Diwali gifts: Cash, vouchers most preferred by employees

While a box of traditional sweets is the least desirable gift for office workers, cash and gift coupons/vouchers, and prepaid cards are the most desirable gifts this Diwali festival, business body Assocham said on Monday.

And, some companies are simply not expanding their Diwali gift budget: they are forking out gifts solely by merit!

This is borne out of an online survey conducted by Assocham Social Development Foundation from October 1 to 15 to gauge opinions of 1,000 full-time office workers and about 500 human resource professionals on Diwali festival bonuses given by companies. The study was conducted in 10 cities-- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai.

The survey showed that 45 per cent of office workers wanted cash or gift coupons/vouchers, 35 per cent preferred gadgets/electronic item/home appliances/utensils for personal use or for their households, 15 per cent would like to receive gift-boxes of sweets or cookies and the remaining preferred various other things.

However, over half of the HR professionals that Assocham interacted with said that cash rewards have the lowest impact and do little to improve employee satisfaction and performance. Many of these opined that non-financial rewards have a greater and longer-lasting effect on employee.

Most of the HR professionals said their companies have identified staff members who have consistently performed better and deserved to be recognised with something ‘tangible.’ Many said their companies followed the policy of meritocracy and reward only the best staff, thereby making it performance-based and not across the board.

“Most of the companies in private sector have gradually moved away from a fixed Diwali bonus and instead provide benefits considering employees’ individual performance for past few years, so hardly any change is expected on this front,” said D.S. Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham.

“Though companies are not getting very generous, but considering that Diwali being one of India’s widely celebrated annual festival, corporate gifting has become a tradition to express gratitude, appreciation, develop relationships and generate goodwill amid peers and employees.”

Many HR representatives also said that though they have earmarked a certain amount towards corporate gifting, but they have not increased their budget compared to last year.

Some plan to give gift hampers including assorted chocolates, imported liquor, genuine leather bags and even personalised gifts like gym/club membership to their deserving employees and clients this year.

Crockery, sweets, dry fruits, bed sheets, gold coins, home décor, tableware, luxury watches, designer apparel, expensive writing instruments, free holiday packages, movie tickets, dinner coupons, spa vouchers and hampers with a mix of festive essentials like torans, diyas, aromatic candles remain certain other popular gift options this year too.

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