The good news: 40% of employers will give employees holiday gifts this year. That’s up from 35% last holiday season. The bad news: It could be one of these.
CareerBuilder just came out with its annual survey of the most “unusual” gifts people have received from their employers.
And some are pretty unusual.
Take a look what made the list this year. While hopefully none of these were on your list for your own finance staffers, it’s certainly worth a chuckle in the midst of the year-end mahem.
Drumroll, please!
Your staffers may have a different idea of which of these rises to the top (or rather bottom) of the list, but here are the 10 for 2014:
- A box of Hot Pockets
- A chess piece (just one piece, not a set)
- A fire extinguisher
- A voucher for a free lawn game that a co-worker had invented
- A turquoise leather vest
- Zombie action figures
- A Ziploc bag with coffee (enough to make one pot)
- A ‘gun of the day’ calendar
- A bag of chips, and
- A Christmas ornament with the giving co-worker’s and spouse’s photos on it.
And don’t think that as the boss you’ll be immune. One in five workers say they’ll buy a gift for the boss this year. (A number we thought was low.)
Another avenue
Not that anyone is trying to be ungrateful, but there is another option that’s tough to find fault with.
You might want to make charitable donations on behalf of employees. A full 42% of your peers say that’s what they’ll do this holiday season.
And you can go several ways:
- Pick charities based on what you know your staffers care about. There are six main categories to choose from: animal, environmental, global non-governmental organizations, health, educational and arts and culture. Matching charities with what staffers are passionate about is a personal gift that does good. Also, be sure to show how far any monetary contributions go – just what $25 can buy for a third world school, for example.
- Let them pool their power. Maybe instead of a series of individualized small dollar contributions, you might let your entire department settle on a single charity for a larger donation. You could even let employees research and present options for everyone to vote on. Not only is it a holiday gift but a teambuilding opportunity as well.
- Go local. Rather than donating to a larger charity, there may be something in your community where you can donate in employees’ names. That will not only make them feel more connected to the community, but foster some good will for your own company outside the office.
Info: To read the complete survey findings, click www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=12%2f9%2f2014&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr856_&id=pr856&ed=12%2f31%2f2014
