The work from home set up is becoming the norm these days, so how do you manage and motivate your remote team? Setting up goals and milestones, while coupling them with rewards has already been a hot topic. As your company starts to think about the future of remote work, here are 10 Best Practical Items that help with productivity for employees.
In today’s times, it is not uncommon to have company's whole workforce work from home--especially if your business does not require physical operations. Some of the top tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter have announced that their employees will be working from home indefinitely. Many other companies are informing their team that they're looking to reopen the office in 2021, which means 2020 will have almost been fully remote.
In a forced experiment of having teams work remotely, more and more companies are acknowledging the benefits of a work from home arrangement, which is often perceived by many workers as a way wherein they can accomplish many of their expected output while still balancing work and life. Some of our clients have implemented certain employee rewards and milestones for managing a remote team and here are ways you can motivate employees with this new form of work.
Why Should You Invest in Work from Home Gifts for Employees?
Giving work from home gifts for staff sends a very powerful message to the members of your work force, and that is you fully support this set up that you have made for them. Sending a gift for people who work for you in their house is a way for employees to feel that their companies make the effort to improve their work from home conditions with items that can increase productivity, promote a better sense of organization, spur critical or creative thinking, and more.
By sending great gifts for people who work from home, you are essentially telling your staff
“Here’s a little something that we hope will make your current work from home set up a little easier, courtesy of your company.”
Considerations for Choosing the Best Gifts for People Who Work From Home
Home office gifts are different from the usual corporate gift items like novelty t-shirts, keychains, customized travel organizers, and the like. When choosing gifts for people who work away from the office, the following considerations should be in mind:
1. Encourage Productivity
A good work from home care package should ideally contain items that can encourage productivity. One of the biggest hurdles of many people who have a work from home set up is getting started and staying focused on their work. There are a number of great employee gifts for remote workers that can help employees maintain better focus on the things that they need to accomplish for work, despite being in their personal home space.
2. High Utility Item
The best work from home gift is something that is used and reused all the time. The more use one gets out of remote employee gifts (in relation to producing output for the company), the higher the return of interest you’ll get in this investment. When choosing the best thank you gifts for remote employees, always keep in mind items that you imagine themselves using frequently.
3. Address a Work From Home Problem
The work from home set up comes with its own set of problems, and if the items in your home office gift basket can address those then that’s great! To have an idea of what work from home problems your employees typically have, you might want to conduct a survey that can generate specific responses to this and then craft your gifts for work from home based on them.
4. Enhance Creativity
You don’t just want your employees to turn in their deliverables at the agreed upon time; you want their output to generate great results and fantastic returns for your company. After all, the decision to let employees work from home greatly rests on whether or not this kind of set up will be best for the company, too. To support your employees in this aspect, you can also choose gifts that help enhance one’s creativity. These can be tools that can help the creative juices flow or to encourage out of the box thinking that may then translate into unique campaigns or powerful strategies for execution
5. Serve a Purpose of Carrying out Specific Work From Home Tasks
Some work from home tasks are very specific and repetitive, which will often have its own set of requirements. Good working from home gifts can also help select employees accomplish this – from specific tools to get the job done (such as a pair of noise-cancelling headphones for transcription work) or items that can support a particular skill needed for it (ex. a desk pad scheduler for those in charge of remotely organizing company events and may need a space to write down both schedules and their particulars.
6. Work From Home Experience a Pleasurable One
And of course, there are gifts for people who have everything they need for their task and may simply enjoy a beautiful gift that enhances the whole work from home set up. These are the types of gifts that basically add a little cheer into their lives, gives them a sense of comfort or coziness, and the like. This is the “more human” touch to the work from home set up in that it is a good way to make employees feel great about their work situation without any underlying hints of work from home expectations.
Top 10 Requested Gifts for Remote Employees
Without further ado, here are ten great picks that your company can order to have working from home must haves on hand. These items also make great birthday ideas for remote employees for companies that have a practice of sending them gifts on their special day.
1. Jump start the Work (from Home) Day
Send monthly coffee beans, instant coffee or pour-over coffees: Verve Coffee
Waking up for a great day of working from home often starts with a fresh cup of coffee, so any of these are essential. As employees cannot have their daily cup of joe at the office, it's a great idea to send them monthly beans, instant coffee packs or pour over packs. Verve Coffee Roasters is one of our favorites among our own team. Most people will be very pleased with this first-thing-in-the-morning cup and a midday perk me up gift. Not only will they be happy, but this will allow employees to be more productive during their time at home.
2. Staying Focused
Affordable Wireless Headphones: IQ Sound,Sony Bluetooth Earbuds, iLuv Wireless Earbuds
Providing your team with the necessary supplies to help them succeed while remote is crucial. If you need affordable options for headphones, these are great for focusing on work and blocking out sounds in the environment. The key is getting wireless options, so people can move around while they're talking on the phone. The mic is even more important, as the headphones need to be a tool for taking Zoom calls. Not only will this be helpful for them to take calls, it'll allow them to focus by listening to their focus music or learn from a business podcast.
3. Treat Yourself
Fun treats and candies: Candy Club Peach Hearts, Raaka Chocolate Bar, Little Apple Treats Granola, Ritual Chocolate Bar, Candy Club Sour Gummies
A true pick-me-up during the week can be in the form of gummy candies or chocolate. Most people will be covered in these two categories of "gummy lovers" or "chocolate lovers," so sending them a combination or one of these items will be sure to bring delight. If your company is extra health conscious, you can also purchase granola or granola cookies for their breakfast or snack. Including a food item in the gift set is always a good idea as most people will utilize this item first. Happy snacking!
