Countless studies have shown that incentivizing employees with gifts or awards is a great way to boost engagement and pride in the workplace. Employees adore the feeling of being recognized as it makes them feel valued, especially when the award has genuine meaning behind it. As a manager or executive, it can be incredibly daunting to find the corporate gifts for your employees, especially because you’re not typically involved in their day-to-day office lives. Being seen as a superior creates a barrier, which in turn can make it difficult to find unique and personal avenues to create an incentive for the employee.
As an executive, you understand the value that is derived from a corporate gift, so you naturally want to give something that leaves workers excited instead of confused or defeated. So, what do you do? The easy way out is to give a generic corporate gift. What is a common corporate gift that doesn’t elicit excitement? Something that inherently doesn’t create a sense of pride within the employer. Consider a gift card to a local coffee shop or big box store. It has monetary value and can be used to purchase items that the employee would enjoy, but does it cultivate a sense of delight in one’s work? Not necessarily. The gift itself does not reflect the achievement at work. That’s the difference between a generic award and a personalized corporate gift.
A personalized corporate gift doesn’t have to be flashy or luxurious – though it always helps. A unique gift is something that directly speaks to the relationship between the worker, the organization, and the task that the employee succeeded in.
Recognition Award Ideas That Leave an Impact
When you’re deciding on a corporate gift, the most important thing you can consider is why the employee is receiving it. Is it a top sales award? Are they employee of the month? Or is this a personalized gift for Christmas that celebrates their efforts for the entire year? Each occasion demands a different gift, based on your company’s budget for awards. In the case of seasonal awards, it can be helpful to find festive corporate gifts like engraved crystal ornaments but in most situations, the gift should stand on its own. The employee should be able to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in their award any time of the year while also understanding why they received that particular gift.
Another time to remember: the timelessness of an award. A generic award would be something they discard and consider a bonus, not a gift with sentimental value. Flowers, gift cards, tickets to local events, and fruit gift baskets don’t stand the test of time and are only provide momentary feelings of recognition. A personalized corporate gift should be able to stand on its own on a desk and speak for itself, years after the employee has received it. “I deserved that,” is what they should say when they point to it.
Unique Corporate Gifts Employees Will Love
Once the occasion and nature of the gift is handled, it’s time to find the right gift for your worker. The safest and most popular choices are personalized trophies and awards. Engraved plaques are a fantastic option, especially because the gifts sole focus is to point out accomplishments. As a society we understand the value behind plaques, trophies, and awards because they’re given so rarely. Being able to show one off is rare, especially in the corporate environment, which is why they’re the best choice. But the choice doesn’t stop there. You also have to consider the environment of the employee. If the employee has their own cubicle with no wall, it makes sense to give an engraved plaque that can gracefully shine on their desk. Should the worker have their own office, consider a timeless Rosewood plaque that can be displayed on their wall. The benefit of engraved trophies and plaques is that employers get the opportunity to write why exactly the individual has received the award. Acrylic trophies, for example, have enough space to write the employee’s name, their distinction, and your company’s logo. When a colleague asks them why they were gifted the award they can point to the engraving.
If you’re looking for more unique corporate gifts, you can never go wrong with desk accessories. Gifts with practical use are great choices as they allow workers to do a better job, or at least have more excitement when they’re using their own engraved tools. For a top sales award, consider an engraved business card holder for desk. While the card holder will only sport their name, they’ll feel pride when clients take one of their cards, remembering that they have the desk accessory because of their hard work and dedication to the company.
While it can be difficult to find personalized awards that speak to an employee, it’s a task worth undertaking. A quality gift will leave the employee happy, engaged, and eager to do more work so they can receive another batch of incentives.
