The saying seems to get more and more true every year: It’s a small world. And it’s even more accurate for global companies that use modern communication tools to bring together teams that span time zones, countries, and continents. But when you’re trying to distribute rewards and gifts for international employees across the globe, it can make the world feel a lot bigger again.
Here are three ways you may be falling short on your gifts for international employees — whether you realize it or not.
READ MORE: How to Make Virtual Gifts for Remote Employees More Special
Now that the pandemic is officially over, many companies have invited or required employees to return to the office, at least part time. Some are helping to ease the transition with perks such as free food or in-person social events. But when those perks are initiated by individual team leaders who also manage some employees in other countries, they can seem unfair. Imagine being one of a few people who are signed into the meeting virtually from abroad, watching everyone else in the conference room chowing down on their catered lunch.
A more inclusive solution: By all means, order that catered lunch, but make sure to also send your global employees a digital gift card for a restaurant or food delivery service, so they can order their meal and share in the fun. This is especially important if you start hosting in-office holiday gatherings to show appreciation — you definitely don’t want anyone to feel left out then.
Depending on how far flung your company is, you may be trying to send gifts for international employees in multiple different countries. Figuring out what rewards are available in each location can be a headache, and if you send a digital gift card that a recipient can’t redeem where they live, it gives a very bad impression. Be wary of supposedly global reward options such as Amazon, which can be spent only on one specific country site.
A more inclusive solution: There are a few ways to make sure you don’t send an unredeemable reward. One is by sending virtual prepaid cards such as Mastercard or Visa, which are a flexible option that can be used in more than 150 countries. Another solution is to distribute your gifts to international employees using a tool that can automatically curate a selection of global gift cards available in each recipient’s location.
If you distribute employee rewards and gifts during in-person meetings or parties, then you inherently exclude any global team members who aren’t there. Even if you announce their names, by not giving them their rewards in the same way as everyone else’s, it might suggest that they’re unequal to their domestic teammates. It’s best to treat all gifts — for international employees and those present in person — the same.
A more inclusive solution: Make sure your global team members don’t feel as though they are being treated differently by delivering all rewards digitally. If international employees are able to be projected on video chat during an in-person meeting or party, then you can announce all recipients at the same time and send the gifts later via email. In a situation where time zones or other country differences prevent everyone from gathering at the same time, even virtually, consider distributing gifts to the whole group via a global communication tool like Microsoft Teams. Sharing the rewards to a team-wide channel allows recipients to benefit from the social amplification of the recognition, even when they’re spread across the world.
Gifts for international employees may not be the only place you’re falling short (unintentionally, of course). Download our latest Employee Incentives Report from NAPCO Research to see how your rewards program stacks up.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
