goes back into the company, but this was supposed to be the replacement for the end of year bonus that got cancelled, of which I was told has never happened (I joined this year).After five years, they changed my badge color from white to blue.Christmas gift. It was an advent calendar... Delivered on the 15th of December.Questionable Christmas Ham, circa 2017-ish.
In general, Christmas Ham + canned goods and assorted sweets were commonly given by Philippine corporate to employees in December, sort of to boost the Noche Buena feast on the eve of Christmas. The ham in question did not look very appetizing (think giant block of pale Spam). One of my co-workers tried offering a bite to her dog; the dog refused.
Edit: it might be earlier than 2017. I must have been so horrified with the questionable ham, I blocked out the exact year.Boss gave me a mug, I quipped “a mug from a mug.” HR took the mug off me, made me apologise, then gave me the mug back.A 10 year anniversary memory book with my name spelled wrong on every page.I got an email congratulating me on 5 years of service.
That was nice ?I was given an air tire pressure guage to promote safety. The guage was manufactured in China and promptly exploded when connected to a tire valve.A $500 bonus instead of the standard $50 that everyone else got, then an explanation email that they obviously typo'd the check, don't cash it, a replacement and correct $50 is on the way. The correct check never came.I worked for one of the largest retailers once. This one Year the store manager decided for gifts for the associates he would just wrap up claims merchandise and give one to each person. Mine was a Picture frame without the glass that had baby on it. This was a done as a Christmas present from the store.A deck of playing cards with coworkers' faces on every card.A coupon for 15% off Panera Bread catering. I forwarded the email to abuse. They said it was real.One year I got a jacket with the company name on it. It was a nice enough jacket but everyone got the same size - a men’s large. I’m a 5’1” woman so that didn’t work. I donated it, at least it will keep someone warm.My company is owned by a holdings company so it's a bunch of different unrelated stuff.
They keep giving us these vouchers to spend at their store.
So I did a tour of the campus, and they brought us to the store. And it's literally elderly medical care stuff, like the things you would attach to your toilet and bathtubs to have bars to hold onto. They also have those super big chairs with all the gadgets and whistles. They're like 4 grand.
So thanks for the 5 dollar voucher lol
I seriously have no idea what anyone was thinking when they came up with this reward system.After my 32¢ raise and 23¢ merit raise they gave me a used, cheap company pen with a laser pointer. After that I did my 10 hours of work at the beginning of the day and spent the rest of my day looking for another job in my cubicle.Noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones. I'm sure they were good and useful to some people, but I'm legally deaf.My wife got a check for $10. After taxes it was eight and change.A loaf of bread. The temps that we were working for us all got a $200 check from their temp agency. I will admit that the bread tasted good (it was one of those cinnamon and brown sugar desert loaves),and but man. Worst part was that we were all paid so poorly that we *needed* that bread; it supplemented my food budge for a week.A dead plant.For 15 years of service, I received a hand bell with my name on it.
It started to corrode within a week in normal conditions.A major hospital system in several US states, their response to rising medical staff burnout was to send clergy staff around to the departments with a box of gifts and call it “mental health awareness week”
Gifts included:
A “stress-relief” vanilla scented votive candle without a jar.
Laminated paper bookmark with a prayer on one side and the other side was a how-to for taking a deep breath.
A tiny travel sized packet of tissues.
Lip balm.
There was also a smoothie food truck parked outside of the hospital on one of the days but my department is ridiculously short-staffed so not only was I unable to partake in said smoothie-day but also I didn’t get to take a lunch break.A t shirt that says "I ❤️ my job".I worked for Enterprise Rent A Car back when their main business was insurance replacement, in the early 90’s.
One year they gave us a print of a kid sitting in an old pedal car, daydreaming. We joked it was the company founder thinking about renting his car out to neighborhood kids.Instead of the usual holiday turkey we received a winter hat with the company logo. Practically every person threw it in their desks garbage can. Following year turkeys were back on the menu.Glasses case (though I don't have glasses).A silver pin with the company's logo on it. It was a gift for working 5 years there.
I have been there for 6 years....7 next month. I got it 2 weeks ago.My "hazard pay" during covid for being an essential worker was a one time gift card to a local grocery store. Forgot to add that it was one time $10 gift card.Well before Covid teachers would get laid off. My first year I got laid off, but I also had to attend a mandatory meeting with the superintendent - a “thanks” for staying.
I got a rigid plastic coffee mug and the handle broke off almost immediately.$25 gift certificate to Honey Baked Hams. A half ham was $45. A pie was $18.
The company had no alternate gift for Jewish, Muslim, or vegetarian employees. They literally told them they could take it a or get nothing.
The casino I worked for had also recently announced they had record revenue for that property also.Self-published biography of the company’s founder written by the official company’s staff historian.
