Rewards and incentives: how they’re different and how to use them

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You could easily conflate rewards and incentives. And, honestly, we’d forgive you for that. Their specific roles, and how they interact, often causes a bit of confusion.

To quickly illustrate the difference, a handy recall trick is that incentives say “do well” and rewards say “well done.” Incentives tempt employees to go the extra mile and push for crucial results. The rewards are what thanks employees for hard work, whether they’re linked to an incentive or not. They’re not mutually dependent even though they’re often used in tandem.

This blog goes into more detail about the difference between the two, when you’d use them, and how employee recognition fits into the mix.

Rewards clarified

Rewards are the actual item that gets dished out to congratulate staff for exceptional success.

They’re there to validate and celebrate performance. Rewards are most often dispensed for achievement, like taking valuable projects live or crossing a sales threshold.

Create trophies

Rewards are personal trophies when they’re dispensed for achievement. Mementos of an employee’s own excellence. Reminders of the exceptional things your staff are capable of.

Trophy value has two major effects. Vitally, staff who get these rewards are more likely to put the effort in to achieve again the future. Equally, all staff are shown that outstanding effort is appreciated and validated by managers.

Question cash

Cash is a common reward, but it’s not always effective. We’ve talked about this in our blog before, and it’s still just as true; cash is extremely suspect as a reward.

It has a bad habit of blending into the background noise of life. It’s not so easy to separate the part of your monthly pay that was a reward and which part was your gas bill. Especially when they’re both paid into the same current account.

Making trophies means putting cash aside as a reward.

Incentives summed up

An incentive is, essentially, something that’s designed to extract a desired behaviour by offering a reward ahead of time. For employees, that’s almost always some kind of professional performance. Rewards are promised in exchange for the exceptional performance once an objective is met.

They’re most common in sales teams, but any teams with measurable performance could employ an incentive scheme. You might try to decrease customer complaints, improve efficiency on a factory floor, get your fleet driving more safely, or even increasing personal training course completion.

The rewards are what spices up the targets to give your employees a bit of added impetus to reach their goals.

Where recognition fits in

Recognition doesn’t require you to use a reward. Although, it can include issuing a reward alongside recognition. The reward is a little amplifier to the recognition. A tangible reminder of what’s valued in your company.

Best practice for recognition is to tie to your values, not just performance. This is where it starts to diverge from rewards. While every company’s values should in some way reflect achievement, nailing your colours exclusively to the mast of KPIs is a dangerous game. We’ve got a whole blog post on why obsession with that is a poor idea here.

Employees should be recognised for going above and beyond to exemplify your company’s values and improve your company culture. Regardless of whether that’s tied to a KPI. That’s how you build a stronger company culture for the future.

Recognition doesn’t need a reward

Because recognition is values driven, it doesn’t need to be associated directly with an award. Peer-to-peer recognition, especially, doesn’t have to accompanied by a reward.

The purpose is to create camaraderie between staff under the umbrella of your company’s values. To create a workplace where ethical, virtuous behaviour is encouraged and is seen by staff to be valued.

When filtered through values, recognition has value to your business that doesn’t need to be associated with rewards.

In summary. rewards are the actual products you use to highlight performance. An incentive is promising that reward ahead of time in exchange for achievement. Recognition is the acknowledgement of effort or performance, and can include a reward if you choose.

Your staff incentive scheme: What you wanted, and what you got instead

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Your road to staff incentive scheme disappointment will be paved with the very best of intentions. That’s because the desire to provide incentives comes from a genuine place; you want to excite staff with rewards instead of crudely insisting employees work harder because they’ve been told to.

But, there’s a good chance you won’t get what you want from the scheme. It’s no reason to be downbeat, it happens a lot. What you expect to see from a scheme just isn’t always what it delivers. This article will jog you through what you wanted, what you got instead, and how you can improve in the future.

