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It’s almost Thanksgiving already, which means retailers are thinking about the Winter Holidays - and you should be, too. If you’re a business owner or otherwise responsible for your company’s gift-giving, you need to start planning and buying your gifts to customers, vendors, and employees now.
An Abundance of Business Gift Advice
We’re thankful to say that good advice abounds on the topic. We did some digging, and recommend:
- The Tricky Etiquette of Business Gifts from the New York Times, which includes comments from a variety of businesses.
- How to Select and Send Great Business Gifts from HR Management, which is a highly detailed, in-depth look at the subject that covers more than just the winter holidays and includes valuable cross-cultural tips.
Some key points from these sources: make sure your gift is personally, culturally, and professionally appropriate for the recipient, within the bounds of your corporate guidelines and theirs, and that it arrives well before the winter holidays to be sure someone is there to receive it.
Both articles recommend unique gifts that are tied in some way to the nature of your business and/or that show them you are familiar with what they do or care about. Such gifts can be a smart marketing tool. One of the best lines in the Times piece is: “You ought to know what your best clients had for breakfast, and your gift should communicate that” [well, not literally of course, but the gift should reflect that closeness in some way].
The HR Management piece offers lots of specifics to help guide you through the potential pitfalls of what is and is not appropriate, in multiple bullet-pointed lists; while the Times article provides a specific example of how one business chose to spend less per gift by giving the company’s own products, thus stretching the gift budget while also reaching many more recipients than they had the previous year.
Bonuses vs. Gifts
Once again, we recommend a pair of sources:
- Year-End Bonus As Much Incentive As Gift from the LA Times.
- The Gift, the Award, and the Strategy Behind It, again from HR Management.
Both articles advise clarity about the purpose behind generosity to employees: Do you want them to feel appreciated, do you want to motivate them, or both? Gifts serve the first purpose, while bonuses can serve the second — if they’re done right.
Tips include tying bonuses to specific company goals and employee performance, and sufficiently customizing the gift or the bonus to make sure it has a real impact on employees.
The HR Management article cites a study finding the majority of companies surveyed “use holiday gifts solely as a way to mark the season and to express appreciation of all employees at year-end,” while 46% give performance-based bonuses or other awards or incentives during the holiday season. This article says:
While the no-strings-attached employee gift and the performance-based award are both important forms of recognition, it is crucial to consider the timing and presentation of each. Clearly communicating the purpose and intent of the gift or award is key.
If you choose to combine the two into a single gesture, that gesture may lose significance to your employees and negate the impact of your recognition program.
The Shrinking Economy, Holiday Gifts, and Your Bottom Line
While business gifting and bonuses may be shrinking with the economy (and consumer gifting) this holiday season, businesses would be well advised to carefully weigh the impact gifts and bonuses will have not just on this year’s bottom line, but your future capacity for growth as well.
Our source articles all point to the benefits of both gifting and bonuses to many facets of business operations, from retention of employees and clients to maintaining the goodwill of vendors.
The current economic crunch may last awhile. It will not last forever. The memories and goodwill you build or continue building now with your company’s employees, vendors and clients, however, will certainly last long beyond this winter.
Anything you can do now to show your commitment to them will not only pay off now in terms of loyalty and goodwill - it may well also pay off later in employee retention, customer retention and the ability to work with your vendors when economic growth returns and means more competition.
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Comments
I really enjoyed reading this post. We have recently posted articles about giving kosher corporate gifts this year (to cover everybody on your list). Check out our latest post at http://www.koshergiftgiving.com/read/making-sure-your-corporate-holiday-gifts-are-kosher.
Undoubtedly, this year corporate gifting has got tricky and tight. We scaled down but have still decided to go ahead with an ipod. Ordered them online and got a handsome discount too, I really hope our employees love them.