Unique Employee Appreciation Gifts

Employee gifting is an integral component in many organizations’ work culture strategies. Employee appreciation is an important part of creating a positive environment for team members. Recognizing employees for their roles in creating a successful company and offering them tokens of appreciation and creating authentic connections can be an important part of weaving a work culture that feels positive for employees and employers. As gifting can play a significant part in that overall effort, it’s important to find ways to engage in gifting efforts that are effective.

This can be a challenge for people ops and HR teams who must engage in effective gifting efforts to create the sort of meaningful impact that fosters genuine connections which lead to improved morale and loyalty. Unique employee appreciation gifts can be far more effective than generic alternatives, but what makes a gift impactful? Aside from the gift itself, timing and authentic outreach can play important roles in the way gifts are received.

The gift itself can be important; people like to receive gifts that feel like they were picked out with the recipient in mind. However, it’s also important to consider the timing of a gift and how it’s presented. When it comes to employee appreciation gifts, bulk gifting can work, but it’s helpful to attach personal sentiments to gifts as well, and to consider bulk gifts that leverage some level of universality to ensure they’ll be widely appreciated. Items such as food may be widely appreciated, for instance.

Another scenario where gifting can quickly become a crucial part of employee appreciation strategies is remote work. Remote employee appreciation gifts are an excellent way to engage with remote workers and bring remote teams together. There are a number of approaches that can be taken to remote gifting, including virtual gifts for coworkers and employees, and sending self-care items or office essentials designed to make their at-home position more comfortable. 

Employee Gift Ideas

Employee gifting can have a significant impact in terms of fostering a positive work culture. However, it’s important that gifting efforts send the right message and that the gesture feels authentic to recipients. Finding unique gifts for employees is a strong way to go, but even with smaller gifts, being able to combine them with a meaningful message can come across as a genuine effort and have a positive impact. While unique gifts under $5 are very difficult to find, as are even employee appreciation gifts under $10, when combined with the right message that comes across as genuine outreach, even inexpensive gifts can be very well-received.

These employee gift ideas are inexpensive, yet when tied to a personal message can leverage genuine connection to create memorable experiences and positively impact recipients:

• A tin of Bluebird Morning Tea, combined with a thoughtful message: This caffeine-free herbal blend tea is a tasty and healthy combination of flavors that’s sure to bring your recipient some warm feelings.

• A heartfelt thanks, combined with the unique taste of Natural Bee Pollen: You read that right—bee pollen makes an excellent, tasty, and unique dietary supplement. Great when mixed in with smoothies, cereal, and more, this memorable yet inexpensive gift offers recipients a nutritious natural taste of the bee life. 

Personalized Employee Appreciation Gifts

Personalized gifts have the power to make a gifting experience that much more memorable. The intention behind a gift is often as important as the gift itself, and finding ways to personalize staff appreciation gifts can make that intention so much more clear to recipients. Personalized employee appreciation gifts can offer recipients a delightful experience combined with the knowledge that a gift was sent with them in mind, specifically.

Personalized gifts are often much more impactful than generic gifts. They can be perceived as significantly more thoughtful, which is important when the message you’re sending is that employees are appreciated for their loyalty and contributions. Personalized gifts don’t always need to be costly, either. It’s possible to find meaningful employee appreciation gifts under $20, and thank you gifts under $10. When combined with the right message, these can carry the impact you’re looking for.

Memorable, yet inexpensive, and personalized gifts such as a jar of Florida Orange Blossom Honey, combined with a personal message sent to a tea or honey lover, a whiskey glass etched with a map of a recipient’s home town, or even a chocolate bar that says “thanks,” combined with a card with personal message, all have the ability to carry a strong message of appreciation and leave a lasting impression on your recipient.

Clever Employee Appreciation Gifts

Aside from finding no-cost employee appreciation ideas, such as implementing employee of the month programs, and personally thanking team members for their efforts, other employee appreciation efforts, such as sending clever employee appreciation gifts can carry high impact at low cost. How memorable a gift is can have a significant effect on how impactful it is. Particularly clever employee appreciation gifts can be more memorable.

