Why Gifting is Still a Necessity in the Workplace — Even in the Digital Age

To all of you who are participating in the festivities, a Happy Chinese New Year to you, and we’d like to wish all businesses in Malaysia (and beyond) a prosperous Year of the Tiger ahead! As we all know, Chinese New Year is all about bringing in the new year with family and friends, and besides the wonderful food and great reunions, the festivities are also usually celebrated with the exchanging of red packets — or ang pows. 

Ang pows are essentially gifts between loved ones during the annual celebrations, but as we look to usher in the new year safely, some of us might still be enjoying the festivities remotely — with the help of technology. 2021 has clearly been a year of much change for many of us, but with digitalisation efforts accelerated around the globe due to the pandemic, the practice of exchanging gifts has perhaps been overlooked in recent times.

However, did you know that gifts can play an important role in the success of your company? 

Read on to find out why.  

1. Gifting helps to improve employee engagement 

As the nation deals with the potential threat of Omicron, many corporations are still implementing hybrid workforces — or even fully remote work models. The flexibility offered by these non-conventional arrangements are often balanced against perceived challenges, but these can be offset provided you have the right know-how and the right digital tools.

But an issue that can occur with remote teams is isolation, with the lack of face-to-face time with managers and other teammates possibly affecting employee engagement in the digital workplace. To help with this, consider starting a peer-to-peer gifting programme. This can help with employee morale, while allowing leaders and employees to show recognition between one another — while achieving overall engagement goals. 

If physical meet-ups aren’t possible, gifting via e-commerce platforms is a viable alternative. Or better yet, altHR users can simply use the built-in gifting feature within the Store module on altHR to easily send gifts to others in the team. 

Read more about that here.

2. Gifting helps to build digital workplace culture

Studies have revealed that 65 percent of workers prefer to work from home post-pandemic, signifying a continuous shift towards remote work models. As such, it’s imperative that you build a workplace culture that aligns with employees’ needs and demands, while offering a sense of purpose and value. 

Employee well-being has become key to ensuring that you have the best talent on board, which means that an emphasis has to be placed on cultivating an inclusive, people-centric culture. Even as we navigate the growing pains of digitalisation, remember to always have your employees at the forefront of your thinking — and gifting is a great way to show your appreciation for your team. 

When looking into this, consider gifting programmes that allow employees to reward one another (rather than simply managers rewarding subordinates). That’s because recognition can be even more significant when coming from peers, with studies showing that as few as 13 percent of workers feel engaged at their jobs. 

As such, an effective gifting programme gives your team a sense of belonging, and helps to build a strong, powerful digital workplace culture.

3. Sometimes, money isn’t everything

You might think that your company’s annual increments, or even bonuses might already qualify as gifts — and you’d be wrong. While there isn’t any of us that would say no to a healthy bonus, a gifting programme is an entirely different thing. Much like how ang pows aren’t simply about monetary value, the power of gifting extends beyond simply compensation. 

When using something like altHR’s eGift feature, you can share rewards such as vouchers for popular food/e-hailing services like Grab, or even buy a cup of coffee for your team. As mentioned above, this is about recognition, fostering camaraderie, and simply, showing kindness to one another. 

While we all love a nice compensation package, the power of gifting is… well, more powerful than that. Your employees will be happier, more engaged, and more productive as a result.