Shrink wrapped tennis balls with the company’s logo on it, but they were so cheap they didn’t really bounce and when you opened the package it smelled like toxic waste.An apron. They gave us all aprons one year. Then they got mad if we didn’t wear the aprons at work. But the aprons were super thin linen, and the dyes and chemicals we worked with soaked right through them, so I wanted to use the apron at home & just keep using my normal coveralls at work. The CEO literally said we had to wear the aprons bc she wanted to take photos of us working to put on the blog, and she wanted us to look like artists and not mechanics. But we worked in a leather goods factory… i ended up wearing the stupid apron over my coveralls ?Not me but a coworker at last year's raffle got a Nintendo DS cleaning kit. For a normal Nintendo DS, not even a 3DS. They aren't being made anymore.I got a raise once. It was a whole nickel. For my 5 year anniversary, I was given a glass paperweight that weighs 5 lbs. I keep it by my bed in case anyone breaks .End of the year gift was a basketball with a note that said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Now let’s shoot for more commissions in 2015”. Everyone in the sales department got this including the manager.A prepaid Petrocan gas card - since I was the founder of the office Bicycle Users Group and didn't have a car.A pewter die-cast holiday ornament of the dead boss's bust. In a velvet lined box.Napkin rings.Probably doesn't qualify but I was offered 2 tacos from Taco Bell for my birthday once. Co-workers started laughing maniacally, but I was hungry so I said "Sure!" Hey it's still two free Tacos!Here’s an umbrella. Seriously and it broke three weeks later on a summer rain storm.Ooooh I have a great one. Ten year anniversary, got to pick out of a catalogue, mostly stuff under like 30-40 bucks tops. Slow cookers, blah blah. None of the stuff was appealing so I didn't spend much time and chose a kitchen thermometer because I'm always breaking them or melting them.
Nope, what I got was a kitchen thermometer probe. Just the probe and the cord and a cord carrying gadget.In 2020 I was granted a large retention bonus, enough cash that we were going to use it to buy a bigger house. On the day that we were all sent home to work remotely due to COVID, I was given a red plastic tumbler that said "Merry Christmas you filthy animal" on the side. In March. 3 weeks later (4 days before my bonus was to be paid), I was laid off alongside 1200 of my coworkers.
Now about once a year I enjoy a stiff drink out of my $270k plastic tumbler.iPads one year for exceeding company revenwue goals.
Sister company complained because they didn't get iPads because of their c**p year.
Next year we exceeded goals again, but we got towels with the company logo that didn't absorb water for s**t.
Sister company also got towels.The worst one was probably the ominous combination of a branded coffee mug and a stress ball. It's like they were saying, 'Here, have something to drink your sorrows away, and if that fails, squeeze this stress ball.' A dubious duo that left me questioning both my caffeine intake and stress levels. But hey, at least it made for a good conversation starter during awkward office parties!Gift certificate to Tim Hortons. I had a job for ten years that would start at 5am and my lunch would be at 9am. It was so remote that the only place to buy breakfast before 5am or anything resembling lunch at 9am was Tim Hortons and by year ten I was sick of it. So of course they give a gift certificate to there.Bottle of water, the mini hand sanitizer that you can connect with a bag, and a flavored powder thing for the water. Hahah. It was pitiful. Teacher appreciation by management.The myriad plaques, trophies, signed certificates lauding my best, greatest, most efficient, most improved whatever, all of which I left in my cubicle when I was made redundant after 20+ years of service with 30 minutes of notice. They weren't worth the soybeans they were made of.I was a minor working closing shift at a McDonald's on Xmas Eve. I had no transportation and had to walk over a mile home (American NE). They game me a f*****g frozen turkey. Like, first of all,what can you possibly do with a frozen bird on Xmas Eve?? Second, I was 17. What was a 17yo going to do with a frozen bird on Xmas Eve? I walked with if for a few blocks and abandoned it on some random person's row home front porch.We used to get 3 scratch tickets, each worth like 2 euros, for christmas every year.. about 150 employees, everyone got 3 tickets. Nobody ever won anything.
I say "used to" because in 2022, we sent the scratch tickets, unused, back to our boss. almost all of us.. we didn't get one in 2023.. we also didn't get a christmas party as we used to, instead the boss invited everyone to drive with him to the next big city to "party".. while the rest had to work on their day off to cover the shifts of people going to said party.GameStop gave me a 256mb flash drive for working there for 5 years.5 years was a silver Cross company engraved pen/pencil set. Got that set 2002, and it's never been used to this day. 10 years we got a nice gold company logo'd ring. Boldly displaying the company logo. Was a very nice ring. At 15 years they took the ring, and added a diamond chip. Same at 25 years. I was there 27 years before retiring. I proudly wore it for 17 years. Took off the ring, well because I didn't work there anymore. Let's head to the local gold jeweler and sell it. She weighed it, took into account the diamond chips, and had a sad look on her face as she said it was worth $358. Huh? This thing was solid gold, heavy, nice. Are you sure? $358? I'll pass. Next jeweler offered me $325. C**p. Went back to the original offer, and she wrote me a check for $358. Guess it was a cr*ppy gold, though it looked expensive. Don't know if it's the worst, but it was the worst feeling when I was told it's value.It was a manual radio that you had to crank for like 20 mins to get 5 mins of power. He said it was a survival radio for when the world loses all power or you go camping. He was always getting ready for the end of the world.
