CDS Member News and Articles

Professional News Articles : FRONT DESK by Mary M. Byers, CAE : Change your office gift-giving strategies

Change your office gift-giving strategies

November 01, 2005

Does your office have an annual gift exchange? If so, has it become routine? Following are several ideas to shake-up the annual exchange in order to make it more fun and memorable for years to come.

Change the rules. Does staff generally contribute to a gift for the dentist(s) in your practice? If so, consider doing it differently this year. Instead of going in on a group gift, have everyone purchase an individual gift for the doctor. Changing your routine will keep the exchange interesting.

Make it a challenge. If your gift exchange usually consists of drawing a name and giving a gift for that person, consider making it tougher this year. Have one person pick a number between 1-5. For example, let's say you pick the number three. Draw names as usual, and then announce that gifts must start with the third letter of the person's first name. If you picked Franny's name, your gift to her would have to start with the letter “A.”

Another way to make the exchange a challenge is to set a dollar limit, such as $5 or $10. Or, wait until after the holiday and require that gifts must be purchased during the post-holiday sales.

Make it homemade. Make a rule that all exchanged gifts have to be homemade. It can be a craft, a recipe or a gift certificate for a service such as an oil change or car wash. The key is that the gift can't be store bought.

Assign “Secret Santas.” Have everyone draw a name as you would for a traditional exchange. Instead of a traditional exchange, however, each person is responsible for being a “Secret Santa,” which entails leaving a small gift for the name you've drawn each day for a week. The goal is to do so without getting caught. At the end of the week, have each staff member who hasn't figured out who his or her “Santa” is try to guess who was responsible for his or her gifts.

Consider a gift to charity. Instead of an internal gift exchange, consider pooling your funds and donating to a dental-related charity. Or, in light of all the hurricane activity in the United States this year, perhaps you could donate to a relief fund. Another option is to have staff vote for the person they want to choose the charity. That individual then gets to pick where the donation will be made.

Forego the exchange altogether. If you've always done a gift exchange in the office, pool the funds you would have spent on buying gifts and do something out of the ordinary instead, like going bowling or ice skating. Spending time together outside the office is a great way to boost team spirit.

This year, as you begin to plan for your holiday observance, commit to doing things differently than you have in the past in order to keep things interesting around the office. Breaking your routine is good for the spirit—the holiday spirit, that is.

CDS presents Front Desk, a column addressing problems dentists and staff members experience in the office. Front Desk is prepared by Mary M. Byers, CAE, a professional speaker and freelance writer who previously served as director of communications and member services at the Illinois State Dental Society. New columns will appear online on a monthly basis. If you have a suggestion for topics to be covered, or any comments on this column, drop us a line, review@cds.org. Ms. Byers may also be reached at mbyers@marybyers.com or www.marybyers.com.

Copyright 2005, Chicago Dental Society