3 Ways Employee Thank You Gifts Build Engagement

Via YogaJournal.com

Kevin Kruse is a New York Times best-selling author, entrepreneur, and speaker who has delivered keynote addresses around the world. He writes about leadership and engagement in his books “Employee Engagement 2.0: How to Motivate Your Team for High Performance,” “Employee Engagement for Everyone: 4 Ways to Happiness and Fulfillment at Work,” and “We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement.” He promotes the huge value of an employee thank you gift, as well as appreciation efforts and their impact on business success. Who do you think will go beyond the job description to make sure your customers are satisfied with their service: the employee who gets regular thank you notes and handshakes from the boss plus a nice birthday gift certificate or the employee who always comes in early and stays late when needed but never heard a thank you or received more than a dime raise?

Employee gifts that express appreciation and recognition build engagement in so many ways. Three ways they build engagement by making employees feel valued, making their lives easier, and providing fun and entertainment.

Making Employees Feel Valued

Employees feel valued when employers take the time to express genuine interest in them, listen to their thoughts, opinions, and ideas, and thank them specifically for something they’ve done that is noteworthy or made a difference. Even a simple thanks just for the little things can make employees feel like their contributions matter too. A tangible gift along with the recognition will be a reminder that their boss, supervisor, or company valued them and serves to foster good feelings during difficult work periods.

Making Employees’ Lives Easier

Gift cards are always nice, but gifts that make employees’ lives easier are true engagement-boosters, and remembered long after they are received. Six months of prepaid dry cleaning or grocery delivery, providing all the fixings for a holiday meal, not just the ham or turkey, and of course, extra time off during the busy holiday season give employees some breathing room. Your company may not be able to provide all the corporate amenities that Google or Facebook does, but there are many ways to make employees’ lives easier so they come to work refreshed and engaged for your business and customers.

Providing Fun and Entertainment

Gifts that provide fun and entertainment such as movie tickets, fine dining gift certificates, and tickets to seasonal attractions such as amusement parks help employees have some down time with friends and family. These can be offered as a selection among a range of options or a traditional annual gift such as opening season for sports or summer entertainment. Gifts for fun and entertainment have the double engagement factor of giving employees an outlet for entertaining activities and anticipation of something with high incentive value. They’ll look forward to next year’s free tickets to the local water park for their families or a special dinner to a fancy restaurant they wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

Kruse reminds employers and those in managerial roles that personalizing employee gifts builds loyalty and engagement faster that lasts longer than one-size-fits-all appreciation programs with engraved plaques or plain vanilla gift cards. Giving a father of four with a busy working wife and elderly parents an extra day off on Friday or Monday for a long weekend will mean more than a certificate of achievement. A Kindle or other electronic reader and a year’s worth of prepaid book downloads for an ardent book lover will be treasured more than movie tickets. Remember that the ultimate goal of an employee thank you gift is engagement. let that guide your employee gift giving choices.

Learn more about the art of workplace gifts, click the image below to download our Free Ultimate Guide to Employee Gift-Giving today!

About gThankYou, LLC

Turkey Gift Certificates and Turkey Or Ham Gift Certificates by gThankYou! are two of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any Brand (Turkey or Turkey Or Ham), at virtually any Grocery Store in the U.S.

gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime. gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and our free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo. And, nearly all orders ship same day.

gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin. Contact: Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-484-1658.
Follow the Company Blog – “Celebrating Work”.
Join the Conversation @gThankYou
Watch our gThankYou! YouTube Video – “Learn More About Us”.