What you wanted, what you got instead, and what you can do about it

You wanted to see if your top performers could do more

You wanted to know if there was another level of performance that could be eked out of your biggest stars.

What you got instead

Even with new incentives on offer, the most prolific achievers in your company generally held the line. There wasn’t a measurable, sustained uptick in effort or achievement from your top guns.

What you could have done

Your big-shot staff aren’t likely to find another level of effort. They’re already your hard-chargers, they’re already obsessed with hitting their deadlines and targets. Personal pride and drive won’t permit them be anything else.

They’re also conditioned to expect any OTE and rewards you already dish out. You can’t rightfully withhold those rewards now and then ask for more effort to get them back. It’s a betrayal of your relationship, and more than likely will actually hurt morale. There’s no reason to mess your team’s biggest assets about for a marginal gain.

Rather than focus on core role KPIs and effort, focus on how they can improve the intangibles around the office. Measurable ideas like supporting lower-performing staff, finding efficiencies, getting clients to rely less on your customer support teams, running training for other staff in the company.

You wanted your lowest performers to start achieving

Every workplace has staff that are, at least outwardly, happy with below-average performance. You know they can do more, and you thought incentives would bring that out of them.

What you got instead

Nothing. Your lowest performing employees showed no reaction whatsoever to your staff incentive scheme.

What you could have done

To be blunt, what good is an incentive when an employee has no intention of doing any work beyond what’s required?

You could set the bar as high or as low as you like, it doesn’t make any difference to an actively disengaged, indifferent employee. Changing the behaviour of actively disengaged employees needs more than just the promise of an incentive.

You need to disassemble the reasons why they’re so uninterested in your business, then find a way to reignite passion for their work. After that, you can start thinking about how incentives will keep them energised.

You wanted average staff to turn it up a notch

Your plan was to introduce a system that incentivises the bulk of your staff to produce more outstanding performances, more often.

What you got instead

A mediocre uptake, with a fair few staff getting interested in the scheme. But, the effort didn’t sustain for any serious period. The vast majority became disengaged and dropped off.

What you could have done

Make sure an incentive scheme doesn’t get drowned out by your highest performers scooping up all the rewards. Your scheme needs to feel achievable, offer the chance to build towards bigger rewards, without getting drowned out by the top dogs in the department.

Which brings us to an important point.

The battle of the bulge is a battle worth fighting

Ultimately, middle performers are where you should be focusing the bulk of your incentive efforts. The top workers produce the numbers without your instruction, and the bottom need a different remedy entirely. Your middle achievers make up most of your staff, but they’re the easiest group to forget about because they chug along happily, achieving their targets.

One of the biggest problems with intensely KPI-focused incentive schemes is that the thresholds and rewards can be hoovered up too quickly by your top performers. On one hand, it’s great that your top performers are doing so well. On the other hand, your middle performers can feel alienated and disinterested in those incentives.

An incentive scheme needs to continually provide an opportunity to be rewarded for excellence, while still working toward larger, tantalising, rewards. When rewards are too frequent, they become a blur. When they’re too sparse, they feel unachievable.

Think of incentives like a ladder. Looking up at a ladder, it’s impossible to just reach up and grab the top rung. You have to climb one rung at a time. Even worse though, the very top of the ladder can never be reached if the same two or three people are always up there already. If you don’t think you can reach the top, you’re not likely to even start climbing.

Use achievable, repeatable milestones. Employ a mix of core KPIs and less tangible workplace improvements. And, crucially, make sure you structure them to furnish all your staff with the chance to be rewarded for excellence.

questions to ask your corporate gift cards supplier

5 questions you should ask a corporate gift cards supplier

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what are e-gift cards

What are e-gift cards? What they are, what they do, and why that’s exciting

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E-gift cards are becoming a more popular gift and reward option. We’re excited about working them into what we offer our clients. Even if they seem elusive and new, they’re actually a really simple and delightful product.

If you need to know how to redeem one of our Evolve Digital Reward Codes, click here.

