What do you want for a holiday gift from your employer?

[countthestars]

I think I post this annually but you guys always have great ideas. What have you gotten from your employer or what do you wish your employer would give you for the holidays? We give a large cash bonus in February and usually $100-$200 cash, plus a gift for the holidays. I don't need (or want?) it to be company branded. Please don't say vacation time - we've got plenty of that as well. 

Also, any ideas for a holiday party? We've done nice dinner with spouse, bowling, escape room and dinner. We have never done anything with people's kids. We've discussed hibachi (there is a place that will come to you - that could be fun, with or without kids) and Axe Throwing (adults only obviously), or getting everyone a hotel room at the casino or a nice hotel in Boston? I'm not sure. Definitely open to ideas, and budget could be small or large. If we do larger budget party, may not do any additional gift beyond the cash. 

We have ~11 employees. Mostly males aged 27-42, plus one other woman and myself (both late 30s). 4 families, others are mixed of married with no kids and single. Kids range from 4-16 years old. 

Edit: We do have two part time guys who are older - in their 60s. 

[momin2013]

I want (and typically get) a few extra days off around the holidays, but since you said NOT that, I’d say a nice staff lunch, a gift card to something I’d use (like groceries, etc), then the rest of the day off.

I personally am a big believer in non-work hours are time for me/my family, so I wouldn’t want an event outside of working hours (even if my spouse/family) were invited.

[bunnies]

Bonus, cash, or gift card. No physical items for me or a party.


eta: if i'm given a knick-knack, it immediately goes into my donation pile. 

[purplepenguin7]

money, the answer is always money. Unless you plan on shopping individually for those 11 people you will never find a single gift that suits all.

[skidunks]

I work mainly with women so my answers may not fit but I loved when my bosses have taken us to lunch and then on shopping sprees. Those were the best.

[thebreakfastclub]

My larger team is ~80 people. They rent the party space of a local pub on a Thursday afternoon from 3-8 and we have a get together there. We get 2 drink tickets, there's food, some Christmas trivia, etc and then people just mingle. We each get a $50 visa gift card, and there are additional gift card prizes for the games.

I like that you can go from 3-5 and leave if you need to or don't want to stay past working hours for whatever reason. I don't think you need to open it up to guests.

I would caution on the casino, my work used to be near a casino and they'd rent the large ballrooms for all-hands meetings. There were people who couldn't attend because they had placed themselves on the exclusion list from the casino due to problem gambling. Granted we had a much larger sample size, but you never know, and that would be awkward.

[lust2hart]

I have never gotten a physical gift from an employer and I don't think it's ever crossed my mind to want something. I truly think cash is the best thing you could give, along with a personalized note of thanks since the company is small.

Only one of my workplaces did a holiday party that was outside of work hours, and they just did a nice dinner for employees/partners and the head of the company would make some announcement of appreciation. My DH's former employer took employees/partners out to a dinner theatre which was a good time (depending on whether you like the theatre, LOL). His current employer organizes a night out for employees/partners to the local pool hall - there's a back room for private parties, so the company organizes a pool tournament. There are also dart boards and I think something else to play once your team is eliminated or you don't want to play pool. They also do a drawing for prizes throughout the night, which is fun. They cater in a dinner, and I think they maybe give everyone 2 drink tickets, too, and then additional drinks are on you to purchase.

[jinkies]

countthestars, can you give examples of the types of gifts you've given other years? It may help with thinking of something on a similar level this year. What is the budget?

[twinmomma]

If your company isn't all people with kids, events with kids will be weird. I've run into that with events I've planned for work before. The young, kid free people don't want to hang out with families.

Gifts that were a hit for us have been: Yeti tumblers, Yeti coolers, Northface jackets, Ticketmaster gift cards, hotel gift cards, nice restaurant gift cards. Just make sure the gift card amount would actually cover a full night's stay or a full dinner. Our old boss would give us a $100 gift card to a hotel that cost at least $400 per night. It was really stupid and unusable for a lot of us.

For the party, I'd say the casino could be fun, but only if your staff are casino people. It's a fun place to just wander around even if you're not a big gambler, but some people just don't like casinos at all.

[sent]

I like the Hibachi idea. I might consider that for my own office, we all have kids that are at the age where they would enjoy it. And even if you don't have kids, it's still a decent meal at a restaurant.

I wish my spouse's job would hold a nice event for the whole family. They could certainly afford to, but they don't because profit$$$$$. I remember going to stuff like that for my dad's workplaces when I was a kid and still have memories of cool experiences my parents would have never done with me otherwise.

[lust2hart]

I think your idea of giving everyone a voucher for a night at a fancy hotel is nice. But even that might not work for everyone - people with kids would need to find a babysitter (so in the end, they're paying money to use the gift), single people might not have a use for it.

[soccermama]

I don't really have any great ideas to add (sorry), just wanted to chime in and say its so great that your company does this for their employees! I would love if my company (won't happen b/c its state agency) would do something like this at the end of the year.

I will say that the hibachi dinner (and drinks?!) sounds like a very fun idea! I know people who've had the chef(s) come do that for a dinner & seems like it is a hit.

[hermione]

Money. If I get to have money + something, I would want something I'd likely not buy myself like a Yeti cooler (great to have but pricey for something you don't use regularly).

As for a party, I would prefer something for the whole family so I wouldn't need to find a babysitter. We already have a ton of events around the holidays where we have someone else watching the kid. Maybe Top Golf or rent out an arcade?

