It's that time of year when people in workplaces around the world engage in the nutbaggery of Christmas gift-giving; you know, that awkward time when everyone in the office is given a small budget to work to and a person to buy for with the gifts given "anonymously" at some stupid gift-giving ceremony. It's fucken retarded. This is only my opinion based on many ridiculous such events that always seem awkward and uncomfortable for all concerned. You may have, and are entitled to a completely different opinion of course.
Fortunately my workplace is one that does not engage in such tomfoolery. There's an end of year dinner paid for in full by the organisation, which I went to last night and would have cost them a bloody fortune, some bonus payments are handed out behind the scenes, and that's about it. Any gift-giving is left to the discretion of the individual and is usually done in a more private way, person-to-person. It all seems rather civilised and legit. I'm non-religious so don't give a fuck about the true meaning of Christmas; it's about time off, great food and company and the chance to give gifts to some valued people around me and that includes work colleagues as well. This year my work gift list has several people on it and for the men (and one woman) it's bottles of spirits, a mixture of scotch whiskey and gin; I've gone for Green Ant Gin and Green Label Scotch Whiskey for those gifts. Note: I've maintained a green theme. There's five such gifts being handed out mainly for the key stake-holders of the organisation. In keeping with the green theme I have secured several Be The Light kits which I've chosen as the gifts for the unsung hero's of the organisation; the admin girls. When I do gifts I always try to find out what people might like, what may add some value to their day or just make them happy and I think these little light-bulb-plant-thingy's will do exactly that. There's a really cool story behind these items too - you can find it on the website I've linked if you're interested.
I'll be handing out gifts in the next week or so and am looking forward to it. It's a chance to show gratitude to people who I work with and more specifically those who have assisted or befriended me throughout the year or those I feel closer with. There's no real agenda though, it's a gift so is given without the expectation of anything in return although it feels really good and seems a nice way of rounding out the year.
Have you folks ever done this, or been the recipient of workplace gift-giving? Have you been subjected to the enforced gift-giving thing I mentioned above? If you were to give your boss a Christmas gift what would it be and what would you want in return? If you've got any thoughts or comments on this scenario feel free to comment below.
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We have the gift giving during the festival of Diwali. All the organization always distribute gifts and sweets to their employee and the different business partner. always a treat to get good gift. The theme of "go green" is getting very popular everywhere. I remember, my sister also started the same and she use to gift "basil plant" whenever she made visits to her friends home. Basil / Tulsi is a religious plant with multiple health benefits.
Diwali is also celebrated here due to the large population of Indians although I've not heard of any non-Indians celebrating it. Some workplaces may have events where the entire workforce get involved though, just none I know of. Gifts and sweets though, what's not to like!
In my time at work there were gift exchanges I'm not against it I just never knew what to give and it was difficult at times because I didn't have the money to give a good gift. But it was nice and fun.
Here is a gift to my secret friend.
Be encouraged. And best of luck.
I believe we could give gifts all year round in the work place, things like: respect, courtesy, manners and kindness, a friendly smile or greeting and some praise when due. Unfortunately people don't do a lot of that despite them being some of the most valuable gifts a person could give.
Christmas is a big deal in the Philippines, and almost all companies/groups/departments have their own exchange gift. Even friends tend to do this as well. Since I grew up with this tradition, I don't really mind it. The most common gift is usually Starbucks tumblers. I think it can be annoying, but it can also foster some camaraderie between coworkers.
I like the gift giving thing as I think I made clear in this post although I think many workplaces make it awkward and unenjoyable - I speak for here in Australia as I don't know what happens in non-Australian workplaces.
There must be a lot of Starbucks tumblers around over there. Thankfully the franchise is is only located in three Australian States and not my own, it's not very good coffee...but I hear their tumblers are popular. 😂
Oh there are a lot of styles available. You can have a look-see yourself:
https://starbucks.ph/merchandise
Coffee is very popular in the Philippines. Coffee shops are like the unofficial hang out place of the youth/yuppies. Starbucks is the most popular, and I think there's at least 5 branches every city, maybe 1 in every 30km radius. Then you have other coffee shops like Seattle's best, Figaro, Bo's, etc, each with their own set of tumblers. And have I talked about the planners? People are literally going to Starbucks almost everyday just to collect stickers to redeem the Christmas planners, which they barely use. It is insane.