What is an e-gift card?

They are functionally the same as a traditional physical gift card. The only difference is digital delivery.

Cash value loaded on to a plastic gift card isn’t actually on the gift card itself. Gift cards themselves don’t contain the cash value loaded onto them. The gift card is just a physical token of that value.

E-gift cards take the plastic element away. That’s the only significant difference. Instead of using the gift card as the token, an email becomes the token. Everything else, functionally, remains the same for your employees and customers.

Swathes of online retailers, high street shops, leisure brands, restaurants, pubs, cinemas, experiences, holidays and more are available through e-gift cards. And, it’s just as easy as using traditional physical gift cards.

How do e-gift cards work?

As you’ve read, an e-gift card works along the same principles as a physical, plastic gift card. Using one works just like a plastic gift card, only without the plastic. Depending on the specific brand, they’re redeemed online, in store, or both.

Using an e-gift card in store

To keep it simple, they usually arrive in the same format they’re normally used in. They’re sent through emails (and occasionally SMS), so all an e-gift card recipient needs to do is present a copy of the e-gift card. Save a copy of the card number, take a screenshot, or just open up your message/email app and present it when making a purchase.

Using an e-gift card online

For most e-gift cards that can be used online, the process is simple. It just means entering the e-gift card’s number and PIN when making a purchase through the website.

The confirmation email outlines any special instructions. Such as, needing to create an account for online spending, or having to print the gift before using it in store.

How do you buy e-gift cards?

There are two ways to get e-gift card through Love2shop Business. Both are easy for customers and employees.

Love2shop Gift Cards

The first e-gift card method is through Love2shop Gift Cards. The value of a Love2shop Gift Card is exchanged for e-gift cards through Love2shop.co.uk, or our app. E-gift cards are sent straight to a user’s email inbox after the exchange.

Evolve digital rewards

The Evolve digital rewards platform also offers e-gift cards. Evolve reward codes, delivered through SMS or email, are redeemed through a simple web portal. The codes open a massive catalogue of rewards, including our selection of e-gift cards.

We’re also working to introduce e-gift cards as a standalone product on our customer-focused sister site, Highstreetvouchers.com.

New digital products like this get us really excited. They’re an interesting new frontier in our mission to develop our digital reward and gift offerings. As more companies try to drive down their dependence on plastics and embrace digital space, expect to see more of these in the future.

Take a look at our e-gift card solutions here >>

 

how much to set aside for years of service awards

How much should you spend on years of service awards?

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Your business needs to recognise employees for staying with your company through years of service awards.

We’ve been saying it for years now: the milestones really do matter.

Even if you don’t think employees should get recognition for sticking with your company, your employees do.

A lot of employees think they should start being recognised for their loyalty after just one year.

They notice employers who miss their work anniversaries. That will affect how staff see their managers, how they see the company, and how they see themselves at work.

Cash-value rewards you dish out on top of that are trophies, persistent reminders of your appreciation for employee loyalty.

Trophies amplify recognition, but they don’t replace it.

With that in mind, we have a rough guide to scale years of service awards to cash-value rewards based on our experience with clients.

 

The loyalty to cash value scale:

  • Three years:
  • Up to £25
  • Fifteen years:
  • Up to £400
  • Five years:
  • Up to £140
  • Twenty years:
  • Up to £500
  • Ten years:
  • Up to £280
  • Fifty years:
  • Up to £1,300

So, there you go. A scale to operate to. But it feels kind of cold, right? Just numbers quantifying someone’s time into the value of a years of service award.

It’s not even like it’s a lot of money, it’s pretty reasonably priced. That’s because the recognition matters as much as the reward.

You have to put the effort in to make it spicy and exciting. Two things make a big difference: the manner of the award presentation, and what you use as a cash-value reward.

 

Humanising years of service awards with recognition

Recognition for loyalty needs to be personalised and public.