4. Smartwatch for Tracking Physical Activity
Fitbit Versa Smartwatch
As gyms are closed in most states, many employees have requested activity trackers for when they go for a daily walk or run. Working from home all day is tough for most people, so giving them a tech gadget that allows them keep record of their physical activity is a way to motivate them as well. This can also be an interactive challenge for your team, so they can keep each other accountable for running/walking everyday. Fitbit's Smartwatch is also an affordable version of the Apple Watch, which many companies cannot afford for all of their employees. This is an all-encompassing gadget for productivity and health.
5. Scents to Set the Work Mood
Vitruvi Diffuser, Vitruvi Essential Oils
Giving home office gifts to your employees do not always have to be in the form of office supplies or tech tools. Many times, they can be something that can help set the mood for work or relaxation. A good option is a Vitruvi Diffuser, matched with a set of Vitruvi essential oils. Housed in a sleek-looking container, this particular diffuser also makes for a very attractive home décor. Pairing it with a set of essential oils allows your recipient to mix and match scents depending on what kind of vibe he or she is going for. This particular set has carefully selected oils that can help the user achieve different kinds of moods, from the relaxing to the energizing.
6. Stay Hydrated
Corkcicle 9oz Insulated Water Bottle
A lot of people who spend time sitting at their desk may miss out on opportunities to stand up and take a sip of water, so this Corkcicle 9oz insulated water bottle is really great to have. A sleek insulated water bottle always makes it to any list of gifts for people who work away from the office, so it’s definitely something you should consider when making your company gift selection. The insulation helps keep beverages warm or cold, making it an indispensable item to accompany anyone at work all year round. Warm beverages for the winter months, icy cool drinks for the summer – this Corkcicle bottle will be a constant companion to any employee who is set to undergo a work from home set up any time during the year.
7. Keeping Connected
Native Union Eclipse Charger
Most work from home setups will have an employee accessing different tools that need to be powered up, like a laptop or a desktop, a mobile phone, tablet, and any other third party equipment that is necessary to get the job done. The Native Union Eclipse Charger is the answer to the problem of tangled cords and cables that are likely to get jumbled up as they power the devices of the workday. This minimalist-inspired charger hub can consolidate several gadgets at the same time, so they stay connected and organized right on the table without being an eyesore. When looking for a gift for people who work for you, you can be assured that anyone who receives the Native Union Eclipse Charger will really delight when they find out what’s inside the package for them.
8. The Perfect Work Break
Fellow Raven Kettle, Art of Tea, Glass Can Cup, W&P Stainless Steel Straws (with cleaner)
Taking a break for work is a must, even if one is on a work from home set up! This gift basket comprised of the Fellow Raven Kettle, Artp f Tea loose tea, Glass Can Cups, W&P Stainless Straws makes for the perfect afternoon break for your hard working employees. It gives your employee that much-needed short time away from their tasks to recharge and relax their minds. You can also make it an iced tea kit!
9. Snack Keepers and Jars
Miir 16oz Canister, Weck Bowl Canister, Stanley Vacuum Seal Food Canister, Eco Lunch Box Stack Cup
Working and snacking at the table is a common sight in the office and in many work from home set ups. Kudos to the people who want to maximize their time by working and eating at the same time! This really handy and well-made Miir canister is the ideal container for those work munchies that anyone simply has to have on hand. From nuts to granola and everything in between (you can even store soup inside, thanks to the airtight screw top lid), the Miir canister will prove itself to be an indispensable work from home tool time and again.
10. Summer Attire
Bella Canvas Heather Relaxed T-shirt
Few articles of clothing are more comfortable than a cotton heather t-shirt. These are perfect as summer approaches and it gets a little too warm for jackets and hoodies. A key feature to these shirts are that they are made of Airlume combed and ring spun cotton/poly, making them one of the softest materials to wear. If you'd like to get the printed with your company's logo, feel free to "Start a Project" and order for your team. It also services as advertisement for when your employees are on Zoom calls and representing the company.
Tips to Accompany the Best Gifts for Work From Home
Whether you’ve sent work from home gag gifts or amazon work from home gifts, the message about trusting your employee to get things done while working remotely is very clear. Before the work from home set up commences, it is likely that you will have a meeting with such employees to discuss the expectations of their remote work life. Here are some tips that you can pass on to make the set up even better:
1. Designate the right space for working at home
Whether it is a whole room or one desk, it is important for your employees to understand the value in creating a mini office at home where productivity tasks can be worked on. This helps to literally separate the personal and the professional, so they can adopt a professional mindset once they sit down to work.
2. Practice time blocking
Productivity is assured when your work from home employees dedicate specific times to do their most important tasks. It is important for them to understand that a balance between work time and break time is made, so they can dedicate all their efforts during “office hours” and look forward to “logging out” once it is time to do so. This idea will encourage them to stay laser focused on their deliverables because they have dedicated the time to accomplish it.
3. Learn to prioritize tasks
Along with time blocking, it is important for your employees to be working on their most important tasks for the day (or MITs) so they can move forward with what really matters most, work-wise. They need to identify tasks that require their immediate attention, those that are important but they can work on slowly throughout the days or weeks, and tasks that they can delegate to other members of the team because their time is better suited for it.
4. Identify areas where support is needed
Working from home can be tricky because there could be pressing matters on the home front that can get in the way of urgent work tasks. Things like childcare, meals, chores and the like need to be dealt with in the right manner so they don’t interfere with professional responsibilities. It is important to identify which personal tasks can be assigned to others (ex. hire a baby sitter, order in dinner instead of cooking, etc.) so you can dedicate the time to your office deliverables.
These remote employee gifts are great considerations when you are ready to come up with a roster of items that you think will be beneficial to your work from home staff. When you’re ready to begin ordering, you might also want to take a look at these other items to add to your list!
