Corporate Gifting Introduction

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 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. 

Gifts versus Incentives

Gift giving and incentives differ on several strategic and practical levels. While gifts 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. 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 lower level employees, while gifts can be given within any stratum of the office hierarchy.

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 gifts to recognize employees for exceptional accomplishments. These could include extensive efforts to please customers, working longer hours to complete a project, closing a large sale, or saving the company money and time through active suggestions for improvement.