This is an awesome thread! I definitly would like to have more ideas about great Christmas gifts.
 

At this moment we have 30 employees, and what they most appreciate is the personal Christmas cards from the leading staff. I can understand this will get tougher when you have a larger company, but perhaps colleagues can write christmas cards to other colleagues?
 

Further on we had some great Christmas boxes with local beverages and snacks from the region. And some of our colleagues, in the spirit of sustainability, have donated their Christmas ‘gift’ to planting trees. 

Hi @Wendy, great to see you again!  🤩
Thank you for sharing your ideas. I like the “support your local businesses” & sustainable approach, and I’m sure many will appreciate that too.
 

but perhaps colleagues can write christmas cards to other colleagues?

So basically everybody would get randomly assigned an employee which they write a personal card to? I think that’s quite sweet, and would actually work pretty well in a smallish company where there is a tight culture.
 

Going kindof off-topic here but this makes me think of “Secret Santa”, or a variation which we call “Schrottwichteln” in German. Apparently it’s called “White elephant gift exchange” in English.

Last year, in our team of 12, everybody was randomly assigned another team member a few weeks in advance and we had to give them a present during our Christmas Party.
But the main rule was: you have to spend less than €5, or an item that is for free or that you already own and want to give away, and: it has to be funny, ironic or kinda useless. 

We ended up exchanging some funny 2nd hand books, a clothes steamer, a laser sword… it was just so funny!

But this is more for teambuilding activity, rather than gifts from the company for all their employees.

Some other ideas I heard of:

• an engraved powerbank (portable phone charger) with the company logo,
• a JBL Go engraved speaker,
• a wireless charging station,
• a subscription to the Calm App for meditation/relaxation,
• plant seeds in a branded pot for people to grow at home… 

I look forward to other ideas from Community members!
If you have a minute, write your suggestions down here so can create a huge collection together.

@Daniele In Netherlands you have the Holiday ‘Sinterklaas’ instead of Secret Santa . Funfact: Did you know that CocaCola got their idea of Santa Claus based on Sinterklaas? 

But indeed a great way of getting your colleagues involved in celebrating the Holidays together and some awesome Teambuilding! 

Think Differently, Be Sustainable

So - as with many organisations we are seeking to truly take demonstrable actions on our pledges towards Net Zero Carbon.
For those not aware of Scope 1, 2 & 3 here’s a brief explanation from Deloitte

My ‘Call to Action’ CTA on gifts - Think Differently

Think differently about gifting - research repeated shows it is the ‘Recognition’ not the ‘Reward’ that has greatest impact. By that it is Who gives the recognition, What they say (verbally or written), When, Where and How they give that recognition.

Ultimately, of course, it is not what you said or did that people necessarily remember - It is how you made them feel.

If you must give a gift/reward - Be Sustainable

Patagonia will not provided branded goods of its clothing - as it is deemed unsustainable.
If you can avoid shipping it (do so).
Perhaps sponsor an endangered animal, plant a tree - in both cases check the legitimacy.

In a time of digital and the ease of consumerism there is something rather special about a hand-written (yes hand-written) note/letter of thanks.