5 employee gifts to avoid (and what to give instead)
By Kate Monica●7 min. read●Sep 14, 2025
Some companies pay to make their employees feel worse. How? They send hams, screwdrivers, jars of jam, umbrellas, and salt as employee gifts.
Our team conducted a survey of 1,500 employees working across 10 industries to find out what they really thought of employee gifts they’d received.
“I got a $5 grocery card,” wrote one employee. “Excuse me? What am I supposed to buy with $5?”
On the bright side, employees shared that meaningful gifts do make workers feel appreciated. A good gift motivates employees to work hard and makes them feel more valued.
To help you pick presents employees actually like, here’s a list of gifts to avoid based on our survey results.
Key takeaways
75% of survey respondents reported that their job satisfaction increases when they get a good gift.
65% of people just want money as a gift.
31% of employees said they’ve received a gift that made them feel unappreciated. This seems to be worse than receiving no gift at all.
The best employee presents have monetary value like gift cards or money. If you opt for physical gifts, choose thoughtful, personalized options.
1. Don’t give company swag
Hundreds of survey respondents received company swag as a gift, and nobody was too happy about it. Only 2% of respondents said swag was their favorite gift to receive, and only 18% put it in their top five.
Why it backfires
One construction worker said company swag as a holiday gift “lacks a feeling of thought and consideration.” Others received swag in such a thoughtless way that it made them not just bummed, but also angry.
“It was company swag (a stone drink coaster with the company logo on it) that I had to sign a form for, and that form allowed the company to then tax me on that ‘gift’ as income,” wrote one respondent working in wholesale and retail. “Huge misstep by the administration. Distorted trust. It backfired and made people angry.”
More broadly, people view company swag as a lackluster gift because it’s something that primarily benefits the company, not them.
“When I am gifted company swag, I feel it is really just part of the uniform, which should be provided regardless,” wrote one respondent.
Company swag as an onboarding gift when people join a company makes sense, but around the holidays, it may come off like HR simply had some extra hoodies lying around.
What to do instead
Focus on gifts that feel personal and thoughtful rather than promotional. Consider experience-based options like:
Extra PTO
Lunch at a local restaurant
Professional development opportunities employees can choose themselves
Even Visa prepaid cards show more consideration than branded merchandise because they acknowledge employees as individuals with their own preferences and needs outside of work.
“If it’s a thought out gift, it’ll raise morale, but if it’s company swag, chances are it wasn’t well thought out,” said one respondent who works in operations.
2. Be thoughtful with gift cards to specific retailers
A gift card to a specific retailer is the most common holiday gift employees receive, with 37% of respondents reporting they’ve gotten one in the past.
Why it backfires
A gift card to a specific retailer like Olive Garden or Buffalo Wild Wings can backfire in a big way if it’s not a place the recipient would normally go or offers goods they dislike.
Furthermore, a small denomination, especially for an expensive brand, can come off as insulting and out of touch.
“It was a small gift card to a store with expensive items, so it was essentially worthless to me,” wrote one respondent. “I would have preferred a small Visa card or gift card to a grocery store — something I could actually use.”
“We got a $10 gift card to Amazon the one year and it was like, wow, a whole $10? That’s enough to buy me a pack of socks maybe. It’s a pittance, and it’s kind of more insulting than just not getting anything,” wrote an employee in operations and productions for a construction company.
Even if the store isn’t expensive, giving a meager dollar amount to any location comes off as rude to most people.
Another trap to avoid is giving employees a gift card to their own place of business. It sounds obvious, but it does happen.
“The gift card was for a small amount of money to their own cafeteria,” said one baffled respondent, who works in transportation.
What to do instead
While gift cards to specific retailers can be thoughtful, they need to align with what recipients actually like. So if you’re putting in a mass order for the entire company as an HR professional or business leader, it’s best to go with Visa prepaid cards or cash.
However, if you’re ordering gift cards for specific employees as their manager or supervisor, it’ll go over much better if you know specific retailers individual employees like.
“My supervisor sent me a $50 gift card for Sephora,” said one respondent. “She knows I love makeup, so I appreciated that.”
3. Steer clear of food
Everybody’s gotta eat, so sending food as a gift makes sense, right? Survey takers said: not really.
Why it backfires
While gift cards to a grocery store for a reasonable amount of money are well-received by most, a gift card for a specific food item, a gift box of snacks, or artisan items that people aren’t really into are generally not appreciated.
Some people may be a big fan of fancy nuts, but it’s unlikely that everyone will appreciate the same gift.
“It was a box of peanuts,” said one nonplussed respondent, who works in operations and production.
While turkey may seem like a festive gift, we got several negative comments about it, and not a single positive one. Ditto for ham.
“A gift card for turkey,” said a respondent in manufacturing. “I actually gave the card away.”
“All I got was a $5 ham. It makes you realize they do not care about the people that help make them all that money,” said another employee.
It’s worth noting that many people may have already had their fill of both of these holiday staples. Holiday gifts generally arrive after Thanksgiving.
“I think anyone who only receives a turkey or ham tends to feel unappreciated,” wrote one respondent. “That is what happened to me, considering I already had two. I couldn't keep it because I also had ham, so I did not have room in my freezer or my fridge.”
