We just hit the last month of the year - December! Can you believe it? These months really just went by so fast. And as we all know, with December comes Christmas celebration.
Christmas in general is celebrated by feasting with your loved ones, and by giving gifts. Incidentally, with remote work setup it is almost impossible to celebrate it in person with your virtual assistants. You could potentially organise a virtual Christmas party, and come up with activities that you and your team can engage in.
In terms of giving gifts, most often we find it challenging to figure out which gifts to give who. Admit it, there are times when you’re not even sure what to give your mom! The same applies with your team. You want to show you appreciate them but you’re just not sure how.
Well, need not to worry, we’re here to give you the top gift ideas you could possibly give your superstar VAs.
Let’s get on with our list.
Training
Providing training opportunities to your team may not be the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking of what to give them. Apparently, this is a great gift idea since they will be able to upskill themselves and be better with their current roles.
Here are some insights on how you would be able to provide them with training opportunities:
You could ask your VA to set aside at least an hour weekly to find learning materials online and train themselves. These learning materials can range from YouTube videos, free training courses or even ebooks. They just need to give you an update on which topics they have learned for that week, and the material they’ve used, e.g. link of the YouTube video etc.
Another thing that you could do is find some courses online that you could purchase which you think will be helpful with your team. Find courses that can generally develop your team’s skills. Trainings that focus on personality development, speech and English improvement, etc. This way, it would be cost-efficient since all your members will benefit from it, and at the same time, you don’t have to purchase individual courses for each of them.
Extra Holiday Off
If you have Filipino VAs, then this item is especially for you. In the Philippines there are two types of holidays, Legal or Regular holidays and Special holidays. Regular holidays are those that fall on fixed dates such as Christmas Day, Independence Day, and New Year’s Day. On the other hand, Special holidays are those that have flexible dates.
Depending on your VA’s terms of engagement, most clients or employers only consider Regular Holidays. This means that during these days, VA’s are not required to go to work but are still paid for that day.
Now, how does this become a token of appreciation for your team?
Simple.
As mentioned above, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are the only ones considered as Regular Holidays, hence your team is ideally not required to work during those days. On the other hand, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are only considered as Special Holidays, which means your VAs still have to work. In the Philippines, tradition-wise, the days before Christmas and New Year are as important as the days itself. What you could do is to give these days as additional paid holiday offs to your team.
Believe me when I say that they will appreciate it immensely.
Postcards And Small Gift Items
If you want to give your VAs gifts that have your personal touch, then send postcards and small gift items like shirts, jackets, caps and the like. Although, you have to factor in the number of days before your gifts reach your VA. This will of course be dependent on your distance from them. You just have to make sure that it reaches them on or before Christmas Day.
Postcards may sound old school, but your VAs will appreciate that you took some time to write to them personally, and not through email.
It will be a bonus if you don’t tell them that you sent them something in the mail. Everybody loves surprises!
Work-Related Items
With this one, you could post a question on your organisation board. Allot a budget for each of your team and let them know about it, then ask them what they currently need to improve their work. Treat this as sort of a wishlist from your team.
Who knows some of your members might need a simple computer or laptop table, ring light, microphone, webcam, etc.
After which, send them the money to buy what they have put on the wishlist. If you want to be sure they purchased what they asked for, you could simply ask for a selfie with the item.
13th Month Pay
If you’re a Philippine-based company, then you know that it is mandatory to pay your employers with their 13th month pay as part of their benefits.
However, with remote work setup, it is not required at all. Fortunately, most clients or employers have already included this as one of their VA’s benefits. In general, the 13th month pay is your VA’s one month worth of pay which is paid around late November to early December. For more information about this incentive, watch this video.
Bonus Incentive
Just like the 13th month pay, this one’s not also required. However, if you're financially capable and you think that your team helped you immensely with the past year’s profit, then it wouldn’t hurt to give your team a little bonus.
This bonus, if you’re planning to give them one, should ideally be beside the 13th month pay. No matter what amount, big or small, your team will definitely appreciate it.
Food Budget
Lastly, you could also send them a budget for food and drinks. This could be a budget they can use if ever you arrange a virtual Christmas Party with them, or a budget they could potentially use to help prepare for their Christmas feast.
Just like the office-related items, if you want to be sure that they used the budget appropriately, you can ask them to share their photos, or tag you when they upload it.
Final Words
The Christmas season as they say is the season of giving. And nothing more satisfying than giving your team gifts to show how much you appreciate them.
During our support calls with our clients, Global VA Solutions provides helpful tips and insights on how to effectively manage their VAs. Even during our initial consultation calls, we already provide clarity on what type of VAs or assistance a potential client needs. This way, we can be sure that we only hire the right person based on the client’s needs and preferences.
If you’re interested to know more, you can book your free consultation call. When we say free, it means there are no strings attached.
At the end of the day, what you give your VAs are entirely up to you. It’s just important for them to feel that you value them as they are, and not just as your virtual assistant.
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