The 10 worst Company gifts EVER! What your staff really think!



How do you rate your company at Christmas?

No matter where we are in our careers, what roles we've held, we've all been employees at least once, probably more.  Which means we've probably received a bad Christmas staff gift, and also for some of us, been responsible for giving them.

So what makes a bad staff gift? Sadly it's not hard to get it wrong - and yet so easy to get it right! Here are out top 10 staff gift mistakes to avoid! And as Sir Richard Branson says 'If you look after your staff, they'll look after your customers!'

1. Giving the same thing as last year.  I once worked for a company that gave everyone a massive Christmas cake every single year.  This thing was like a 4 kg cake.  I once surveyed my colleagues.  8 of the 19 employees didn't like fruit cake.  2 didn't like marzipan.  11 were single.  All up, 14 of us were left with the world's biggest fruit cake to palm off.  And yet, no one said anything to the powers that be, because, well, you don't want to be rude to the boss right? Or seem ungrateful, but still, for the amount of money they were spending, they may as well be giving something people like.
2. Giving the same thing to everyone.  You might look at your employees as cogs in a machine, keeping everything ticking.  But they're more like car parts.  All completely different, working together to move your company forward.  We're not saying you need to act as a personal shopper for everyone, but engaging them in the gift by offering a selection of choices will have you talked about in 'glowing best boss' terms!
3. Giving generic food items. Everyone loves food don't get us wrong, and it's the source of the earth, but before you lob out expensive legs of ham to everyone, pause for thought. Vegetarians? Vegans? And then of course there's the gourmet basket filled with curried sheep's brains, and pickled Wazoo's.  Believe us when we say THESE.WILL.NEVER.GET.EATEN and yet, have cost the earth. If you really want to be practical & helpful in the food area, consider the Supermarket voucher, it may seem a bit impersonal but really,  your employee will be jumping on the inside! 
4. Giving company branded items.  Where do we even start? 1. Your employees know the company, the advertising is wasted on them.  2. Your employees are not there to provide free advertising by flashing your logo-d 'gift'. This just smacks of 'stingy'  - left, right and centre! Just don't!
5. Making the card impersonal.  At the very least, cards should be hand written and addressed it to each individual personally.  'Merry Christmas, Sincerely Big Boss Man You've Never Met' is pretty much; 'Minion here is the gift I am expected to give you once a year'.  Even better, thank them for something they, and only they, have brought to the team this year.  Ok we get that if you head up a multi national company with 1000's of people then your appetite for writing them all will probably be ZERO,  but then give the cards to your heads of department leaders and get THEM to write them for their team! 
6. Taking them out to lunch/dinner.  This one is fraught with danger for both parties and is best avoided. With the best of intentions, you'll end up being found guilty on a number of charges! 1. Venue too posh, staff feel uncomfortable. 2. Venue not posh enough (Scrooge!) 3. Venue too far away (can't drink or $100 to taxi home) 4. Too controlled.. i.e take us out don't let us drink uncontrollably from the top shelf 5. Christ I have to sit next to my boss! ....we could go on, but you get the picture by now..(it's real!) 
7. Giving money.  The relationship between employer and employee is essentially work in exchange for money.  Money serves no other purpose than a payment for work.  Keep bonuses and gifts separate.  
8. Ignoring casuals or part timers.  They're a valued part of the team when you need them, right?  Christmas gifts are a token of appreciation, appreciate everyone's contributions, it doesn't have to be much.
9. Making a charitable donation.  Giving to charity is a great thing.  It really is.  Donating on behalf of someone else, for their Christmas present?  Yeah, it's not so great for the employee.  Plus, there's always the suspicion that nothing has been donated...
10. Giving nothing at all.  What are we, a character in a Dicken's novel?  Come on Scrooge.  Write it into the years budget and suck it up McDuck, a little bit of thought goes a long way!

To make your staff feel appreciated you don't have to spend a lot, and often as long as some thought has actually BEEN put into it it is the 'thought that counts'.  So if you want to get it right for at least the ladies in your company this year check out these great ideas below! You're guaranteed to get a 'WOW' when it's opened and the title of the "best boss EVER'!