10 Budget-Friendly Gifts for Employees

With the holidays fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about gift shopping. Finding the appropriate and budget-friendly gifts for employees can be a challenge. For a secret Santa gift exchange, you have to stick to a certain price range. You also want the gift to be gender appropriate. You definitely don’t want it to be something that your employees or colleagues will just throw in the trash!

This list of ten budget-friendly gifts for employees could be a good start, when preparing for the gift-giving season.

Personalized Mug

Everyone appreciates a personalized gift. Holiday gifts for employees don’t need to be overly complicated. A mug is easy to customize and can come in a variety of colors and sizes. And everyone in an office drinks coffee or tea! It can have a more serious artistic image, or a silly office inside joke. Personalized mugs can be bought online, on Amazon for instance.

Foodie Gift Basket

A gift basket filled with edible goodies is always a safe bet. Whether the person on the receiving end has a sweet tooth or craves a salty snack, a gift basket can have a medley of options. It’s also a great gift because it can be shared. A gift basket of snacks can be shared with family and friends. It can be unwrapped and shared with the office staff. However, beware of food allergies or intolerances.

Most large retailers now offer gluten-free baskets. Nut or dairy-free options are available as well.

Home Spa Kit

A home spa kit can be purchased at certain retail stores, or can be put together. Elements to include in a home spa kit: a candle, bubble bath or bath bomb, hand cream or lotion, or soap. It can absolutely be a unisex gift, if the selected scents are rather neutral. It’s one of those gifts for employees that says “Relax, you deserve a break!”.

Coffee Sampler

Did you know that an average American spends more than 1000$ on coffee in a year?

Cut your employee’s coffee spending by giving them a coffee sampler as a gift. However, you should ask them if they own a coffee grinder. Or, ask what kind of coffee machine they have at home. Most importantly, you want to ensure that you get the right grinds for their machine.

An Inspiring Business Book

A book about motivation, business success, or performance could make an excellent gift. For example, you can get suggestions from a manager, a colleague, or a friend. It’s also great to have a book to read during the slower moments of the holiday season. Your team could even start a book club.

DIY Hot Chocolate Gift Mugs

Who doesn’t love a hot cup of cocoa with marshmallows? The best part about these gifts for employees is that they can be consumed right away. A DIY hot chocolate gift basket should include cocoa mix, marshmallows, and maybe even a mini bottle of Baileys Irish Cream. And, it comes all wrapped in a mug so you can have your hot chocolate right at the office.

A Desk Plant

Give them a desk plant. While the weather is gloomy outside, make a colleague’s or an employee’s desk into a beautiful space. A good office desk plant requires little sun and little care. Therefore a succulent or a cactus would be perfect. They aren’t expensive and they look great.

A Board Game

A board game is an exciting gift option for a fun-loving employee. You don’t need to stick to the classics. There are so many types of a board or party games out now: strategy games, trivia games, cooperative board games, and so much more.

A Gift Card

Although it can be perceived as somewhat impersonal, a gift card is always appreciated. It’s the perfect gift to give to a colleague or manager that you don’t know too well yet.

A Half Day Off!

This one is a little unorthodox. In fact, it may not be a budget-friendly option for some larger companies. Yet, just an afternoon off could be the best gift to give your employees. The holidays are a hectic time. Therefore it often feels as though there are not enough hours in the day!

However, if your team is on Slack, you can take advantage of the Vacation Tracker application to seamlessly track employee leave. Most importantly, Vacation Tracker allows employees to book and track their vacations in real-time. They can even book half days off!

Try out the Vacation Tracker free 7-day trial before the start of this holiday season!

In short, when planning for the holidays, don’t forget to put in all employee vacations or holiday leaves! With Vacation Tracker, employees can make leave requests in seconds. You and your team can get notifications about upcoming vacations or days off directly in Slack. Just another burden off of your shoulders this holiday season!

Kristina Ousmanova

Kristina recently left behind fast-paced life of Human Resource Business Consulting to freelance as a Content Writer. A regular Vacation Tracker contributor, she can be found working remotely from her home in Montreal, usually while eating a variety of snacks.