With Christmas just around the corner husbands, wives, partners, children and siblings everywhere are beginning to near the panic-stricken craze of last minute present shopping.
Unless you’re one of the organized few who made their purchases weeks ago, it’s time to face the Christmas crowds and battle over the perfect gifts for your loved ones this year.
If that’s not daunting enough, what about being a boss. A boss with an office full of employees anticipating a gesture of thanks towards the end of a long, hard year of work…
Suddenly the family don’t seem so bad. However, if you happen to be that employer, no worries – we’ve got you sorted with some great ideas for employee Christmas gifts.
Employee Christmas gifts (that won’t break the bank)
Now, for anyone heading a Fortune 500 company then this isn’t the article for you. Do the right thing and get your PA to blow the budget on a free bar and awesome designer goodie bags.
For the rest of you smaller companies, we’ve put together a wish list of great employee Christmas gifts – it’s a mix of stuff we’ve read, stuff we’ve received and stuff we’d love to get.
None of these presents are going to break the bank – just earn you a lot of brownie points from your staff. So, without further ado here’s our list of great ideas for employee Christmas gifts:
No.1 – A bottle of Wine (champagne/scotch/port…)
Ok, in any other work situation booze is clearly a no-go, but a good bottle of something for the festive period is A. totally appropriate, B. totally going to get drunk. It’s simple, it doesn’t have to blow the budget and attaching a personalized note to each bottle will go down a treat with pretty much everyone.
No.2 – Dinner
Basically anything that can be consumed is going to be a winner, but booking out a nice restaurant and treating your employees to a festive dinner before the xmas hols is an even better way to say thanks. Getting everyone together is great for team bonding, plus this way you can be part of the present too.
No.3 – Vouchers
Treat your employees to something they wouldn’t normally go out and buy themselves. Like, for example, an Apple voucher or a massage in a local wellness centre. If that’s out of your budget then it might be worth checking out if the local organic grocery store does coupons, it’s simple but something that everyone will appreciate – who’s going to say no to buying organic for Christmas dinner?
No. 4 – Flowers
Okayyy, admittedly this might not be ideal for everyone and I’m not going to stereotype but I know that given the choice, my male counterparts would prefer something little more macho than a bunch of roses. However, I’m just putting it out there that FLOWERS ARE GREAT employee Christmas gifts. Plus, how beautiful will the office look with a bouquet on each desk?
No. 5 – Hard Cash.
Lets face it, it’s never going to go out of fashion.
No.6 – Christmas Stockings
If you have a bit of time on your hands this is a great way to rustle up some unique employee Christmas gifts, all you need to do is to purchase some classic Christmas stockings, and head to the department store for fillers; Chocolates, fountain pens, mini cosmetics, tech gadgets… Whatever you fancy, the best bit about this one is that you can totally adapt it depending on your team personalities.
No.7 – Cosmetics
Personally I’ve always seen cosmetics as a bit of a cop-out at Christmas, especially when it’s a standard gift assortment straight off the shelf of the local drugstore. However, buying one or two high quality products from say, Kiehls or Aveda, and tying a nice big bow around them can be a simple and really effective gift for both your male and female staff members.
No.8 – Personalized Mugs
It’s tacky as hell, but what team wouldn’t love a set of personalized mugs?? Go one step further and stick staff photographs on them. It’s cheap, funny, and a great way to leave for your Christmas hols with a smile.
No.9 – Books
Books are a great way to show that you care about your employees and their personal interests. Whether it’s cooking, sport, fishing or fashion there’s a book for everyone, just be sure you get it right i.e. even if your secretary has been talking about going on a diet for months, this isn’t an opportunity to buy him/her an Atkins book.
No.10 – Plants
Plants make awesome employee christmas gifts, especially the leafy green varieties that flourish in office environments. Asides from being pretty great all-round gift, there are a lot of plants that actively improve the quality of the air around you so it’ll be great for your working environment too.
So there you have it, our top 10 budget ideas for employee gifts – I hope it helps to end your year on a high note! Having said that, we all know the spirit of Christmas isn’t all about the presents, and at the end of the day a simple Thank You can be as effective as any present – just don’t forget to write it in a Christmas card 😉
Image reference – Flickr Ritu Vincent
