Are you a bad boss? 5 ways employers go wrong with gifting

What’s worse than not getting a gift from your boss? Getting a rubbish gift! Learn about 5 things to avoid when it comes to employee gifting.

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Most of us have had the experience of working for a company that didn’t value us enough - where the salary was low, the hours were long and motivation was thin on the ground. And that’s why we don’t work there now, right?!

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In today’s competitive job market, these types of working conditions just won’t cut it. While employees might have put up with them in the past, these days they’ll vote with their feet. With companies promoting employee benefits all over social media to aid recruitment, people have much higher expectations of what a job should offer them. And so they should!

Making your people feel valued makes great business sense for employers - happy workers work harder and stick around longer. We all know how expensive and time consuming recruitment is, so investing in anything that supports retention is a no-brainer. 

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Giving gifts and perks is a wonderful way to keep employees engaged and motivated - it’s the very reason Huggg exists - but organisations don’t always get it right. From the timing and types of gifts, through to the motivation behind them, let’s look at 5 ways employers can go wrong with gifting…

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1. Giving staff gifts to compensate for a low salary

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This is a major no-no, and it’s something to be especially aware of at this time of record inflation. The cost of living has gone up, while salaries haven’t, meaning employees’ wages are being stretched further. It means that even well-intentioned gifts could come off as a tad insulting. After all, if your employee is struggling to pay their mortgage and you respond by giving them a £5 shopping voucher, it won’t go very far towards easing the pressure they’re under. 

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It’s important to keep an open dialogue with staff about salaries and any planned pay rises, and to keep abreast of how your people are coping financially. If the company feels people might be underpaid yet is unable to offer salary increases, it’s vital to be transparent about this and work extra hard to keep morale high. Part of this might include small gifts for employees like wine or chocolate, as long as it's acknowledged as being a token of appreciation for their sacrifice and not in lieu of getting paid.

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2. Positioning employee gifts as an alternative to benefits

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Sometimes employers can be guilty of using gifts as a smokescreen to cover up for a lack of benefits. Buying everyone birthday and Christmas presents can be a cheap way to distract from not having a pension plan in place, or having a stingy holiday allowance. But it’s a tactic that will only work for so long… sooner or later employees are going to wake up and smell the free coffee you gave them. 

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Gifting is not an alternative to decent benefits and will not be enough to stop your employees jumping ship to your competitor who’s offering private health care, stock options and flexible working (on top of gifts!).  

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3. Thinking gifting alone will make staff happy 

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At Huggg, we’re very clear that gifts alone will not attract talent, retain staff or make people happy. As we’ve already discussed, a competitive salary and good benefits are at the core of any employee recognition programme. But there are other factors to consider too. 

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What’s the culture of your workplace like? Do people feel secure in their jobs or are they always worried about the prospect of being fired? If employees face difficulties in their role, is there a good network in place to support them? Is company leadership clear and consistent or erratic and unpredictable? If any of these things are out of order in your organisation it’s likely that gifting will fall flat. 

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4. Not being proactive with employee gifting

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“We have a great employee recognition programme,” you might say. “Staff can log on to a portal and choose perks whenever they like.” Ok, that’s good, but isn’t it missing something? What about the element of ‘surprise and delight?’ - that’s the wonderful concept of giving people something when they weren’t expecting it. 

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So many companies are passive with their perks, just letting them simmer away in the background, while others are reactive, only giving gifts when the occasion demands it. Truly great gifting is unexpected and comes at just the right time; think giving a good luck coffee to someone ahead of a big presentation, or sending a remote employee their favourite tipple on the day of a team party they’re unable to attend. Little things like this can really resonate with recipients. 

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5. Giving inappropriate staff gifts

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No, we’re not talking about something from Ann Summers (although that would certainly be inappropriate), we mean giving gifts that don’t take into account the recipient’s religion, culture or lifestyle. Here are a few example of tone deaf gifts employers might give to their staff:
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• Pork-based food to Islamic or Jewish employees
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• Alcohol to tee-total staff
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• Milk chocolates to vegan team members
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• Beauty gift tailored to white skin and hair to BAME employees
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Then there are gifts that are useless - like a gardening set for someone who lives in an apartment - that only serve to show you don’t know your employees. Or, even worse, gifts that are totally out of step with the situation. One overworked nurse shared how she had received a bag containing seven objects and a note that read:

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"A penny - so you'll never be broke. A rubber band - to stretch beyond your limit. Snickers - because laughter is the best medicine. String - to hold things together when everything falls apart. Confetti - when you feel like throwing something. Hugs & kisses - to remind you that you're loved. Tea - life is like a cup of tea, it's all in how you make it."

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Suffice to say, it didn’t go down well. 

If you sending gifts to team members whose tastes and preferences you aren't too sure of, our gifts with choice let you send a range of thoughtful options that your recipients can choose from - ensuring they'll always receive something they love.