As the Christmas season approaches, everyone’s starting to get into the festive spirit, buying gifts, putting up decorations, and making plans for the big day. The holiday season can offer fantastic opportunities for managers and HR professionals to make their staff feel valued, increase good feeling, and cement strong team relationships.
Digital print company instantprint recently surveyed 1,500 workers to find out what companies can be doing to make their employees happy this festive period. For many businesses, Christmas and the weeks leading up to it are some of the busiest days of the year. The extra stress this can cause staff makes Christmas the perfect time to say thank you and show your workers that their commitment is appreciated.
What Employees Want During the Festive Period
instantprint’s research has shown that 94% of employees want some form of Christmas gift from their employers this year to make them feel happy, appreciated, and valued. These gifts do not have to be extravagant or expensive but just a little something to show that they are an important part of your business.
Responding to this research can yield significant results for employers. Establishing a workforce of people who feel cared for and valued will reduce your staff turnover. This means a more experienced and knowledgeable staff who have long-term loyalty to your brand and feel they have a stake in its success.
If you are looking to reward your staff this holiday season, the most in-demand gifts are:
- Gift cards: Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed said that a gift card would be their preferred gift from an employer. Gift vouchers are easy, practical gifts to source and allow each employee to get something he or she really wants or needs.
- Early finishes: Time off to be with loved ones is especially important to employees in the festive period; 28.9% would like to have one or more early finishes to spend a little more time at home this year. Create an early finish calendar, and allow staff to leave a few hours early one day in the lead-up to Christmas.
- Open bar at Christmas functions: Christmas functions are a great opportunity for staff to bond and spend time with each other outside the office. Why not create an extra bit of fun by laying on an open bar? One in five workers said this was his or her ideal gift from an This doesn’t have to be for the whole night, but even one or two drinks will kick your night off in the right way.
- Physical gifts: One in ten employees says he or she would like a physical item as a gift from employers. This can serve a dual purpose, as you could give staff items with your company’s branding on them, like a travel mug. Used in this way, physical gifts can double up as a method of raising brand awareness.
- Charitable donations: Charitable donations are a great way to really rack up the feel-good factor during the holiday season. Seven percent of workers would like their employers to make a donation to charity on their behalf this Christmas.
Although some of these popular gifts may seem costly or time-consuming to implement, the payback from giving your staff a little something to show your appreciation can really pay off in the long term. Try to introduce one or a combination of the Christmas gift options above for your workforce this year.
Hannah Rogers is a Content Specialist, with a strong focus on HR. She writes regularly about workforce motivation, company cultures and a range of other topics.