Hey All, it’s the Gift Whisperer here with a post for all your small business owners out there. These are tough times and you don’t always need to spend a ton to make sure the hard working members of your team are happy. Your employees are perhaps your single most important business asset. And they’re different than other capital assets due to the simple fact that they’re human. Different people are motivated by different things – money, benefits, vacations. But one thing all employees want is to be recognized and respected for the job they do. And like all humans, your employees are going through different stages of life and may need a pick-me-up to help them get through some tough times.

Many employers do not consider employee recognition gifts to be important. After all, they’re paying a good salary, what else could they possibly want? But when you look at the costs involved in high employee turnover, you have to do a double-take. Losing a key employee can be devastating to companies of all shapes and sizes.

While it’s true you may be purchasing something they really don’t need, you will go a long way in purchasing something a lot more important, loyalty. Select a person for recognition who has been working long hours on an important project, a salesman who has spent countless hours on the road away from friends and family, or an employee who has continued to be productive and loyal despite tough personal circumstances such as the loss of a family member. A small token of appreciation may be just what the doctor ordered for them to rededicate themselves and keep working hard for you and the business.

The most meaningful gifts are tailored to the individual. If you have an employee that is an avid reader, a cherished book is the gift of choice for them. If you have an employee who is a big sports fan, tickets for the big game so they can take their spouse and children will be remembered for a long time to come.

Employers in larger companies that hand out a large number of these types of gifts most often cannot tailor the gifts to individuals because of the time and expense involved. Luckily, there are a number of great gifts that almost everyone is sure to love. Men are notorious for being fashion inept and great gifts like tie tacks and cuff links or money clips & wallets are always appreciated in helping to upgrade their wardrobe. Employees of either sex will always appreciate custom ball point pens and desk clocks to make their work place a more cheerful place and they serve as a constant reminder that their service is valued.

With the economy in the gutter and employees being asked to do more with less, recognizing their hard work will be the key in keeping your top performers once the economy rebounds. A token of appreciation no matter how small can go a long way in the eyes of an employee.

Be sure to get my “Gift Whisperer’s Gift Guide – 7 Secrets to Giving the Gift They Really Want”

-Pete

Hey there! It’s the Gift Whisperer here checking in with a great gift idea for the man in your life. I’m always running into all kinds of great people struggling with with to get for a guy in their life. Whether it’s a lady looking to get something special for her man or a groom looking to blow away his wedding party with some truly unique groomsmen gifts.

A big part of the problem is striking the balance between finding a unique gift and getting him something that he’ll actually get some use out of. Well, how about this? A personalized money clip wallet with a gift card to the gent’s favorite restaurant, home improvement store or even casino! Think about it, its personal (thanks to the imprint of his initials), practical (every guy loves a money clip wallet & who doesn’t love a gift card?) and truly unique.

I’ve seen tons of gifts over my 12 plus years offering advice in the gift giving arena. This is one of the best and most unique gifts I’ve come across. What do you think? Think you can top this gift, I’d love to hear from you below.

Hey everyone, this is the Gift Whisperer checking in. Believe it or not, I have received my first question and its a doozie! JoAnn used our Question Submission Form to submit the following question: Is regifting an acceptable gift giving practice? I often receive gifts that are quite lovely, but they just won’t work for me. Rather than go to the trouble of returning them (and also risk offending the giver), I would just as soon regift them. Is this OK to do?

I was expecting a softball question for my first one but I guess I’m jumping right in with both feet!  ReGifting has been going on for as long as gifts have been given.  It was really brought into mainsteam vernacular on a hysterical episode of Seinfeld called The Label Maker.  In it, Elaine calls Tim Whatley a regifter after he gives her an underperforming label maker that he had received as a gift from Jerry Seinfeld.  Of course, hilarity ensues, making this an all time classic sitcom.

I digress, back to the issue at hand.   ReGifting is an often debated practice and, as such, there is no real right or wrong answer.  All I can do is give you my opinion.  I think my thoughts on thsi probably goes against popular opinion.  In short, I’m all for regifting, with a few stipulations.

1) The gift in question must be a quality gift that just will not work for you for one reason or another.  Examples here include clothing in the wrong size,  gifts that won’t work for you due to lifestyle choice (a liquor flask for a tee-totaler or a meatloaf dish for a vegan), or a gift in a style that is just not your style (a southwest themed piece of artwork for your art deco themed apartment).

2) The regift recipient must be part of a totally different cross section of your social life.  For example, you cannot regift a sweater from your mother-in-law to your sister-in-law.  In other words, there has to be no chance that you can get “busted” regifting.  Tim Whatley should have known that Jerry and Elaine were friends and never even thought about giving here the label maker.

3)You must include a gift receipt.  This is a tough one and may prevent you from regifting many items.  It also makes sure that regifting is held to a higher standard. It insures that you are regifting because you think that the gift in question will make a great gift for someone else, not because you are stuck with it.  Insuring that you regift with a gift receipt is a way to self-police the whole regifting industry!

4) The fourth and final stipulation is one that should be obvious.  The regift needs to be in mint gift giving condition.  All tags should be on it, it should not be used and it should be packaged beautifully.  We are not, under any circumstances, regifting used or damaged merchandice.

So there you have it, my thoughts on regifting with some helpful (I hope) advice for JoAnn and any other potential regifts out there.  I welcome your thoughts on regifting in the comments section below.  I’m always open to other opinions and perhaps even changing mine.

-Pete

We’d like to give a big welcome to the newest member of our staff, the Gift Whisperer. The Gift Whisperer has come on board with us to answer your toughest gift giving questions. You’re going to be hearing more about the Gift Whisperer in the coming weeks but we want to give you, our loyal blog readers, the first introduction.

We all know that giving gifts can be a nerve racking, anxiety inducing experience. You want to get just the right gift without spending too much or too little, without giving the wrong message but making sure you give the right message and all without spending a ton of time!

Well, I’m sorry, but we can’t solve this problem for you completely. But we can help! Go to our Question Submission Page and submit your gift giving questions to our Gift Whisperer. He will answer your question within 24 hours right here on our blog. You’ll get the answers you need and, hopefully, one of our readers that may have the same question will get some help they didn’t plan on too!  So go to our Gift Whisperer Question Submission Page and ask the Gift Whisperer your toughest gift giving questions!

-Pete