What Is Your Employee Festive Gifting Strategy This Year?

India is a rich amalgamation of different cultures and is hence rightly known as the land of festivals. Keeping in mind the diversity and varied festivities across the country, there is no set timeline that suits all organizations in the country, making it essential for the leaders to ensure that they plan ahead and identify their festive gifting strategy and the festivities that their employees might be looking forward to celebrating with them.

Festive periods are times when organizations can show how much they appreciate their employees. Recognition and gratitude from the management play a pivotal role in employee retention and job satisfaction. It also has a positive impact on employee mental well-being. With the ongoing pandemic and the shift to a hybrid, digital workspace, organizations are left scrambling to fill the void in their employee engagement strategy.

How do you connect with employees without really connecting in this phygital world? It is a challenge that almost every company across the world is facing right now, but, even in this time of social distancing, organizations still have an opportunity to create personal connections by planning their festive gifting strategy early this year and leveraging new-age gifting solutions in the remote and hybrid work set-up. As the economic situation continues to get better following the vaccination drives, employers are now working harder to improve their employee experience, and festive gifting strategies are one of the best ways to achieve this.

Why Start Planning Early?

Now that we are halfway through another challenging year, it is wise to say that companies must gear up for the forthcoming festive season. Although it may seem like an implausible idea to start thinking of the festive season months prior, it is always an excellent idea to prepare ahead of time. Every employee looks forward to their employer's acknowledgment towards their efforts in meeting and exceeding the organization’s goals. This year, especially, organizational approaches would be tested as we are expected to be better prepared compared to 2020.

1. Plan Early to Reduce Hassles:

Determining the festive gifting strategy for the workforce can often prove to be quite a strenuous task, and hence it is advisable that organizations start planning beforehand. The festive season is meant to be enjoyed by the management and staff alike but trying to figure out gifts for the employees can prove to be stressful. By planning ahead, businesses can lessen, if not eliminate, the stress of managing and planning execution of a fun gifting strategy. Planning early also gives the chance to create a timeline for the festive season and ensure maximum employee engagement.

2. Connect with Employees Virtually:

When it comes to a major strategic initiative like festive employee gifting, it is essential that leaders start with a clear, established goal and successfully plan the budget and allowances for gifts and celebrations. Although in-person celebrations might not be possible immediately despite the vaccination drives, employers could bring in creativity and innovation to improve employee experience through new-age gifting strategies in the virtual workspace. Organizations can opt for virtual gift cards that provide a large acceptance network; these gift cards can be used for online shopping across brands and categories, subscriptions to OTT platforms, memberships to e-learning platforms, and much more.

3. Make Festive Gifting Count:

The pandemic brought a paradigm shift in organizational functioning across the country, but corporate India, under the leadership of some brilliant minds, managed this change and responded remarkably well. Now, as the festive season is nearly upon us, it is time for the organizations to appreciate and reward employees for their dedication and hard work during these unprecedented times.

Celebrating the festive season with employees would help them realize that the leadership acknowledges and appreciates their contributions and that they come first.

(The given article is attributed to Suvarna Mishra, VP Human Resources, Sodexo BRS India and solely created for BW People)