As I said, we have Starbucks here but it was so unpopular that they closed most of their stores and pulled back to only a handful on the Eastern seaboard. The sell coffee pods here also, in supermarkets but I'm not sure how well they go, or ow badly.
Starbucks have to use stickers to entice customers there? The coffee should be doing that job.
That is the complete opposite here. They are very popular and most malls or hang out places have a store each. I don't drink coffee much so I don't care about their coffee as well.
For the stickers, I did a bit of research, and they actually have a separate website for the Christmas tumblers and planner for sticker redemption. I don't know when this started but here is the site if you want to check how it works.
https://starbuckstraditions.ph/#collection
The coffee/ambiance/hang out place already pull a lot of customers to them, but this sticker+planner combo makes them rake in the cash. People like the challenge, and have a reason to hang out there. When they do get the planner, it is a sense of accomplishment for them.
I think I have to disclose that I do not work for Starbucks, I am not sponsored by them, I do not endorse them, and I don't usually drink their coffee. haha
You're Mr. Starbucks! Although you don't work for them, I hope they see this and offer you...well, at least some stickers!
Over here, giving gifts is a big deal especially during the Christmas seasons. Some workplaces only give bonuses, some others hand out gifts like bags of rice and stuff like that to all of their employees.
I've only ever heard of few companies that organized some party to mark the end of the year.
I'm not sure the idea of giving gifts anonymously would sit fine with me. I wouldn't like to bother about what exactly to get. And what if I don't like the person that is chosen as the recipient of my gift? That would be defeating the true meaning of gifting.
Mostly here there's an event organised, like the dinner I went to last night, the cost is often commensurate to the profitability of the workplace/business/company; some are very large although a lot are broken up by teams: Accounting and Finance, Sales, Warehouse, etc. There's not always an event or even gifts, some get bugger all. I'm lucky that my organisation are extremely profitable and are keen to keep the workforce happy so things were rather good all things considered.
I agree with the anonymous gifting thing for exactly the same reasons; giving should be done genuinely and for the right reasons, not because someone was told to do so.
I assume it works here too as you mentioned. The packages or parties are determined by the profits made. I guess they all just go with what is obtainable.
Are you like me in your beliefs?
I believe there is something more. A higher power. I do not subscribe to the "prophets fairy tales" of mankind. There is good and evil in my opinion. But that is just good and bad people. Is there some dark forces/good forces driving these people. Maybe, but I only believe in what I can touch and feel. Everything "Man" touches he corrupts. Organized religion is just one such thing.
Happy Holidays is my go to phrase.
I hope your time off is as great as mine will be. I set up one more round for next week. Then fuk it...
I quit
Maybe I will rehire myself when the new year rolls around and the bills are due. Have you met my Boss . He is an Asshole... Lmao
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I don't need an imaginary friend to help me justify things and certainly don't put my present and future in the hands of some imaginary person, I get after it and make it happen myself. If you think that, then we think alike.
I loved the story of the soldier and the making of the candles, it's great.
Those gifts are very original but above all meaningful, I hope the people you give it to know what's behind it... the story, that's the most beautiful thing.
When I worked as a teacher .... I used to have an end of year get together with all my students in the garden of my house, everyone brought something to eat and drink, we were about 30 people. It was held on the last Saturday of November every year.
I prepared with my hands small gifts, all handmade, and last year, in 2018, I made a personalised parchment for each student highlighting their achievements. It took me months of preparation but it was worth it to see their happy faces. ....
I also made handmade chocolates with liqueur.... but that's another story... yes I also made chocolates and with the box made by me, all handmade!!!! I made them to sell and to give as gifts.
I like to make sure the gifts I give are relevant or have some meaning and I think these will work well.
It was a nice touch with that gathering you held and I think you would have got as much from it as your students did. Nice work.
I'm sure you can do it! They're going to love it, I would love it!
Yes, the satisfaction was very great, my students and I were very happy... I think I have photographs of that...
As your list of gift giving is long so it means that you have many people around you with whom you have acquaintance.
Well, I have never gifted anything to boss but I have gifted chocolates to my students for appreciation (when I was teaching in school).
In my university, we friends also exchange gifts but those gifts are books and chocolates. Both are my favorite type of gifts.
