Thank you gifts for colleagues

Thanks, merci, cheers, danke, muchos gracias... 

These short words don’t look like much written down, but no matter what language you might choose to say them in, the weight they carry shouldn’t be underestimated. Sending thank you gifts for colleagues can have a huge impact 🏋️

The true value of something is often revealed when it is taken away. Think about the last time someone didn’t give you a nod after you held a door open for them, or even worse, a time when you forgot to thank someone for a small favour. Squirming yet? Sorry to do that to you but it hopefully demonstrates just how important saying thanks can be, even in seemingly minor situations.
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Showing gratitude is deeply ingrained into most cultures and it’s an essential part of forming strong, personal bonds with others. When it gets overlooked, it causes upset, bad feelings and a loosening of those bonds. This is soon forgotten in passing interactions with strangers but can cause lasting and potentially costly problems when someone feels their good work, loyalty or professional achievements are going unrecognised.
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To avoid this, you need to ensure you thank your teams in meaningful ways that create lasting impressions. The best way to do this is by supporting those words of gratitude with a well thought out gift. 🎁
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As when sending presents in our personal lives, workplace gifting taps into primal feelings of connection between the sender and the receiver. Reward someone for their hard work and their natural response will be to do more work. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.

So now that we understand why it’s important to send corporate thank you gifts, let's have a look at some of the things to take into account before you start looking for the best thank you gifts for colleagues.

‍Things to consider before buying gifts for colleagues

Whilst most people will be appreciative of any present, if you want your gift to really make an impact, it should be meaningful and appropriate to the person receiving it. To do this there are a few things to think about before diving into looking for those thank you gifts for work colleagues:

Different tastes 😋- Chances are that your teams are made up of a diverse set of people, each with their own likes and dislikes. So choosing a ‘one size fits all’ gift is probably not going to be an option. At the same time, shopping around for individual presents can be incredibly time consuming, and so there’s often a trade-off between choice and convenience. Our gifts with choice range make things easy by letting your recipients choose from a selection of Huggg favourites.

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Dietary requirements 🥜- Food and drink make excellent thank you presents for colleagues, but with many people having specific dietary needs, you’ll need to make sure your recipients can actually enjoy what you send them. And we’re not just talking about vegetarians and vegans; cultural and health reasons mean that some people may not be able to eat and drink certain products so looking for gifts with different dietary options is going to be essential.

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Budget 💰- Let’s not beat around the bush - price is most likely a primary consideration, so get your budget confirmed before you even begin to start shopping. The amount you are looking to spend will vary depending on the reason for saying thank you. Small, inexpensive gifts sent as regular tokens of appreciation can have just as much impact as large, one-off presents. Our handy guide to the tax implications surrounding workplace gifts might come in handy too.

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GDPR - Like it or not, GDPR is here to stay and it can’t be ignored when sending corporate thank you gifts in the UK. If you are sending presents to the homes of your colleagues, you will first need to ensure they have given consent for you to share their addresses with the supplier. Fail to do this and you could find yourself in hot water. We’ll look at how Huggg can help with this a little later in this article.

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Time ⏰- Depending on how many people you are looking to thank (and how regularly you’ll be doing it), sending thank you gifts for colleagues can take some serious time to organise. Don’t underestimate this or you’ll find yourself making hasty choices that fall short of the mark. Thankfully, Huggg has some useful time-saving tools, like our group-link feature that allows you to send up to 2,000 gifts via a single link - that makes sending presents a cinch, and will help you win back some precious time.

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‍Reasons to say thank you with gifts

Whilst some may find it hard to say out loud, it can’t be denied that we all enjoy receiving gifts. We got over any embarrassment around this a long time ago at Huggg, and we take every opportunity we can to yell “RECEIVING GIFTS FEELS GREAT!” from any available rooftop. It really is true and we know when people feel great, they do great. So thank you gifts for colleagues are the perfect way to help get the most out of people, whilst also making them feel good. 
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Here are a few reasons to say thank you to your teams...

