Image by brungrrl via Flickr
Written by Karen D. Swim
Giving during the holidays can become especially tricky in the workplace. Do you give a gift to your boss? What if you have a matrix reporting relationship, do you give to your dotted line boss too? Do you have to participate in Secret Santa? What do you give to colleagues you barely know?
Unfortunately, workplace giving is often more of a political issue than a true spirit of giving issue. Joanna Young, however sums up the nonsense that has colored the season:
“Billions of pounds worth of presents are returned each year, often the day after Christmas. At least people are starting to donate unwanted gifts to charity shops here so they can sell them on but really, you have to ask why we’re all buying so much unneccessary stuff.I’d rather we focus on meaningful thoughtful personal gifts which can’t be done on a mass scale.”
I have felt this way for years and I’m not alone. Re-gifting has risen to an art form. Gifts become obligations and we give far more than is necessary. Chances are many of your colleagues are feeling the same way. You can lead the way in restoring the joy of the season and win at office politics.
If gift giving is your office tradition, suggest a new tradition this year. As everyone is feeling the pinch from the economy this year, people may be more open to eliminating interoffice gifts.
- Instead of gifts, suggest that everyone bring a canned good or toy to the office. Local food banks are really hurting this year with more families to feed than in past years. Unwrapped toys can be contributed to your local toy drive. In the U.S. fire departments, police departments and hospitals usually have programs.
- Select a community project and adopt them for Christmas. As a group you can pitch in and volunteer time and/or resources.
- Hold a blood drive. There is no greater gift than the gift of life. Blood banks are neglected this time of year and would welcome your efforts.
- Collect warm clothes or blankets. Blankets and warm clothes can be donated to local shelters.
- For a twist on Secret Santa, instead of gifts have recipients trade jobs for an hour or day. This of course will only work in environments where skill sets can be used in a variety of ways.
- Share the gifts of your traditions. Have an interoffice gathering where everyone brings a dish and story that celebrates their own special traditions for the year.
- Instead of giving individual gifts to the boss, chip in and buy one gift from the group. Keep it simple and choose a neutral professional gift, add monogramming if appropriate for a mores personal touch. If your relationship with your boss is very friendly, consider a gift certificate (spa gift certificates are one of my favorites).
- Go caroling. Your department / company can go caroling in the local community, at a local school or local children’s hospital.
Use your imagination and you’ll find that there are so many ways to bring colleagues together and rekindle the joy of the season. To sell your ideas to bottom line managers, remind them that charitable efforts can be publicized. A photo of your team collecting canned goods or giving blood is a great story for your company newsletter, website or local paper.
How does your office celebrate the season? What are your ideas for restoring joy to the season? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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Hi Nick, You can contact the Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) for help in setting up a local blood drive, your local hospital may also be willing to help. Finally you might try international organizations like the Global Network for Blood Donation. Ten people can save 30 lives with blood donations so it truly is a worthwhile pursuit. You might even ask local businesses to promote and perhaps donate items for a giveaway. Whenever we held them the cookies were a big hit. A local bakery might be willing to supply for such a good cause. Please let me know how it goes. 🙂
karen ,could you please send more info on who we can contact about starting up a blood drive.we live out in nw nsw 4 hrs from dubbo and 4hrs from moree at lightning ridge.my lovely partner suggested it may be a good idea to do a blood drive within our community,so ,no time like the present. any info would be a great help, thanks heaps, nick.
I’ve always thought of a gift as something I sacrifice for a bit and give to someone because I’ll surprise them.
Seems like when you are obligated to give someone something, it’s no longer a gift.
I’ll stick to the surprising since there’s usually joy in the eyes of the recipient that can’t be replaced. 🙂 Does so much for me, too.
Lillie, is there no end to the dramatic things that have happened to you??? Never mind fiction, you’re a living thriller!
Karen,
You are so sweet! I’ll let you know if I ever write a book of my own stories.
Friar, well my friend The Factory is heartlesss, zombie soul suckers in need of a viking rescue. 🙂 I agree with you Friar, it is about friends and family. Somehow we’ve diluted the meaning and then created tensions and stresses as a result. Imagine if we went back to making cards and home and making or baking gifts for family and close friends.
Brad, my friend you said a mouthful. Let’s hope that we can contribute to the change just a little. I shudder to think what we’re teaching the next generation. I am horrified by children “demanding” expensive gifts. Hannukah and Christmas have been tainted by retailers.
Lillie, this is an awesome story! I loved Dream or Destiny and can’t wait for the next installment but I would also love to see a collection of your stories in a book. You truly have had the most memorable, heartwarming experiences!