Leaders need to make the effort to personally show their appreciation for employees staying with the company.

Personalising recognition for loyalty shows managers are genuinely interested in their staff, making it more likely rewarding and recognising loyalty will have positive effects on staff.

Recognition for loyal service should be public. Open recognition has a greater impact on the employee, because it affirms the value of their place in the company.

Recognition being public also affects employees beyond the person being recognised. They see leaders valuing and appreciating other staff, and know in turn that both employees and loyalty are valued in the company.

 

Cash value, not cash

We’ve used the term cash-value, not cash, a few times in this blog. That’s no accident. We prefer non-cash for years of service awards.

That’s because cash makes a pretty poor employee reward. You can read all about that here, so we’ll spare you another slice of it.

There are a host of simple:

  • Choice – Let them pick a reward for themselves with gift cards, e-gift cards or a catalogue.
  • Training – Help employees reach their professional goals.
  • Time – Offer extra holiday days, or a sabbatical.
  • Trophies – Certificates, plaques and other trophies of service.
  • Control – If they’ve been pushing for a special project, let them spearhead it.
  • Experience – Organise an exclusive VIP experience for something they love.
  • Travel – Flights or accommodation to a dream destination.

 

Get started

If you don’t know your employees well enough to know what gets them excited, stick to offering choice.

Give employees access to a broad catalogue of rewards and let them pick something they can cherish at a cash-value level.

Don’t subject yourself to trying to maintain a catalogue of rewards for your own company. It’s a huge pain the in the neck. And you can rarely do as good a job internally as a specialist.

And a needless time-sink when you can use products like gift cards and e-gift cards to put rewards in the hands of staff.

You’ve got a guide to how to value years of service awards, now it’s time to put the effort in to maximise its positive effects for your business.

 

where to buy love2shop vouchers

Where to buy Love2shop Vouchers – three places you can use today

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It’s not a shock that we often get asked where to buy Love2shop vouchers.

They’re the UK’s most popular multi-retailer gift card and have been the mainstay of our business for decades.

Lots of people receive Love2shop Gift Vouchers as birthday or Christmas gifts, rewards for job performance, or payment at the till.

But you won’t see Love2shop on the shelf in a shop, so not everyone knows where you can actually buy our vouchers.

There are three ways to get yourself a wallet full of Love2shop Gift Vouchers.

Highstreetvouchers.com

Hightstreetvouchers.com is the UK’s number one destination for vouchers and gift cards.

They’ll service any order of Love2shop vouchers, Love2shop gift cards or single-store gift cards below £10,000.

They also offer special little perks like free greetings cards. Orders placed before 11am Monday through Thursday are also eligible for next day delivery.

If you want Love2shop vouchers and you want them now, Highstreetvouchers.com is where you need to be.

Buy Love2shop vouchers on Highstreetvouchers.com

Love2shop

That’s us. We sell Love2shop Gift Vouchers as one of our reward and incentive products.

Unlike Highstreetvouchers.com, we exclusively handle business orders over £1,000.

Our Business Development team are the link between what you need and what we do best.

They listen to our clients, then put them in touch with the right products and platforms. Sometimes that’s a clutch of Love2shop vouchers, sometimes it’s digital reward codes, gift cards, or our dedicated reward and incentive platforms.

Speak to Love2shop today

Love2shop Self-Serve

Self-serve is our dedicated web resource for business customers.

Order gift vouchers, gift cards and reward codes at your leisure. It’s also an account management portal for businesses.

Access your order history, use a credit account, enjoy an agreed discount (on larger, ongoing orders) and access next day delivery on orders before 11am.

If you’re a business, and you want Love2shop vouchers, talk to our team today.

They’ll make sure you’re furnished with Love2shop vouchers as soon as possible.

Get in touch with Love2shop today

Where to buy Love2shop vouchers should never be a problem.

There’s three simple, accessible places to get your hands on our vouchers whether you’re a customer or business.

