Why Corporate Gift Giving is Important in the Modern World
In most corporate cultures, gift-giving is important. Whether you are trying to thank long-standing customers, remind someone of your business, or recognize a hardworking employee, the basic reason behind gift-giving is the same. Gifts are meant to affirm business relationships and enhance personal connections between clients, customers, and employees. In fact, according to Promotional Products Association International, gift-giving is proven to increase business activity hence, increasing the return on investment. Let’s understand what is corporate gifting and why is it important.
What is Corporate Gifting: Gifts v/s Incentives
Gift giving and incentives differ on several strategic and practical levels. While gifts to clients or employee rewards are offered with no preconditions for improved performance, incentives are explicitly meant to motivate employees to work harder. Incentives are awards for reaching defined goals, including sales quotas, improvements, and good attendance.
Gifts, on the other hand, are not given as part of a defined arrangement. Another important difference is that incentives are usually given by upper management to the lower-level as employee rewards, while gifts can be given within any stratum of the office hierarchy for a high quality of service, camaraderie, or companionship.
Why Are Gifts Better?
Many companies avoid using incentives so as not to ignite problematic competition within the office. Instead, some companies give managers a small stipend to spend on employee rewards for exceptional accomplishments. These could include extensive efforts to please customers in the form of corporate gifting, working long hours to complete a project, closing a large sale, or saving the company money and time through active suggestions for improvement.
What to Give
There are many different possibilities for gift giving. Food and drink items are extremely popular as corporate gifts. Gift cards, gift vouchers, and corporate gifts are extremely important. An evening of gourmet experiences or a handcrafted gift basket can be a creative and thoughtful gift.
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Gourmet gift basket company, thoughtfully, provides meaningful gifts that are personalized and perfect for office environments and they come under the umbrella of what is corporate gifting. Office-related gifts can be practical items that will be put to good use. An exquisite fountain pen, a personalized plaque, or a custom ink blotter is always appreciated. Activities, sporting events, and live entertainment also make thrilling gifts as a reward for office-wide success.
It is important to carefully consider a gift before making a purchase from the corporate gifting perspective. Let office ethics be your guide when planning to present an employee with a gift. If giving a material item doesn’t seem appropriate, perhaps a donation to a charity of their choice would be a suitable alternative.
Think before you Gift
The definition of ‘what is corporate gifting’ isn’t the same all over the globe. The modern definition of corporate gifting might be free of cultural bias, but there are still differences in what corporate gifting means to the modern world. Let’s have a look at some of the prevalent ones.
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- In India, business dealings have always been about the bonds of trust and appreciation and the new generation is doing well to club these values to what is corporate gifting of today and they seem to get along well.
- In the USA, business gifts are often sent during the holidays or after the business deals are closed down. Corporate gifting in the US really strengthens the bonds of trust.
- In Britain, there’s a different opinion on what is corporate gifting. 95% of UK-based businesses believe that corporate gifting is a crucial part of their business strategy (Cartwright and Butler). Nothing strengthens the bond of trust there like corporate gifts.
- The Australian culture appreciates modesty in business dealings and overselling in the form of business gifts. Gifts as pure tokens of appreciation, however, are always welcome.
- In the European Subcontinent, corporate gifts are surely welcome, but they aren’t supposed to be overdone. Gifts are often kept as down to earth as they can be.
- Coming to other parts of Asia, It’s best to stick to very generic gifts and probably a Google Search about what they mean in the Asian culture before handing them out, as every object in one’s culture has a different meaning.
Where to Get Gifts
Retail catalogs and store purchases are a good place to start for small-scale operations, but when it involves multiple people or booking experience, handling everything on your own can quickly become complicated.
By Rani Joshep
