It’s the holiday season—and you know what that means. It’s time to give out those holiday gifts to employees. If you’re struggling to find just the right thing to let your staff know how appreciated they are, tech oriented gifts are almost always a crowd pleaser. So, why not give them the kind of tech gifts that will make it easier and more fun to do their jobs?
We’ve assembled our list of our favorite picks this season.
1. A Good Ring Light
Employees everywhere are working from home, and the office. Make sure they always look their best in Zoom meetings with a ring light that casts the right amount of light. Not all ring lights are created equal, and many of the lower cost models cast weak or harsh light. Pick a ring light that has an extendable stand, the ability to adjust the light, and several different light tones to choose from. For office or home use, a good ring light should be at least 8 inches in diameter. For employees, like salespeople, who might need a ring light that fits in a briefcase, consider a clip on, battery powered ring light. These on the go options will ensure your people are always making a good impression.
2. Tablets that Integrate with Your System
If you’re working with a managed service IT provider, getting this done could be as simple as picking up the phone, and placing an order. Depending on the availability of product, they can create a bulk order for tablets at a discounted rate, and ensure that they are properly loaded with the software your employees need to be integrated into your systems. There are lots of options for this. There are plenty of Mac and IBM Surface style options. When you’re making this purchase, consider adding precision pens that pair with the tablet to create handwritten notes that can be stored in your system.
3. Install an Employee Recognition App That Will Do the Giving All Year Round
Nothing works better to create a culture of recognition and camaraderie than a good employee recognition app. We use Bonusly here at Integris, and our people love it. The premise of these apps is this: employees can access the app through their phones or an online employee portal. They’re given a budget of points every month that they can use to award their co-workers for all they do for them. Employees can turn in their points for a huge variety of gift options, from Amazon Gift cards, to swag in the company store, to gift cards to all their favorite stores and restaurants. They can even use their points to buy more points to award their employees with, or donate to any of dozens of charities. The holidays are a perfect time to start with an employee recognition app. And best of all, you can start things out right by awarding employees a generous amount of points they can redeem for whatever they want.
4. DUO Password Manager
It may not be the most exciting gift under the tree, but DUO Password can gift your organization with the security that comes from multi-factor authentication. Best of all, your employees won’t have to fuss to remember too many passwords. Apps like DUO reside on their phone. When they log into your system, they receive a notification in their phone app. With one click, they’re in your system, securely. Contact your MSP to get DUO installed in your system.
5. SIEM: Security Incident and Event Management
Does your organization have to comply with data handling regulations for HIPAA,FINRA, PCI-DSS or CMMC? Do you have a cybersecurity insurance policy requiring you to have a detailed security event reporting system? If you’ve answered yes to one or both of those questions, you should think about gifting your organization with SIEM. Granted, it’s really not a personal gift for employees. But SIEM is one of the only cybersecurity systems you can buy that’s specifically designed to catch hackers once they’ve gotten past your company’s initial defenses. An MSP like Integris can help you give your organization the gift of peace of mind this holiday season.
6. Noise Canceling Headphones
After a year of the relative quiet of working from home, employees who are coming back into the office might be having a bit of difficulty tuning out distractions. Make noise cancelling headphones part of your holiday gift giveaways. They’ll appreciate the calm they can restore to their day, and make the business of working together again far more pleasant.
So that’s it! That’s our roundup of gifts you should be considering for your staff this holiday season. And remember, when you’re coming up with gift ideas that you’ll use across the enterprise, it never hurts to ask what might be best. Or, you can offer up an array of similarly priced items and allow employees to choose which one they’d prefer. It really is that simple! Don’t wait until the last minute. Get started on your holiday gift giving today.
