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Gifting With Significance In The Workplace

Joseph Sommer. Corproate Gifting Expert. Entrepreneur. President of Aster Gifts and Whitestone Branding. 

My favorite gift I have received at work was a children’s book. You read that correctly, a children’s book. The book was What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada; it was given to me a few years ago by the Entrepreneurs Organization, New York City Chapter and tells the tale of a young boy with a grand idea. Throughout his years, his idea gets bigger and bigger and the boy’s confidence grows. The ending gave me chills. 

The gifter tapped into something most people hadn’t before. As an entrepreneur, they captured the essence of my story through the gift and inspired me to keep building on my grand ideas. 

My second favorite gift I’ve received was a rubber duck. Why? A workaholic friend of mine took a sabbatical and traveled for months. When he came back, he handed me a rubber duck from one of the destinations. He explained to me the value of self-care and how taking time for himself was the best thing he could have done, not only for his mental health but for his business’ health. Now, every time I see the rubber duck he gave me, I do an act of self-care. 

Gifts with significance in the workplace don’t have to cost a lot of money. Instead, gifting with significance requires thought and care in order to take your recipient from “Awe” to “Wow” or even to speechless when they receive your gift. Read on to ensure your next gift won’t just collect dust on a shelf but will have them talking about your gift for years to come. 

Know Your Connection

Taking into account your connection with the recipient can be vital in deciding what to give them. What Entrepreneurs Organization did was take how we were connected — entrepreneurship — then linked that to the original, grand ideas we all had and gifted a story that we could all connect to.

Your connection can be based on industry, interests, aspirations, background or organization. When strategizing how to gift with significance, you can ask yourself, what is the common ground you and the recipient have? What topics have you and the recipient bonded over? Finally ask yourself, what products or experiences symbolize the answers to those questions that can be gifted to the recipient?

Know Their Values

A values system conveys what is important to an individual. Knowing what your giftee’s values are is essential to giving a significant gift because otherwise you risk giving a gift that the giftee will not find merit in. Everyone has a unique and different value system, and it is essential to understand that giving a gift is not about what you, the gift giver, value, but what the giftee values.

For example, if the recipient values family, a board game would be an excellent gift so they can spend quality time bonding with their loved ones. A nice picture frame would work as something that allows them to display their family. If the giftee values personal development, then a self-help book would be exceptional and practical. Even better would be a ticket to a personal development conference as an experience they could remember for the rest of their life. 

An easy way to learn someone’s values is to listen and pay attention. What do they get excited talking about and talk about most? What is displayed on their desk? By being observant, you will get clues as to what is most important to the person and thus learn what they value.

Know Their Big Dream

Giving someone a gift that symbolizes their big dream is deeply significant. It serves as a reminder of where and why they started and is an inspiration for them to keep working toward their goals. Get curious about what the recipient has always dreamed of, what goal they have, what they may be afraid to say out loud (yes, I really ask people that), or what will make them look back on their life and feel accomplished.

If the giftee says they want to travel the world, get them a scratch-off map of the globe so that they can scratch off each country they visit. If the recipient wants to build a corporate empire, give an engraved desk plate or cufflinks. The giftee will be blown away by the gift symbolizing their big dream and will surely be motivated to work even harder to get there. 

Know Their Story

Get to know your giftee on a personal level to understand who they are and what formed them. Ways to do this include team bonding activities or regular one-on-ones that you can organize in your company. I prefer to mix the two because team bonding activities give me the chance to not only learn more about my colleagues but provide them an opportunity to get to know each other.

I understand not everyone will be comfortable to fully open up in group settings, which is why I also hold regular one-on-one meetings with my colleagues. It gives us the chance to catch up and for me to learn more about them, including the topics mentioned in this piece.

Ultimately, to give a gift with significance, you need to know the giftee’s story. If you happen to be close to an employee or co-worker, knowing their biggest triumphs and learning experiences are tools you can use to customize a gift. What they have gone through has shaped them into the person they are today, and giving a gift to symbolize that is powerful. 

It may be easier to gift something more generic, but I challenge you to take it upon yourself to get to know your employees or co-workers better and find gifts that will be sure to take away their breath. As always, keep the gift work-appropriate and free from controversial topics, but make sure to find something significant that goes below the surface. This is how you leave a lasting impression.


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