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A job well done - If someone does an exceptional piece of work, then sending a gift will go a long way towards showing them that you recognise this. It doesn’t have to break the bank either, sending small presents whenever they are deserved, will help nurture a reciprocal cycle of work and reward that will benefit both employer and employee.
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Completing a project on time - We’ve all been in situations when a looming deadline has meant working late or across the weekend. And we’ve all been in situations where this was taken for granted. It doesn’t feel great, does it? Sending thank you gifts for colleagues shows that you genuinely appreciate the extra effort, and really will help motivate people when the next deadline comes around.

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Team effort - Whilst it’s good to acknowledge an individual achievement, it’s also important to recognise when a win at work is thanks to the input of a whole team. Remember how we mentioned how tricky it is to find a gift that everyone on a team will like? Well we’ve got a suggestion that will help with this a little later in the article.

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Professional milestones - Whether it be a promotion, years of service or retirement, it’s always good to send a work anniversary thank you gift when any kind of professional milestone is reached. Our platform has some great options for presents that will have much more impact than a pair of gold cufflinks or a dusty carriage clock.

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Just because - With many people still working from home, and/or contending with the new challenges the pandemic has introduced, it’s understandable that motivation and engagement levels may need a lift occasionally. Sending a well-timed gift just to say thank you for keeping on, can have a profound and beneficial effect on the recipient. It reminds them that they are valued and will provide an effective motivational boost.

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‍Thank you notes for employees

When gifting to say thank you, it’s important to let the recipient know what it is in thanks for. In addition to this, including a small note is your opportunity to add an extra personal touch and to make sure the present has the intended effect. 
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If you’re struggling with what to write, our advice is to keep it simple. No one is expecting poetry or reams of gushing praise, so try not to overthink it. “Thanks for all the hard work, we really couldn’t have done it without you” will hit home and let the recipient know their efforts are appreciated. Job done.
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When sending gifts with Huggg, you can add a personal note that will be displayed on the recipient's device and you can help bring it even further to life by teaming it with one of our beuatiful digital gift wrap options.

Top thank you gifts for employees

Let's have a look at our top suggestions for employee thank you gifts that you can send with Huggg. We have a whole host of great gifts and tasty treats to choose from, but we think the ones below will work great when sent as thank you gifts for colleagues.
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A bunch of flowers or potted plants from Bloom & Wild - The perfect way to say thank you, and as recipients get to choose from a variety of flowers or plants, you know they will be loved every time.
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A bottle of bubbles from Virgin Wines - Recipients can choose from a selection of exclusive sparkling wines including Prosecco. A non-alcoholic alternative is also available.
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A case of beer from Toast Ale - If sparkling wine isn’t their thing, then let them choose from a selection of tasty, good for the planet beers from the fine folk at Toast Ale.
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A takeaway gift card - If you know someone is working late then say thanks with one of our takeaway gift cards. Redeemable on Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat.
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A Greggs Sausage Roll - Say thanks for a small favour by sending a Greggs Sausage Roll and we bet you won’t have to ask twice next time you need a hand. Redeemable against regular and vegan varieties.
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Gift with choice - Our gifts with choice are packed with a selection of Huggg favourites for recipients to take their pick from. Perfect for saying thanks to multiple people at the same time.
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Barefoot brownies - We’re yet to meet anyone who hasn’t tried these incredibly moreish brownies and instantly thanked us back for introducing them to them. Vegan and gluten-free options are available.
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A snack box from Healthy Nibbles - If you're looking for healthy thank you gifts then you’ve come to the right place. Healthy nibbles make snack boxes full of treats that are as tasty as they are healthy. Vegan and free-from options are available.

How to send thank you gifts in bulk with Huggg

If you’re not familiar with Huggg here’s how it works:
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• Choose what gifts you want to send from our (rather fantastic) selection.
   
• We turn them into hyperlinks which you send to your recipients via your preferred communication platform (email, Slack, WhatsApp etc). 
   
• Recipients click the link, enter their details and then claim their gift.
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Thats it! If it sounds easy, it’s because it is! 😊
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Our platform makes it super simple to send gifts to individuals or entire workforces. We have gifts to suit all budgets and, as recipients enter their own details, there are no GDPR concerns to deal with whatsoever. 🎉

P.S Want to know the benefits of sending thank you gifts to colleagues? Then check out our YouGov report on reward and recognition.