Employee Thank You Gifts

Amid the pandemic, many organizations made a large shift toward remote and hybrid work formats. Even as lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions have lifted and waned, many organizations found themselves adopting permanent remote and hybrid formats for various positions. Remote work has allowed employers to seek candidates from a larger pool, and allowed workers increased flexibility in their schedules, as well as affording them a larger pool of potential employers. As many benefits as there are to remote work, it’s also presented HR and people ops teams some unique challenges.

Finding ways to engage a remote workforce can be challenging, and it can be important for HR and people ops teams to find ways to create genuine connections with workers who are only meeting virtually, or in person less frequently. Virtual employee appreciation ideas include hosting virtual events focused on appreciation and morale, individual outreach designed to understand and meet the needs of individual team members, and gifting efforts designed to bring virtual teams together.

An effective way organizations have been able to create authentic connections with employees is through employee thank you gifts, and with other small appreciation gifts for employees. Employee gifting enables HR and people ops teams a way to create tangible connections with workers, even when much of their interaction is virtual. Employee gifting affords HR teams the opportunity to reward high performing employees, as well as spark engagement with remote teams, and foster a positive work culture, even remotely.

Personalized employee appreciation gifts, such as a gift box designed for at-home working picked out with recipient interest in mind, or customized personalized items such as a wine glass, etched with your recipient’s home town on it, can send an unmistakable message that employees are valued for their individual contributions to the team. Staff appreciation gifts can be unique or sent in bulk, depending on the occasion. Bulk thank you gifts are an excellent way to send a positive message to entire teams who have been dedicated. While with staff appreciation gifts, bulk are excellent for entire teams, when looking to reward individual employees for their contributions, sometimes unique employee appreciation gifts are the way to go.

Meaningful Gifts For Employees

It’s important that employee appreciation gifts are perceived as meaningful. Meaningful gifts for employees are often taken as an indication that employees are genuinely appreciated for their contributions and loyalty, and can often outperform gifts that are perceived to be generic or of low value.

Cheap thank you gifts can send the wrong message—if a gift is perceived as the value that a sender places on a recipient, low value gifts can send the wrong message. You can think of it much the same way you might about clients. You wouldn’t want to get extremely inexpensive thank you gifts for clients, because it would send the wrong message about your organization’s dedication to their experience. The same goes for employee gifting.

Similarly, the same concept can easily be applied with getting cheap thank you gifts for friends and family. If you’re trying to send a message that a recipient is really important to you, the gift can undermine that message if it comes across as impersonal or overly cheap.

While employee gifts don’t need to be particularly expensive, it is important that they come across as genuine, authentic and meaningful, however you go about it. Clever employee appreciation gifts that speak to a recipient’s interests, such as a You Plant We Plant Tree Pouch, for the environmentally conscious, or a Parlor Palm in a gorgeous ceramic pot for a plant lover, or a set of Caramel Hazelnut Chocolate Golf Balls for a golf lover can be meaningful and create authentic connections without excessive costs.

Affordable Employee Appreciation Gifts

Affordable employee appreciation gifts can certainly resonate well with recipients. As with any gifting efforts, it’s important that a gift comes across as thoughtful and meaningful. Timing and personalization can go a long way toward creating delighting experiences that aren’t exceedingly costly. Even thank you gifts under $10, when well-timed, relevant to recipient interests, and thoughtful, can make a positive impact on recipients. For example, a unique gift such as a jar of Hot Honey, infused with habanero pepper might be the perfect inexpensive thank you gift for employees who love spicy foods or novel condiments.

Similarly, inexpensive thank you gifts for large groups can make a positive impact if they’re well thought out, and perceived as thoughtful. For employee appreciation gifts, bulk gifts can be effective in cases where you’re rewarding or celebrating an entire group of individuals. Popular employee appreciation gifts, such as Amazon gift cards, or food and drink items, such as cookies, ice cream, or savory snacks can be widely appreciated and have a powerful impact. 

Employee Appreciation Gifts Under $20

Even employee appreciation gifts under $20 can perform well. Thoughtful, yet inexpensive employee appreciation gifts, such as a delightful blend of herbal tea for a known tea drinker, edible cookie dough for a sweets-enthusiast, mango margarita mix for your resident mixing master, or even a jar of sparkling, (literally,) maple syrup for that recipient who enjoys the glittery things in life, can delight and make memorable experiences. While personalized gifts under $5 are near impossible to find, these types of inexpensive yet memorable gifts can make a big impact at a small price point.

