Reading time: 5 min.
Numerous studies have shown that gratitude makes you happy. Grateful people experience significantly less stress, sleep better, and feel healthier.
Gratitude is also contagious: when you express your gratitude to your employees, they in turn become more grateful. In short, grateful and appreciated employees are happy, productive team members who are better protected against burnouts and stress.
Now that, due to Corona, many are working from home, it is more important than ever to strengthen the connection with your employees. Employees working from home may feel somewhat isolated and miss the contact and vibe of the office. In our podcast with Inge Van Belle, you can learn more about the importance of employee engagement during these challenging Corona times.
Giving a gift to your remote workers is a perfect way to tangibly reconnect. By giving them an original present, you can thank your staff for their efforts during these challenging times. But your office workers also deserve a thank you, as they too experience a lot of stress and uncertainty.
A gift for your employees is more than just a material thing; it is a way to express your gratitude and make them feel appreciated. No matter how you look at it, a gift can work wonders for the mental resilience and positivity of your employees. Want to make your staff truly happy? Choose a gift that combines fun and functionality and offers an experience rather than just another gadget that ends up in a corner. Because experiences create memories, and memories last.
We have previously shared tips on our blog about boosting remote workers' engagement. Now we want to help you concretely thank your staff for their highly appreciated efforts.
We are happy to present 10 original gift and experience ideas for you:
1. Personalized notebook with your company logo
A great way to feel more grateful is to write down every day what you were thankful for. With their new notebook, your employees can stylishly note their positive thoughts while maintaining the connection with their employer.
2. Box packed with healthy, tasty snacks for your remote and office workers
This way, whether at home or in the office, you give them a delicious energy boost so they can dive back in with full drive. We know everything about healthy, delicious snacks! There’s surely a suitable box for your company among our snack boxes.
3. Inspiring post to thank your employees
Everyone likes to be appreciated, and let’s be honest, we all (secretly a little) love the likes and hearts on social media. Post a beautiful, inspiring message on your social media channels to thank your employees. This creates a sense of engagement and your post can be liked and shared by your employees, fans, and the whole world! Sharing is caring!
4. Encourage mutual recognition and appreciation 💗
It is also important that employees thank and motivate each other to stay positive. Encourage this by offering fun activities: for example, let them send each other a funny postcard with a nice message. In our snack displays, you can also find many tools and tips or check out Bonus.ly, a handy platform for appreciation.
5. Weekly motivation call
Because it’s difficult to spontaneously thank each other face-to-face due to Corona, you can schedule a weekly motivation call and spotlight a different person each week. Focus not only on work achievements but also show appreciation for each other’s personal accomplishments: someone who had an amazing Strava run, a beautiful painting by one of your team members...
6. Subscription to an online fitness program
Employees who feel good and relaxed through exercise automatically become happier and more productive. Since it’s harder to go to the gym now, your employees can train online. They can challenge and motivate each other, which only strengthens their connection!
7. Quality headphones or trendy earbuds
This way, your employees can comfortably and stylishly handle all those conference calls ‘from their home’. And if they want to totally lose themselves in their favorite playlist during a break, they can use their earbuds for their private concert :)
8. Branded towel or sweatshirt
This way, your employees can feel connected even when they’re sweating it out during a relaxing workout or refreshing run. Or when they just want to chill in the garden, park, or beach (at a safe distance, of course) and daydream on their towel.
9. Course or workshop
What’s more valuable than investing in your employees’ knowledge? Give your team members a registration for a relevant course for their personal or professional development and growth. This also shows that you believe in them. Want to offer more informal, fun courses like Smartphone Photography or Bullet Journaling? Then take a look at Spotworkshops.be
10. Good old-fashioned book
Do you choose a relevant book from which your employees can learn and grow further, or rather a relaxing novel so your team members can lose themselves in the story? You can’t go wrong with a book! Give your employees the choice from a small selection of fiction and/or non-fiction (after all, tastes differ), because reading is more popular than ever!
Thank your staff for their efforts and feel healthier, happier, more relaxed, and joyful yourself! Talk about a win-win!