HR’s Favorite Things

This year’s edition of the survey (the 5th annual!) gave HR pros an opportunity to have their say on their favorite things, with a gift giving spin. More than 200 HR professionals from North America weighed in with their responses from December 2nd to 14th via an online survey.

Congratulations to the winner of the draw for the Flip Mino Camcorder – Loren JC Smith!

Here are the survey results, and just a few of the Halogen team’s favorite responses! Happy Holidays from Halogen Software!

What gifts do you most like to give at work?

Some of our favorites:

• Our HR staff buys each other souvenir pens when traveling, which is fun and functional.
• Gifts to children who aren’t expecting one! I love to see the smiles on their faces when they are surprised.
• Our team did a gift exchange of our favorite things last year and it was great. We learned a lot about each other and had a blast.

What gifts do you most like to receive?

Some of our favorites:

• Home brew equipment and supplies
• Gems! Every girl needs some good jewellery!
• One of the best gifts I ever received was a goat given to a village through UNICEF. I don’t need more stuff, and so many others in the world do.
• I make a point of getting fun gifts for my co-workers/employees that can entertain us when things get intense. One year I gave out a joke book, another year it was mini dart boards for our cubes.

What’s your favorite way to recognize employees?

Some of our favorites:

• I am very big on face-to-face recognition. I think this makes employees feel good and it also helps build morale. I like to deliver hand written notes or surprise people with a small gift that is personal to them. They are sometimes surprised that I remember something that they like.
• One of my favorite things when I was early on in my career is when I would get one-on-one time with executives on special projects.
• By presenting a deserving employee with a “Zucchini A Day Award” or a “Cool Cucumber Award” . Take an item from your garden, decorate it with ribbons and flowers and generate a one page award that describes something the employee has just done that you appreciate. Voila – instant recognition and it’s something the employee can eat!

What’s your favorite holiday party story?

Here are just a few of the most fun, entertaining, weird and downright bizarre ones that HR professionals shared with us:

• “Surprise” events. For example, one of my employers met us at our store, put us on a bus with Baileys/hot choc, flew us via float planes to Victoria and gave us $50 to go shopping. Most of us went to the Christmas store, went for tea at the Empress, then home. I still have the Christmas items I purchased and think fondly on that team building experience!
• When money was tight (which it still is) our department squeezed into our small workroom for a luncheon (each person brought a food item from their national heritage to share) and a gift exchange.
• Last year our HR department took the time after employees’ shifts ended to hold “dance classes”—we learned salsa moves, electric slide, and a few other dances and at our Christmas party we busted out our moves. It was so much fun. About 20-30 of us up there doing the exact same dance steps. And seeing the faces of the other employees who did not participate. We had a lot of fun doing that. And I was able to learn a few salsa moves!!
• At our annual white elephant gift exchange an employee brought in a Starbuck’s cup with multiple Starbucks gift cards. The employee that selected this did not know that altogether they totalled $1.20.
• Last year, one of our employees was arrested at the hotel for mouthing off at the manager and the police came and tackled him and took him away. Not so funny on Monday when we had to clear things up with that employee, but hilarious in hindsight.
• All holiday parties have the usual “employee tricks” stories but the agency I work for had a bowling party for all staff (400) and an employee who walked in to the party visibly drunk thought it was a good idea to bowl in the lane next to my HR staff.
• One year we had a party at the managing director’s house, and as the night went on, the executives got a little carried away dancing. Seeing the big wigs cut the rug to some top 40 and capturing it with pictures – PRICELESS.