Company gifts help motivate your team

Organising teamwork during the coronavirus crisis has been a huge challenge for companies, and the situation continues to be complicated. The hybrid work option has been rapidly introduced, in which part of the team works in the office and the other remotely from home. But this puts the team leaders and the HR personnel into a very difficult position, as maintaining the unity of a dispersed team and preserving a constructive atmosphere in these conditions is not an easy task.

We dare to say that the losers in this crisis were those company executives who did nothing and were just waiting for the normal situation to return. It is obvious that in some areas the recovery may never come, and therefore many changes need to be made to help teams be better prepared for remote working conditions, and managers to manage more effectively. The key words here are planning, mapping, analysis, digitalisation and restoring trust within the team.

Many companies need to review and rebuild their business model, which means hard work for the entire team. Salary cuts and redundancies may also lie ahead, which in turn will increase tensions and reduce confidence in the employer.

Most important is to restore trust!

How can this be done effectively when the communication channels are mainly digital, most of us work from home, and the number of in person close contacts is limited? In all likelihood, the 2+2 rule will apply until the end of the year or even longer. Organising any kind of company events or parties this year is difficult, to put it mildly. In the current situation an employee gift program becomes very important, as company gifts are an easy option to help maintain team unity.

Historically, some of the best reinforcers of team spirit have been uniforms or workwear. Contemporary company uniforms mean promotional clothing, as they are constantly in the picture, and help to reinforce team spirit. Examples include T-shirts with the company name and logo, caps, scarves, sweaters, fleeces, softshell jackets, thermos cups or shopping bags in the company colours with an emblem. Various practical items such as household goods or smart desktop items also make good corporate gifts enhancing the team’s sense of unity.

It is important that the advertising product that you give as a gift should be a useful and innovative item carrying a very positive message accurately characterising your company. A promotional item or a small gift should convey only good emotions. It must not be sloppily chosen, nor too expensive, as this could hurt the recipient’s feelings, especially in these difficult times when the employer has to give redundancy notices or introduce pay cuts. How we treat our team members today affects the company’s image for a very long time. Therefore, a gift to an employee who is made redundant should be mainly symbolic and with an encouraging message that we will be hoping that you come back.

Let's get creative!

All promotional products that have practical value and are personalised help to maintain team spirit. For example - thermoses, coffee mugs with logo, a trendy backpack, a laptop bag or a soft plaid or blanket, branded with a name or logo.

Here are some good ideas for activities that will help to keep your team united and motivated:

• Different games to promote teamwork. For example, you send each employee working from home a game with your company logo or an inspiring message that will help the team to prepare for an upcoming online meeting.

• “Do-it-yourself promotional gift” set (a mug, T-shirt, lollipop, etc.). With this option it is very important that the team leader is closely involved in the process, for example with a video tutorial, showing visually how to prepare this promotional product.

• “Treasure hunt” is another exciting way to motivate employees. For example, parcel machines can be used for sending various company gifts to employees in different parts of Estonia as part of this “treasure hunt” game.

• Corporate gifts for leisure time. In this case, it is important to know the hobbies of the team members and what motivates each person. And if several employees have the same hobby, then you could create a competition and give the winner a small company gift as a prize.

• Sporting challenges. Many companies already use activity challenges, but the process can be taken to the next level by adding thoughtful awards and more competitive aspects.

• The challenge of new skills. Offering company gifts is an easy way for an employer to motivate employees to acquire necessary new skills which will help the manager to better organise the work process. The team leader must find in advance suitable digital courses and training options that facilitate working in lock-down situations. New skills do not have to be directly related to the job. Each new skill makes the employee more confident, which will later reflect in their work results.

• The challenge of content creation. Your employees are the best representatives of your company when they create content that can be used in various digital channels. It is important to also add to the content photos or videos where employees are using promotional products with your company logo.

• The challenge of new opportunities. Every employer wants their team to think creatively “out of the box”, creating innovative solutions and looking for new opportunities. These corporate challenges can be supported and encouraged by corporate gifts. 

We hope that you found some good ideas in this article about how to use advertising gifts to better motivate your team and restore team spirit in our new reality.

You can find more exciting ideas for corporate gifts from these stories: 

Combine a Promotional Gift with Your Marketing and Sales Campaign

Think thoroughly about the purpose of your promotional gift

Let business gifts keep your company permanently visible

Good organizational culture starts with promotional products