 

employee recognition ideas for when the piggybank is empty

15 Cheap employee recognition ideas that work

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Having no budget to implement your employee recognition ideas shouldn’t hold you back. All you need is a bit of thought, creativity and the will to execute your plans.

Cash-value rewards are exciting, and they do positively affect motivation and performance. But they should be treated as an amplification tool to recognition. Praise should be dished out regularly to employees, regardless of whether rewards are available or not.

Recognition works when it embraces an employees’ need to be valued. Everyone wants to know their work is worthwhile, and they want to feel that they’re contributing to something bigger than themselves.

So, it’s not good enough to simply shrug your shoulders and complain you have no budget. You can start with almost nothing and still show your employees that you value their daily contributions with regular recognition.

No-cost employee recognition ideas

 

1. Verbal recognition

verbal praise is a great employee recognition ideaSay it and mean it. Let staff know the great work they do is valuable, and it’s helping your business reach its goals. Verbal recognition is personal and emotional. It can have great upticks in employee morale.

The only downsides are that it’s fleeting. And it’s difficult to connect verbal recognition with your company’s values without coming across as stilted.

 

2. Written recognition

Written recognition, such as a small note or a letter, is very effective. You can present it alongside a verbal recognition, and it becomes a little trophy. It’s also much easier to include a mention of your company’s values in a written statement.

It might seem like a small gesture, but taking time and care is always valuable to staff. You putting effort in validates the effort of staff and helps them see how valuable you think they are.

 

3. Team-level recognition

Not every team has a stand-out star. Not every project has a lead individual to single out for recognition.

Teams might achieve goals through exceptional teamwork, or problem solving. They might work across departments, or incorporate new ideas quickly. Equally, they might have acted on their own initiative to lay the groundwork for an upcoming project.

In these situations, it would be hard to single out one employee, so recognise the whole team. Call them in for a meeting, praise their exceptional efforts, and perhaps offer a reward of some kind.

A lot of companies that don’t have a budget to work with use flexibility as a reward. Time off for a whole team, an early-dart in an afternoon, or for individuals to use some extra flex-time.

4. Ask for feedback

Having a voice in the company matters as much as hearing one.

When someone demonstrates exceptional effort or achievement, listen to them. Offer the employee a chance to give their feedback on what’s happening in the company.

You might gain valuable insight from your top performers. And the employee will see that you don’t just treasure the value of your work. You see value in their thoughts and ideas too.

 

5. Boast achievements internally

Lean on your internal communications to showcase the achievements.

Even if you don’t have anything formal in place for internal communication, you can write an email. Depending on your position in the company, you might limit that to your department or division.

The wider your message goes, the bigger the impact of the recognition. But we understand not everyone has that luxury. If you have the seniority though, go company-wide.

If you’re casting the net wide, ask other managers for suggestions. They’ll nominate the stand-out performances from their teams. With care and consistency it could become something your employees look forward to seeing.

 

6. Share achievements externally

Share your teams’ wins with the world.

Take to social media, your website or your monthly newsletter. Use these mediums to highlight your employees’ recent successes.

Setting up a LinkedIn page, or a Facebook page, and connecting with your customers costs you little. And it would give your employees immense pride to have their work highlighted there.

Some companies squirm at the idea of putting things out in the public. We understand that. But as long as what they’re doing lines up with your values, you should fine.

 

7. Noticeboards or whiteboards as a makeshift wall of fame

If you can spare one, whiteboards and noticeboards are extremely useful. It’s not as advanced as proper employee recognition software, but it has its own low-tech charm.

You’re limited only by what’s available around you. Written notes, photographs, letters from clients, certificates or more.

Your little wall of fame could quickly become a popular centrepiece of the office.

It won’t be measurable like a formal platform, but it will be fun for your staff. And it doesn’t have to go away if you do introduce a formal platform.