Employee appreciation gift bags, and bulk staff appreciation gifts may be less personalized on an individual level, but can still spark delight and create meaningful lasting memories. Especially when combined with positive and meaningful messaging, bulk staff gifts can be received as an authentic gesture of appreciation, and lead to positive impacts among teams and team members. Timing is important with employee gifting, and sending bulk gifts at the right time, such as during a crucial crunch time for a department, or at the end of a big effort to get a project completed can send a powerful message that the efforts of a combined group are seen, appreciated, and acknowledged. 

Remote Employee Appreciation Gifts

With many organizations adopting remote work positions for the long-term, even as Covid concerns wane, and more organizations forming that are entirely remote in operations, remote employee appreciation gifts have become increasingly relevant, and a useful way through which HR teams and people ops teams have been able to create and maintain a positive work culture within their organizations—as well as bring remote teams together. While employee gift ideas for office staff, such as giving out ice cream to everyone in a physical office, work excellent for in-person teams, bulk employee appreciation gifts for remote teams can look a little different, and might focus on creating ways to make at-home work more comfortable or prioritize self-care.

Staff appreciation gifts during Covid, and after Covid in organizations that operate remotely regardless can take various approaches. One approach is sending unique gifts for employees designed to make their at-home work experience more comfortable or productive—office essentials, self care gift boxes and baskets, and food or drink. Another approach is to offer employees virtual experiences and e-gifts—premium streaming subscriptions, tickets to virtual events, and other online-redeemable gifts. While DIY employee appreciation gifts can add an important personal touch and potentially save money, they can also be more difficult to manage manually, especially at scale for remote employees.  

Thank You Gift For Employee Leaving 

As with many great relationships, even the best professional relationships must end sometimes. It can be tough to lose a great employee, but it’s important to end things on a positive note. Whether you anticipate a valued team member coming back in the near future or not, the importance of maintaining positive relationships, even as team members leave, can hardly be overstated. That's why a thoughtful thank you gift for an employee leaving can be so important—a gesture of good faith that’s likely to be fondly remembered.

Personalized farewell gifts can be particularly memorable, and leave a lasting positive impression. One way to accomplish this is with DIY goodbye gifts to coworkers, though a truly impactful gift can be a challenge to DIY. Another way to create memorable and personalized farewell gifts for colleagues, coworkers or employees is through services such as Postal's Paper Plane Agency. With Paper Plane Agency, farewell gifts can be easily customized and made to be unique—just as unique as the individual you’re saying farewell to. Ending a working relationship with a thoughtful farewell gift is a powerful way to say thanks, and say hello to a future of positive possibilities. 

Employee Thank You Gifts Bulk

Bulk employee thank you gifts are an excellent way to show gratitude and appreciation to entire teams, especially after completing some truly excellent work. Whether your marketing team successfully implemented a new campaign, your sales team made it through a crucial push, or operations teams have found innovative new ways to create a smoother working environment for everybody involved, employee thank you gifts are a powerful way to show that their efforts are highly appreciated.

For sending an entire team employee thank you gifts, bulk gifts are sometimes the way to go, while in cases where an individual employee has gone above and beyond and shown dedication to a project or initiative, unique employee appreciation gifts might be more appropriate. In either instance, however, employee appreciation gifts can show that you truly appreciate the efforts of those involved. Even relatively cheap bulk thank you gifts, when sent at the right time can make a huge impact and show teams that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed.

While cheap bulk employee appreciation gifts can be effective, it’s still important to ensure that they’re received as meaningful and authentic gestures of thanks and appreciation. Some personal messaging along with gifts can go a long way toward creating that impression, and making the right impact. 

However you go about your employee gifting strategy, from thank you and appreciation gifts to farewell gifts, Postal can help you transform your employee gifting efforts for the better. With robust automation features, services such as Postal's Paper Plane Agency, a centralized platform, and a huge marketplace where you’ll be able to find the right gift for any occasion, Postal makes it easy to scale your gifting efforts, keep gifting personal, and change the way you go about gifting for good. Be sure to reach out for a demo and see how Postal’s Offline Marketing Engagement platform can help take your employee gifting approach to the next level.