Viewpoints

Make sure your Christmas gift is memorable for the right reasons

templateImage1

By Colin Hodgson, Edenred.

What’s the worst Christmas present you have ever had? An ill-fitting festive sweater – the sort favoured by Darcy at the Christmas party scene in Bridget Jones? The zany flavoured box of chocolates brought back ‘specially for you’ from a relative’s holiday? Or even novelty underwear or a ‘comedy’ tie?

When it comes to gifts, of course, it is the thought that counts. But when a present is so wide of the mark in terms of how appropriate it is for the recipient, they tend to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. And you can’t help but think long and hard about the level of thought (or lack of it) that the person giving has gone through and the extent to which that reflects the esteem they hold you in. It’s human nature.

Fortunately in the workplace, Homer Simpson ties and oddly shaped chocolates tend to be confined to the annual Secret Santa gift exchange. Despite this, many employers still manage to give rewards which fail to have the right positive impact on employees at Christmas.

Part of the problem is that when it comes to planning Christmas rewards, it is frequently driven more by instinct and tradition than the preferences of employees. The result is often a box of chocs or bottle of wine landing on an employee’s desk normally just after they have shut their computer down for the Christmas break with an impact which is just as underwhelming as that special jumper from your aunt.

As the results from a survey by Argos showed recently, getting Christmas reward right is actually quite simple. What employees want more than anything is choice, with around 39.5% of employees saying they would prefer retail vouchers over an extra day off.

Giving choice means giving consistency, a gift which can be personalised by employees and one which is genuinely valued. It’s also the gift which is most likely to be memorable for the right reasons.
So if you want to make the right mark with Christmas rewards forget the wine and chocolates and arm yourself with this statistic as you go about your end-of-year planning.

Latest viewpoints

A gift for engagement

Gail Cohen, Director General of the UK Gift Card and Voucher Association (UKGCVA), says this is an exciting time for an industry that is poised for growth

Taking the initiative

Jamie MacKenzie, Marketing Director at Sodexo Benefits and Reward Services, tells us about the company’s latest projects