Holiday Giving
Maryanne Robertson is back and having lunch with her good friend and colleague, Jason Edison.
“Maryanne, a client told me recently about year-end bonuses and gifts for their staff. They reintroduced an old tradition of giving holiday turkeys along with a cash bonus.”
“Jason, old traditions do make comebacks. Kings Family Restaurant did the holiday turkeys in the past, but now Ralph arranges for gift cards to local grocery stores in each of the regions for the employees. Distribution is a lot easier.”
“No surprise, that Kings does something around food.”
“There’s been an interesting outcome from the gift cards, Jason. Some of your clients may be interested in what’s happened.”
“I’m all ears, Maryanne.”
“Well, in one of our restaurants in St. Louis, the employees came up with the idea to purchase gift certificates from local grocery stores and donate them to a local food bank. The idea spread throughout the St. Louis region, and as it took hold, Bobby Rogers, our regional manager, saw it as a challenge and did a 50% match.”
“That’s a great idea. And the logistics are easy to manage for everyone.”
“Exactly, Jason. As word got out, the idea continued to spread throughout the Kings network. In Nashville, the employees purchased gift certificates to Target and donated them to a local homeless shelter. As I understand it, the shelter is in close proximity to a Target store.”
Jason took out his smart phone so he could take notes. “Any other innovative ideas?”
In Indianapolis, they traditionally did a secret Santa gift exchange. Last year they decided to still draw names, but rather than buy gifts for each other, they made a donation to a local charity in their recipient’s name. They did exchange greeting cards that included the name of the charity.”
“That’s really creative, Maryanne, and it certainly avoids the potential nightmare of which inappropriate gifts might appear.”
“I was very relieved when I heard that one, Jason. But even more pleased when I heard that in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region the employees decided that rather than exchange gifts with co-workers, they’d adopt a local charity that donates coats and shoes for kids. They could either purchase the items or make a cash donation. And once again, we dodged the ‘inappropriate gifts’ nightmare.”
“Maryanne, Toys for Tots has always been one of my favorites, and we generally adopt them at the firm.”
“They are indeed a good one, Jason. We support them from the corporate office here in Chicago. The thing that I love about what happened in the regions, however, is the employees themselves came up with the distinct ideas. It grew from the bottom up with all of the regional managers following Bobby Rogers’ lead and doing a 50% match.”
With that, the check came and Jason quickly snatched it up. “Don’t even think about arguing over it, Maryanne. You just gave me so many good ideas I can share with my clients.”
If you want to know more about Maryanne, Jason and the regional managers from St. Louis, Nashville and Indianapolis, get a copy of They Did What? and use the code TDW2023 for 15% off the print and eBook before December 31, 2023.