 

8. Measure achievements and progress

Measure progress towards personal and departmental goals. Acknowledge employees when they get past milestones on their way to those goals.

 

9. Celebrate milestones

It costs you nothing to write down and always make sure to acknowledge your employees’ milestones.

Birthdays, work anniversaries, or product launches. Anything that you know your employees will find valuable, make a note of it.

This one is so simple you can’t lose. And as we’ve outlined before, we think it’s important to recognise all employee longevity. Even after just one year.

 

Be creative with your employee recognition ideas

If you can peel off even a bit of extra cash, recognition possibilities start to open up.

Start with the culture of your company. Not just the formal values you lay out for staff to adhere to – the way your employees actually interact with each other.

Take that, and get creative with your employee recognition ideas. There are some really energising, funky recognition systems out there that don’t break the bank.

We’ve seen some creative, successful ideas put together with very little real budget.

 

10. Stickers or badges

Stickers are cheap, but fun and disposable. Pop one on an employees’ equipment, their workstation or their document folders.

Badges, also, give you a little creative outlet that’s easy to implement. Your staff might wear them on their uniforms, attach them to lanyards, or affix them to the back of their chair.

 

11. Picking the team lunch

If you can afford to foot the bill for a team lunch, let a star performer pick the weekly or monthly meal, however best suits your team.

Team meals are a great way to coax your staff out of their shells a bit. Having one team member pick the meal might also give you a glimpse of your staff’s personalities and let them create deeper bonds together.

 

12. Time for projects

In today’s world, almost everyone is time poor. Professional lives blend and blur with the personal, and both can suffer for it. A lot of good ideas tend to go to rust when employees don’t get the time they need to develop them.

As an act of recognition, you might give an employee the space to develop an idea. If it’s a really good idea, the company could stand to gain from it being developed. And your employee will enjoy a sense of personal ownership over the project.

 

13. Charitable acts

Put aside cash for a monthly donation to a smaller charity of choice. Big charities will barely notice a £50 donation, but many staff have charities close to their hearts. So target smaller charities with causes close to your staff’s lives.

A donation in their name would mean a great deal to your employees, and would have a bigger impact on the charity.

Or perhaps your employee would appreciate a bit of time for volunteering for a cause of their choice. As we pointed out above, everyone is perpetually stretched for time. And extra activities like volunteering are often what takes the hit when staff allocate their time.

 

14. Group trophies

Rather than shelling out month after month to make an office full of trophies, just buy the trophy once. The monthly winner of the trophy gets to keep it at their workstation for a month.

For an extra twist on this employee recognition idea, make it a vote. Offer your staff the chance to vote on who should be recognised every month. You can read our blog here on why we favour a bit of democracy in the workplace when it comes to recognition. Our recognition platform, Shout!, is based on the idea that employees should have a say in what’s important and who gets recognised.

 

15. Car washing

Invite a car wash team on site to clean and detail someone’s car. Or maybe offer money off a bike service for a bicycle commuter. Train commuters are bit harder, but you can always be creative – Kindle books, books on tape, Acast podcast subscriptions. Just use your imagination and your knowledge of your employees.

 

 

Making your employee recognition ideas work

Good employee recognition ideas keep individual personalities in mind. Look around your office, and look at what makes them tick. Look at what generates humour, enthusiasm and participation in your teams. Take that as your starting point and use it as a launching point.

Just remember not to discard the basics. Whatever funky initiatives you decide on, keep them linked to your company culture and values.

 

Put values in the spotlight

More than once in this piece we’ve mentioned values. We talk about them so often because they’re so important. They’re vital to shaping the attitude and the culture of your company.

Focus on your company’s values to get more out of your recognition. Filtering recognition through your values puts employee behaviour through a lens. It lets them see how their work contributes to a greater whole.

This is a building block towards an engaged workforce.

 

Be consistent

Make recognising staff a habit. Build it into your daily, weekly and monthly work. A lot of staff will notice if you suddenly start then stop something or lose interest over time.

