{"id":1059,"date":"2011-11-17T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-17T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2011-11-17T11:05:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-17T16:05:00","slug":"5-gifts-to-give-your-employees-and-business-associates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/5-gifts-to-give-your-employees-and-business-associates\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Holiday Gifts to Give Your Employees and Business Associates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If you\u2019re a business owner, your head is probably swimming with numbers right now. You\u2019ve got your 2012 budget to finalize (if it\u2019s not done already), worries about how Q4 is going to turn out, Holiday discounts and sweepstakes, employees putting in for time off to spend the holidays with loved ones, and if you\u2019re in retail\u2026 a lot of customers that are in a hurry. It\u2019s easy for things to slip your mind when you\u2019re so busy \u2013 like the fact that Christmas<\/a> is now only 38 days away. It\u2019s coming faster than any of us want to admit. Seriously, where did 2011 go?! While you\u2019re browsing the internet and shuffling through the crowds looking for the perfect gift to give your significant other, kid or mother-in-law\u2026 remember your employees and business associates.<\/p>\n

Those of you who manage or own a small business know how hard your employees work, and hopefully how helpful your business associates are. You spend day in and day out with them (virtually or physically) trying to run a successful business. With that in mind, make sure you pick them up something special this Holiday season. \u201cSpecial\u201d doesn\u2019t mean it has to be grandiose or expensive, just something that shows you were thinking of them and how thankful you are to have them working for you.<\/p>\n

So now the question becomes, \u201cWhat in the world do I get my employees?!\u201d Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t know your employees inside and out. There are some great gifts out there that can be given that almost everyone will like:<\/p>\n

1.) Gift Cards<\/strong> \u2013 Some will argue that gift cards are really impersonal, but when buying for employees or associates it\u2019s not. You can get the generic VISA cards so they can spend them any way they wish, local restaurants, chain restaurants, electronic stores or even an iTunes gift card.<\/p>\n

2.) Gift Baskets<\/strong> \u2013 Stick with ones that have food in them. Don\u2019t assume female employees want a basket of body wash and lotions. There\u2019s a wide selection of food baskets to purchase, ranging from cookies and candies, to popcorn, to hot cocoa and tea packs, to sausages and cheese. Give something your associate\u2019s and employee\u2019s family can share!<\/p>\n

3.) Items for Their Desks<\/strong> \u2013 Photo frames, flash drives or plants for their desks to help spruce up their work area may be nice. If they don\u2019t want to put the frames or plants on their desk at work they\u2019re free to take them home and decorate as they wish.<\/p>\n

4.) Time Off \/ Flexibility<\/strong> \u2013 Sometimes all your employees need at the holidays, is the gift of time. If you can, let your employees and associates leave early the day before the holiday. Grant requests for flexible starting and end times, and even allow people to work from home.<\/p>\n

5.) Bonuses<\/strong> \u2013 Depending on your budget, and especially considering how the economy currently is, this may be a tough one. However, if your employees and business associates have been wearing many \u201chats,\u201d so to speak, and doing the job of two and sometimes three people, try your best to give out a bonus.<\/p>\n

Alongside any of these gifts, please be sure you also include a handwritten thank you card<\/a>. Yes, handwritten. Honestly, this is something you should do throughout the year and not just the holidays, but around the holidays expressing thanks is especially important and appreciated. Take the time out to make it happen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a business owner, your head is probably swimming with numbers right now. You\u2019ve got your 2012 budget to finalize (if it\u2019s not done already), worries about how Q4 is going to turn out, Holiday discounts and sweepstakes, employees putting in for time off to spend the holidays with loved ones, and if you\u2019re in retail\u2026 a lot of customers that are in a hurry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,7,9],"tags":[181,258,509,804,1179],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}