Work colleagues is who I refer to in this post, there's a few of them but not all are getting a gift.
Giving a gift to someone with genuine thought and without expecting anything in return is a nice feeling right?
Yes, while giving gifts to friends is just to make them feel that "I regard them and their efforts to keep this friendship smooth".
I can truly relate to the workplace gift giving. In our office, we have the concept of 'Kris Kringle' where you send a gift anonymously to someone but with a theme every week. Our themes so far are (1) somethong embarassing; (2)something long and hard; (3)something useful in the workplace. Its just all for fun really. Tho, i agree that it should be done at our own discretion and from person to person.
Yeah, kris kringle is that thing I refer to in this post - It's an awkward and forced thing that seems very disingenuous to me.
I'm not religious either, but I love Christmas for its amazing fairy-tale atmosphere. At this time, I want to believe in miracles, I feel uplifted and believe that everything will be fine. This light bulb with a flower is the first thing I noticed. I'm not very good at hydroponics, but I really liked the idea, it looks really original.
I wonder if there'll be any miracles this year? There's plenty of bad stuff around so the world could use some.
Personally I am not a fan of this whole Christmas gift giving thing, but when it comes to work, it's just the "expectation" or part of the social norms that people give gifts. Be it purely for the festive season, or express gratitude, or just doing because everyone is doing so. ><
I don't like the forced nature of it in the workplace and feel people should be free to do as they please rather than be cornered into doing it.
Yeah agree with you. I guess that's partly the reason why people sometimes receive gifts that aren't useful as well.
People love getting a bottle. It's one of those things that you can't go wrong with, those light things looks damned cool too!
This bit sums up my attitude to Christmas perfectly :O)
Yeah, it's hard to go wrong with it I think, and something a little different wins the day hence the choices I made.
On the Christmas thing...I'm not surprised you feel the same.
Enforcing gifts??? Wow, that's terrible. I prefer giving out without expecting in return which is why I go with this;
I get to know what the person needs and If I can afford it, I gift it out. Nothing more.
It's called kris kingle or secret santa and in the workplace is usually made mandatory so no one misses out.
A couple years ago (at a different workplace) we were all given a $20 budget and were asked to pick a name from a jar, I got someone I didn't like. I ended up buying a $40 bottle of gin (I made inquiries and found out the person liked gin) and then arrived at the event (a breakfast in a café) to hand it over. The fucker didn't turn up. So, that meant I kept the gin for myself but also meant that the person who she had drawn to buy for went without a gift. How is that team-building or motivational? Oh yeah, that's right, it's not. It's a fucken dumb concept and often poorly managed. It's also a way of the company avoiding the need to buy Christmas gifts for the team.
I don't need gifts from my organisation, they pay me very well throughout the year and give me a bonus at the end of the year (that's all remuneration for effort) so I don't expect a gift, or even an event but it's nice when it happens. I just don't agree with the enforced kris kringle thing and prefer a more organic gift-giving scenario.
Made mandatory.... what a joke!
That's just it. Things like this happen when the company is trying to play smart. It is sad. No no one should be forced to give out anything.
However, I am glad you are in a better place now, and thanks for the deep explanation given on kris kringle. I appreciate it.
Very creative idea, used lamps can be used as valuable items
Well, they're not used ones, they're a product created new and from more sturdy glass than an actual light bulb, it's just the look they borrow from a traditional light bulb. A good concept right?
Your posts truly shows your crystal honest views of life whether people agree to it or not. and its a trait that keeps me attracted to read more. Which in turn I learn... at the same time get several laughs like this one. hehehe.
"Its fuckin retarded~" bwahahaha! I'm with you.
Hey mate, I hope you're well.
I've (unfortunately) been involved in so many I'd those kris kringle workplace gift things at Christmas time and they're mostly hideous. Some love it though...never made sense to me.
I have never heard experienced the enforced-gift-giving thing. If I were to give my boss a Christmas gift, it would be something that she loves like perfumes, bags, and any stuff I think about her preference. But whenever I will give a gift, I am not really expecting something in return. Merry Christmas in advance!
It's nice to consider what the person may like or want and then do that; it shows respect. Thanks for your wishes, I appreciate it and hope you also have a nice Christmas and end of the year.