[sugarbear1]

I would do personalized gift cards, if you know your employees well enough.
I am a teacher but also own a company with my brother. Our factory employees often don't get much of a traditional Christmas. We ask them for a list each year and buy as much as the company can afford, usually $400ish per person. Then we cater dinner and usually do an event -- local hockey game and axe throwing, most recently.

[ohgillian]

My idea for a holiday party is not to have one. I’ve never liked those. If I’m not at work, I don’t want to be with work people. And I like my work people!

[ohgillian]

Oct 7, 2022 10:26:51 GMT -5 skidunks said:

I work mainly with women so my answers may not fit but I loved when my bosses have taken us to lunch and then on shopping sprees. Those were the best.

Will you share more about what this was like? This seems suuuuper boundary crossing to me so I’m fascinated.

[noodleoo]

I didn’t read the post, just the title. Cash, the answer is always cash. But especially this year, with inflation and the cost of every ducking thing going up, money is the answer. Not cutesy crap most people will toss or sit in a closet and never get used.

[gerberdaisy]

I'd say the best corporate holiday gift I've received (well my husband) was a fruit of the month club from Harry and David. We all get excited when that comes every month!

[shopgirl07]

I really like the hibachi idea. I think you’re already very generous, but if you also want to do a gift, I think Yeti coolers would be nice. I’d be thrilled to get one and I think they’re useful to most everyone.

[shopgirl07]

Oct 7, 2022 10:55:42 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I didn’t read the post, just the title. Cash, the answer is always cash. But especially this year, with inflation and the cost of every ducking thing going up, money is the answer. Not cutesy crap most people will toss or sit in a closet and never get used.

Maybe you should’ve read, because they already give cash! She’s looking for additional ideas.

[jinkies]

OK I looked back at when you posted this last year and it appears that you have a roughly $100 budget for gifts and have done Yeti tumblers and fleeces/sweatshirts in the past.

This is probably a lower price point, but BY FAR the most-used company gift we ever received was a soft-sided cooler. It is bigger than a lunch tote but the perfect size for taking BYOB drinks to a party, or food and snacks for the whole family when we go to the beach or a park for the day. We use it so much.

I have also gotten a lot of use out of a big golf size umbrella that we got one year.

Other ideas:
JBL bluetooth speaker
Ember mug
Laptop backpack

[TR]

Oct 7, 2022 10:26:51 GMT -5 skidunks said:

I work mainly with women so my answers may not fit but I loved when my bosses have taken us to lunch and then on shopping sprees. Those were the best.

Do you work at Dunder Mifflin?

[bex1973]

Oct 7, 2022 10:56:00 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

I'd say the best corporate holiday gift I've received (well my husband) was a fruit of the month club from Harry and David. We all get excited when that comes every month!

Something like this would be loved by my family.  Or Universal Yums which would be cool for kids and adults.  Could be personalized based on each person since it's a smallish team that you potentially pick something they like. Coffee of the month, socks, jam, etc.

[rebneen]

For a holiday party, we have a place that has food and games like Dave and Buster’s but a little more adult/upscale. It’s called Punchbowl Social. I’ve been to other places like it and they are usually well-received. Another thought could be getting tickets to a sports event and getting a suite or vouchers for food and drinks.

As far as a gift, this board is probably more bougie and woke than your employees. I would absolutely be into something like a Yeti cooler, a Bose or other fancy sound bar speaker, really nice blankets for outdoors, etc. Maybe pick 3 things of equal value and let them choose which?

What about a gift for the whole office like an awesome coffee maker and coffee? BF’s company did that when they remodeled the executive floor.

[lust2hart]

Oct 7, 2022 11:05:27 GMT -5 rebneen said:

For a holiday party, we have a place that has food and games like Dave and Buster’s but a little more adult/upscale. It’s called Punchbowl Social. I’ve been to other places like it and they are usually well-received. Another thought could be getting tickets to a sports event and getting a suite or vouchers for food and drinks.

As far as a gift, this board is probably more bougie and woke than your employees. I would absolutely be into something like a Yeti cooler, a Bose or other fancy sound bar speaker, really nice blankets for outdoors, etc. Maybe pick 3 things of equal value and let them choose which?

What about a gift for the whole office like an awesome coffee maker and coffee? BF’s company did that when they remodeled the executive floor.

This is a great idea! 

[brooke77]

I love the idea of a holiday lunch (with the rest of the afternoon off).

My gifts are all probably the same suggestions as last year:

-chappy wrap blanket
- Yeti tumbler
- Patagonia vest
- Patagonia fleece
- air pods

[wildrice]

Anything, lol. I've never worked anywhere that this sort of thing occurred.

Since that's a small enough group to know their interests, maybe tickets to something local if you can find something that you think everyone would enjoy? An equivalent around here would be the aquarium - even without kids it is really neat, and tickets are like $45 a person so getting a pair as a gift would be fun.

If you know they all drink, maybe some kind of festive alcoholic bottle of something with mixers to go alongside?

Or a nice coffee maker if they all drink coffee?

[rupertpenny]

Oct 7, 2022 10:34:31 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

I think your idea of giving everyone a voucher for a night at a fancy hotel is nice. But even that might not work for everyone - people with kids would need to find a babysitter (so in the end, they're paying money to use the gift), single people might not have a use for it.

If my employer gave me a hotel voucher I wouldn’t need a babysitter because my husband would not be invited.

[Jalapeñomel]

Money.

I don’t really want to hang out with work colleagues outside of work.

[jinkies]

I love how predictable this place is.

OP: I am giving my employees money for Christmas, and would like to give a gift with it. What should I give? Please don't say time off.

Everyone: Money and time off.

LOL.