There are a few ways to approach the concept. Gifts can leverage novelty, personalization, usefulness, and surprise. Receiving a gift that’s genuinely surprising can be a hard to forget moment. Even bulk staff appreciation gifts, when unexpected, can carry a significant positive impact.  Many employees don’t expect gifts from their employers except for very large occasions, so there are many opportunities for employers to break expectations and maximize impact.

Even inexpensive staff appreciation gifts and employee appreciation gifts under $15, when offered at the right opportunity can have a huge impact on recipients.

Sending gifts for personal milestones in life can be surprising and can be perceived as immensely thoughtful. Consider milestones in employees’ personal lives, such as anniversaries, having children, buying a new home, and even getting a new pet. Finding ways to tie gifts to these events can create a lasting memory. 

Bulk Employee Appreciation Gifts

Bulk employee appreciation gifts are an optimal choice when gifting to a large group of people within your organization, such as a specific team or office. When it comes to bulk employee appreciation gifts, Amazon and other large retailers are often contenders, though smaller businesses and local gifting companies often have bulk gift options available as well, and they can be a particularly charming choice. Bulk gifts are often a way to provide inexpensive gifts for remote workers, and sending entire remote teams goods designed to make their home office more comfortable such as office essentials or self-care items is an effective way to send a message of appreciation to remote workers.

When sending bulk gifts, it’s important to consider the gifts themselves. Whether you’re opting for locally crafted goods, or sending out gift cards from Amazon, employee appreciation gifts can be made more personal through careful consideration. If you’ll be sending the same gift to an entire team, consider gifts that are likely to be universally appreciated. Food items are a good place to start; team members may be far less likely to object to receiving a Blue Ribbon Pie, Andes Mint Cookies from Grove Cookie Company, or a bag of salted caramel popcorn, than to receiving ill-fitted t-shirts or golfing equipment. 

Small Appreciation Gifts For Employees

While employees may expect gifts around the year-end and holiday season, employers have a huge opportunity to break expectations with small appreciation gifts for employees at other times as well. Cheap bulk thank you gifts sent to a team after a busy month of hard work, for instance, can leverage surprise to create impact. Similarly a small gift after a team member has made a tough sale, or returned from PTO can have a significant impact, solidifying to them that they’re an important part of the team.

Sometimes, gifts have the power to create  communal experience at the office—such as getting food that’s meant to be shared as staff appreciation gifts. Bulk options might be ideal if you’re looking to reward an entire team for their efforts. Even very cheap bulk employee appreciation gifts, especially sent at the right time, can foster a positive work environment. These staff appreciation gifts under $10 can create memorable experiences:

• You Are Appreciated Chocolate Bar: The name says it all. This sea salt caramel dark chocolate from Sweeter Cards certainly sends a sweet message, with friendly packaging that affirms your appreciation for your recipient.

• Peppermint Essential Oil Roller: Offer the calming scent of peppermint in a roller, diluted for comfort in coconut oil, that’s perfect for stressful days and nausea.

• Fidget Cube: With six sides of tactile stimuli, this is the perfect gift for chronic fidgeters and anyone who occasionally has a stressful day. 

Holiday Gifts For Employees

The holiday season is a time of gifting for many. Holiday gifts for employees are an important part of many organizations’ gifting strategies. Once-a-year employee gifts are an opportunity to send a clear message of appreciation to team members, and the holiday season is the perfect time of year to find ways to send that message as clearly as possible.

Whether you opt for DIY employee appreciation gifts, unique employee appreciation gifts from small business gifting companies, or bulk Christmas gifts for employees, it’s a time to show employees that they’re valued members of a team. Office holiday parties are an excellent time to find the best employee appreciation gifts under $10, such as gourmet caramel popcorn, Sending Hugs Chocolate bars, or even Bourbon Barrel-Aged Orange Blossom Honey—truly, a unique flavor.

However you go about your gifting strategy, whether you opt for the big year-end gifts, more frequent inexpensive employee appreciation gifts, anything in between, or any combination, Postal can make your gifting strategy simpler without sacrificing personal touch or the quality of gifts.

With easy-to-use automation, a central platform, and a wide-ranging marketplace of vendors and gift options for nearly any occasion you can think of, Postal’s Offline Marketing Automation Platform makes it easy to send thoughtful, personal, and unique gifts, at the scale you need. Be sure to reach out today and request a demo to see how with Postal, you can level up your gifting strategy.