If you buy into the idea, make sure you show your staff that you buy into the idea.

 

It’s not complicated or expensive to recognise employees. Platforms and cash-value rewards have an impact, but they’re not the focus.

They’re a welcome addition but the crux of your effort needs to be about making employees’ value feel seen, welcome and treasured.

 

 

some secret santa Christmas gifts for colleagues you might not have thought of

£15 or less: Secret Santa Christmas gifts for colleagues

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Secret Santa gifts for colleagues can be difficult to choose, but it’s no reason to despair! We’re here to help.

If you’re staring at your Secret Santa name this year thinking: “What on Earth am I going to buy them?” then this list is for you.

The best Secret Santa Christmas gifts for colleagues

Really good socks

Hear us out! A really comfortable set of socks is un-ironically a fantastic gift for a colleague, despite the stigma around socks. Bonus points for getting a bit of personalisation in there.

Candles

Winter is very much the indoor season, especially for those that already enjoy the great indoors. Seasonal scented candles are a lovely treat for colleagues that like a cosy night in.

Credit card tool

The perfect present for the perpetually over-prepared. Credit card tools work as can-openers, screwdrivers, bottle, openers, wrenches, and compasses.

Just in case you end up stranded in the Alaskan wilderness on your way back from Pret.

Steel straws

Plastic straws are on the way out, but not everyone is happy with the paper straw, and some people with disabilities can’t enjoy their drinks without a straw.

A stainless steel straw is the perfect alternative and a great gift for a colleague. Infinitely reusable, just as good as plastic, and saves your Secret Santa from soggy-straw-mouth.

Spider catcher

Did you know it’s a myth that spiders move inside during winter to escape the cold? But it’s true that humans do!

Clearing creepy crawlies from the house during the winter months without killing (or touching!) them is simple with a spider catcher.

Cards Against Humanity

One of the modern greats in party games, and all-but guaranteed to produce at least one memorable moment per round.

The full game will stretch your budget, but versions are out there for £15 and less.

A custom coffee/tea mug

There’s few things more aggravating than seeing someone using “your” mug, is there? Of course it doesn’t have your name on it, and it looks like all the other mugs, but it’s YOUR mug.

A problem easily solved with a personalised mug to your Secret Santa.

Hot sauces

For some people there’s really nothing more exciting than a new thermonuclear, sinus-searing hot sauce. A brilliant stocking filler and a great Secret Santa gift for colleagues with a capsicum addiction.

A book of insults

Sick of hearing the same tired insults in your office banter? Spice up the chat with a selection box of new insults, put-downs, castigations, and ripostes.

A desk fan or hot water battle

Equip your Secret Santa with a weapon to fight their guerrilla war in the battle over office air temperature.

A speaking button

If you’ve never seen one before, it’s a programmable button that says a phrase when pressed to celebrate little victories. Get them in “yes”, “no”, “sorry”, or even Donald Trump catchphrases.

A Christmas gift card

The Love2shop gift card is always one of our most popular Christmas gifts for colleagues. You can also go single-store if you know exactly what your Secret Santa likes, or you can use a multi-retailer card to cover all your bases.

Head massager

If you’re going to sit there and say you can resist having a go on a head massager, we’re going to say you’re lying. Even dogs love playing with them.

Over to you

When it comes to giving Christmas gifts for colleague, Secret Santa is great fun. Gifts like gift cards and vouchers work, and make sure there’s a light-hearted, personalised gift for everyone in the office.

If you can’t find a volunteer to run your Secret Santa, or you want to give your teams a gift from the business to thank them for their hard work, gift cards make an excellent choice.

They let everyone pick out a special gift for themselves, and they’re an easy gift to organise no matter how many people you need to recognise at Christmas.

Get in touch if you’d like to know more, we’re always happy to chat!

*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1000 employees. Fieldwork was undertaken between 11th – 19th November 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of British business size.