Small Business Column: Gifts for employees

It’s that time of year when employees are looking to employers to see how much they are valued and appreciated. 

Kehlan looks at gifts to get those hard workers who keeping your business ticking.

Getting your staff a reward at the end of the year is important but shouldn’t break the bank either. There are lots of ideas which can make you look like a great boss and, what more, they may help you to connect with your workers and team more closely.

Books. Yes books. Actual turn-the-pages- with-no-tablet screen books. That’s a bit a lame and perhaps hit-and-miss too, I hear you say. However, this requires you get to know your employees and find their likes and dislikes and what they do outside of work.

Give them something they will actually read and avoid books like Getting Motivated for Work; that just makes you look like an ass.

Food. ‘Tis the season to eat copious amounts of food and forget that diet you are ‘starting tomorrow’. The great thing about giving food as a gift is that there is something for everybody.

No matter whether its gluten-free or vegan, you can be guaranteed that somebody can do hampers for them. Ask around some great local eateries for deals on vouchers they can use for that thing that you had once before you started your own business, a life.

Relax them: Spa breaks if you’re an awesome boss from a rich company. Bubbles, bath salts, and Prosecco if you’re an awesome boss from a not-so- rich company. Either way, your employees will thank you for helping them to unwind from a tough day at the office. Work life and home life are so intertwined now that one influences the other.

Booze – It’s Ireland: It’s Christmas and what will be flowing more than regrets after an office party will be booze. In recent years wine, especially good wine, has become more affordable and a vast array of good wine shops will help find a nice gift for the wine lover in the office. Craft beers and niche spirit labels have also sprung up.

What has also become apparent as well is that not everybody drinks, so these beverages aren’t for everyone.

Don’t forget thanks: Often, around this time of year, we think that everything given to people needs to be in gift form.

Well, many businesses are still holding on and perhaps thanks is just about all they can afford.

Words can have just as much meaning as a good- willed gesture so at the very least let them know that they’re hard work has not gone unnoticed.

Time: Giving employees extra days off outside the norm can work well too. Christmas time is a time to spend with family, friends and watching your children play with the boxes their presents came in.

So give them some extra days to spend some special moments at a special time of year.