Even worse is a food-related gift in lieu of a bonus or raise. If the leadership team is skimping on holiday bonuses for the year, it’s best not to spend extra change on specialty foods as a peace offering.
“Our boss had recently let us know that we weren’t going to receive end-of-year bonuses,” wrote an administrator respondent. “And then he gave everyone an impersonal package of three jams and jellies. This was literally what Chevy Chase’s character went through in ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.’ I was embarrassed for my boss being so out of touch.”
What to do instead
Our survey revealed that most people want the gift of choice. Use a reward platform that puts the power of choice in employees' hands. These services let recipients choose a gift card or prepaid card to spend on whatever they actually want:
Groceries
Restaurants
Meal delivery services
Retail items
Experiences
This approach eliminates the guesswork around dietary restrictions, preferences, and storage space while ensuring everyone receives something they'll genuinely appreciate and use.
4. Skip household items
It’s understandable to want to get employees a gift they’ll actually use. However, some HR departments and business leaders go overboard with household items.
Why it backfires
While people do want a gift they can put to use in their everyday life, they don’t want something so utilitarian that it feels like a chore.
“I was given a screwdriver at one of my old jobs when we had record-breaking numbers,” wrote one respondent in sales.
Several people received umbrellas as a holiday gift. While useful — except perhaps for one respondent who lives in the desert — it’s safe to say umbrellas don’t generally make people feel warm and fuzzy inside.
“I once worked for a facility that gave us each a cheaply-made umbrella as a Christmas gift,” another respondent wrote. “That gift made me feel bad about myself and the job I was doing for the facility.”
It’s also best to avoid socks. Everyone already has socks, and they’re likely to get socks from someone else during the holiday season. These are the standard go-to gift for people who don’t know what else to buy.
“My boss gave us dollar store Christmas-themed socks one year,” said one respondent. “It was so cheesy and weak. She should have been ashamed.”
What to do instead
If you’re going to get employees a specific gift rather than money or a gift card, the pressure is on. People expect something thoughtful and novel. Anything short of that will probably fall flat.
The best alternative is money. If you can’t give cash, then consider experience-based gifts like:
Day spa vouchers
Concert or event tickets
Gift cards for subscription services like Hello Fresh
These feel more like genuine treats and create positive memories rather than just adding to someone's collection of everyday objects.
5. Be careful with team dinners and pizza parties
Bankrolling a team dinner to a fancy restaurant is a great way to reward employees for an especially good quarter or a successful initiative. However, as a holiday gift, team dinners are polarizing.
“It makes me feel appreciated,” wrote one respondent who works in food service. “When we have dinners or team building experiences, it can be a good time for coworkers to see each other in a different perspective. Maybe even meet each other’s families.”
While some people love them, not everyone feels the same way.
Why it backfires
Team dinners that are essentially a pizza party in the break room can strike some as cheap and infantilizing.
“It was a pizza party,” one worker said. “We’re adults. Not kids.”
It’s also difficult to feel special at a crowded office party among increasingly sparse pizza boxes and long buffet lines.
“By the time I was even informed of said pizza party, the pizza was nearly gone,” one person wrote. “Out of 40 pizzas and 100 employees, I got one slice, and it was cold.”
Most employees would prefer to get cash or a gift card rather than a pizza party.
“A thank you note or a pizza party isn’t an employee’s favorite because they’re looking for a little extra money as a thank you,” said one respondent.
Even dinner at a nice restaurant can strike some as a lukewarm effort to motivate employees.
“I hate dinners because it is an extra obligation,” wrote one employee.
What to do instead
While many employees dislike the team holiday dinner tradition, others do appreciate the chance to get to know their coworkers outside of a workplace setting.
“A personalized note card or a team dinner with my boss or bosses seems authentic,” one respondent said.
If you want to do a team celebration, make it optional and supplement it with individual recognition. Host the dinner as a social activity rather than a gift, and pair it with personalized thank-you notes and individual rewards employees can enjoy on their own time.
This way, those who value team bonding can participate while others aren't left feeling like a mandatory event was their only holiday acknowledgment.
Why ineffective employee gifts can be harmful
When holiday gifts miss the mark, the consequences extend further than a few disappointed faces around the office. Poor gift choices can damage the workplace culture you're trying to strengthen.
Bad gifts hurt employee engagement and morale. They send the wrong message about how much leadership values your team. When employees receive impersonal or cheap gifts, it can feel like their contributions are being minimized or your company doesn't understand them as people. This creates resentment rather than appreciation.
The stakes are higher than you might think. A Gallup-Workhuman report found that employees who feel properly recognized are 73% less likely to feel burned out on a regular basis and four times as likely to be engaged with their work.
When gifts fail to feel meaningful, you're missing a crucial opportunity to strengthen employee motivation.
The bottom line: a bad gift doesn't just waste money, it can also actively harm the employee relationships you're trying to nurture during the holiday season.
Conclusion
Employees generally aren’t hard to please. The majority of survey respondents agreed on exactly what they wanted for the holidays: money.
When people ranked their top favorite gifts to receive for the holidays, the top-three winners were:
Money (cash or check)
Money (added to paycheck)
Money (Visa gift card)
So when in doubt, send money.
