5 Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas that Won’t Break the Bank

As a company owner or CEO, you probably know you need to keep the troops happy. If you have unsatisfied workers, they’re liable to jump ship and go with a different company the first chance they get. You need to do what you can to keep that from happening, and that includes creating a work environment that employees will enjoy.

You can do that by giving them amenities like a nice break room with snacks. You can give them perks like a 401K and excellent healthcare. You can even allow them to work from home if that doesn’t disrupt your company’s output.

Getting them holiday gifts can also do a lot to make sure they stay with you as the years pass. That way, you won’t have to spend as much time interviewing and hiring. Promoting from within is always preferable, and never neglecting a holiday can help you to do that.

Of course, you also can’t afford to get extravagant presents for every employee if you have a huge company and thousands of workers. You might not feel sure what to get your employees that don’t hold prominent positions within the business.

We’ve come up with some inexpensive holiday gift ideas that never fail. Every worker is sure to appreciate these if you give them to them at Christmas. Even if they don’t celebrate the holiday, everyone likes getting a gift that shows their bosses respect them and like the job they’re doing.

Gift Cards

Employees will often like getting thoughtful appreciation gifts, and a gift card is hard to beat. You might not feel sure what kind of gift card the workers would like. You can ask them about that, though.

You might send out a companywide email or set up a suggestion box and have two or three options for different gift cards. You might suggest Chipotle as an option, or Starbucks, or McDonald’s, or maybe something like Target or Walmart.

That takes away the surprise element, but it’s also a democratic way for the employees to decide what they’d most like. They have direct input in the process, which is another way you can show them that you value what they have to say.

Gym Memberships

You can also show your workers that you care about them by getting them gym memberships. You can either look and see what gyms have locations in your area, or else you can set up a gym on the premises and let your employees work out there if that appeals to them.

You might find out that there are LA Fitness locations in your geographic locale, or else you might have Planet Fitness or Esporta locations. If so, it might not cost all that much to get a bunch of six-month or yearly memberships and surprise your workers with them. You might get a discount if you buy that many memberships in bulk.

If you do this, it’s a nice gift, but it serves another purpose as well. By trying to encourage employee fitness, they’re not as likely to develop as many health problems. 

That means they might not need to take as much time off for health reasons. If you have less absenteeism, you’re more likely to hit your sales goals.

New Phones

If you have a relatively small company, you might get all of your employees the latest iPhones or Android models. They will probably appreciate having the latest phones and all of the exciting new features that come with them.

If you feel like that costs too much because you have a larger company and those phones aren’t cheap, you might get your workers less expensive electronics or other gadgets. For instance, you might get them noise-canceling headphones from Bose or another reputable company. Those still cost a decent amount, but not as much as a brand-new iPhone or Android.

You can also get gift cards to electronics stores. That way, each of your workers can pick out their own gadgets, or they might spend the money on games, game systems, some new speakers, or anything else they want.

A Nice Coffee or Tea Set

You probably want your workers to ingest plenty of caffeine, so they’re eager to start work each morning. You can encourage that by getting them a coffee set. You can get ones that come with a coffee maker, a mug, some different coffee samples, and usually either cookies or biscuits of some kind to enjoy in the morning with their hot cup of joe.

Maybe you can get them a tea set as an option as well. Like with the gift cards, you can ask each worker whether they want a coffee or tea set to see which one they prefer. 

You might even get a company to put your logo on each coffee mug or teacup. That way, you’re working on your branding while giving all your employees a practical gift they’re likely to use.

A Field Trip

You might also set up a day when you close the office and take everyone somewhere to do something fun. Maybe you can rent a paintball venue and split into teams to play paintball. You can play along with the workers to show that you’re one of them.

You might go bowling or do some mini-golf instead. You can try rock climbing or something more ambitious if you feel like the office staff will appreciate that.

If you feel like that’s too ambitious, you can also get tickets to a sporting event and go along with the group. You might get tickets to a baseball game, or basketball, or whatever else exists in your city. If you don’t live in a major city, you can usually get tickets to a minor league baseball game or something else with regional ties.

These are not very expensive gifts, but they’re thoughtful ones. They should let your workers know that you care about them and value them.