Robert, I think it’s hard for people to let go of the tradition and maybe just maybe deep down they don’t want to look like a cheap old grinch. I am of the mind that if you want to buy a gift for someone there are 12 months in the year. Getting a gift in August is more special than one in December. My old Pastor used to say, Christmas is not your birthday (unless it is) so you have no right to demand or expect gifts. Of course on your birthday, it’s YOUR day! 🙂
Joanna, lol! I am thankful I’m not in an office too. It makes you wonder though, it is exhausting for everyone so why does everyone repeat the cycle year after year?
Ulla your office has it right. It is so much fun to sit, eat and laugh and just celebrate the season. I am not sure where we got the idea that we had to go overboard on gifts to make the season special.
Wendi, down with clutter! I love your suggestion and I hope that others will read and see that people are relieved to have an alternative!
Melissa, LOL! I am a huge fan of recycling! I do always appreciate the thought but have learned to share what is not my taste or preference, you know all in the name of recycling! 🙂
Oh boy, I remember holidays at the office. Always a time for political tooth-grinding. The stories I could tell! One great idea is to just have everyone bring an ornament, then do an ornament exchange.
However, I am a fan of the re-gift. First of all, it’s totally funny. Just thinking about it gives me the giggles. Secondly, if an item gets re-gifted enough, it will eventually end up in the right hands. It’s just another form of recycling, I swear!
@Karen
You saw on Kellys’ blog what my company’s work group doing for Christmas. A three-hour “Holiday Lunch”, that we’re “encouraged to attend”, but are told we have to use our vacation time if we want to go.
(Bah, Humbug).
Christmas to me is about friends and family. I’ll do my own thing with my close work friends…as for the rest of the office, I’m not going to use my annual leave to take part in a company event.
I WILL drop off a toy under the tree for the Salvation Army, though.
Karen, Imagine how the world would change if people followed your advice. Too much emphasis these days on buying, not enough on giving.
Karen,
These are great ideas. I’ve worked alone for a dozen years or so now so I don’t deal with these issues. But when I owned an interior landscape company, we always had a dinner for our employees and their families. Everyone brought a dish and we set up tables in the warehouse and had a good time relaxing together and getting to know everyone’s spouses and kids..
The other thing we did was volunteer together to distribute toys to needy children. People who were interested signed up as a team with a local program. Our company usually fielded several 3-man teams at different times during the holiday season.
One person was assigned to be Santa—the organization provided a Santa suit—one was the driver who had to stay with the car, and one was the elf responsible for navigating and keeping track of which kid got what toy.
We were given safety warnings, such as never park in a position that you couldn’t make a fast getaway, because many of the homes we delivered toys to were in high-risk neigborhoods. One night we ended up on a dead-end street and as we were leaving, a carload of rough-looking teenagers pulled in front of us and screeched to a stop. All four doors were thrown open and what looked like a gang of young men jumped out and ran over to our car.
We sat there frantically trying to figure a way out. The boys ran up to the window, yelling, “Santa! Santa! Santa!” We gave them candy from Santa’s bag—the charity gave us lots of candy to give away to the kids who inevitably showed up and who weren’t on the list for gifts. All our candy that night went to the “gang” of tough-looking guys, who grinned and high-fived each other and said, “Thanks, Santa!” Then they jumped back in their car and drove away.
Karen, I think you’ve inspired a post on my blog about this memory and another one of Santa and kids and a Polaroid camera.
Great suggestions, all, Karen. We’ve been tryin’ for years to get our family to forego the useless gifts every Christmas. After all, what do we really need, right? Not that much, when you get right down to it.
I like your ideas – they have the added element of going beyond ourselves, if you get my meanin’. Always a good thing!
Karen, I feel you should be organising Christmas for everyone! So many great ideas in your posts.
This one makes me thankful I’m not in an office just now… so many things to think about, not to mention etiquette round who pays for food at nights out, who buys drinks, what the boss is supposed to pay for, how junior you need to be to get drinks bought for you, what to get your secretary, how many cards to send… oh, it’s exhausting!
Karen,
we have brunch together. Somebody puts up a list, and everybody writes down what she or he is going to bring. And then we sit around a big table, have coffee or tea, sandwiches, tomatoes, fruit, juices, cheese and so on. We laugh together and have a good time.
Karen, these are really good suggestions.
Our theater group has done a “white Elephant” exchange for years around the holiday season, which totally drives me nuts. The LAST thing I wasnt to do is exchange more clutter with each other!
This year I suggested we do away with it and collect gifts for kids at a local abuse shelter. It was a much better idea and I think everyone was relieved not to have to think of some small, funny, silly or dumb thing to bring that no-one really would want anyway!