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HR & culture

Centralised versus decentralised gifting policy: which is best for your organisation?

By Mathilde Van Vaerenbergh
19 Nov 2024

Your employees’ wellbeing plays a crucial role in the growth of your organ­i­sa­tion, with a well-thought-out gifting policy the key to success. But what approach should you take? Who decides who receives which gifts? How do you order them? And who follows up on the delivery and invoices?

There are various different ways to organise this: Do you opt for a cen­tralised or decen­tralised gifting policy, or a mix of both? For a lot of organ­i­sa­tions, this is a big decision. So let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each system. Ready to dive in? Then grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and let’s get started!

Centralised gifting policy: one team, one task

A cen­tralised gifting policy means that all decisions around recog­ni­tion and gifts are made from one central point – usually HR or senior management. This ensures a stream­lined and uniform approach.

This system works well for organ­i­sa­tions that place a lot of importance on con­sis­ten­cy and control, and where recog­ni­tion often focuses on tra­di­tion­al gift occasions, such as end of year or work anniver­saries.

Advantages of a centralised gifting policy:

  • Uniformity: No more Oh, you got a 50 euro gift and I got 20 euros?’ situations. In other words, no more ad hoc gift giving or personal influence.
  • Efficiency: Everything is managed from one central point, ensuring a stream­lined, clear and trans­par­ent approach.
  • Control: You’re able to keep track of everything: who gets what, when and why? This prevents chaos and unforeseen situations.

But… there can also be a downside to this system. There is a danger that it can feel impersonal – especially in large organ­i­sa­tions – because managers have less flex­i­bil­i­ty to respond to specific events and pref­er­ences. Employees often appreciate that personal touch their direct manager adds.

Decentralised gifting policy: maximum flexibility

With a decen­tralised gifting policy, the imple­men­ta­tion and respon­si­bil­i­ty for employee recog­ni­tion are embedded deeper in the organ­i­sa­tion. This gives managers the oppor­tu­ni­ty to be more closely involved in gift giving. Given that they’re in the best position to know what’s going on in both the private and pro­fes­sion­al lives of their team members, they can respond to unique occasions quickly and personally. This makes gifts not only more valuable, but also more meaningful.

Advantages of a decentralised gifting policy:

  • Responding to unique occasions: For example, a team member who has just lost a loved one, is caring for a sick parent, or has shown excep­tion­al dedication to an important project. HR is often unaware of these situations and could inad­ver­tent­ly miss these valuable moments, while these are in fact the occasions when a gift can be the most meaningful.
  • Respecting personal pref­er­ences: Managers are better at under­stand­ing the personal pref­er­ences, styles and tastes of their team members. For example, you want to avoid giving a box of biscuits to a colleague who’s on a diet, and opt for an alcohol-free alter­na­tive for someone who doesn’t drink. It’s also a better way to respect cultural pref­er­ences, such as a gift during Eid al-Fitr instead of Easter.
  • Increased engagement: Managers feel more personally involved in showing their appre­ci­a­tion for their team members, which strength­ens the bond between them. This makes the recog­ni­tion process not only more efficient, but also more meaningful for both the giver and the receiver.

However, decen­tral­i­sa­tion also comes with a risk: incon­sis­tent gifts and less control. For example, one manager may be very generous, while another is more reserved. This can lead to unequal appre­ci­a­tion between employees and depart­ments, which can cause inequality and potential frus­tra­tions.

A hybrid model: the best of both worlds

As an organ­i­sa­tion, you sometimes don’t want to choose between a cen­tralised or decen­tralised gifting policy, and you don’t have to! In fact, the ideal gifting policy combines the best of both worlds. We call this the hybrid model’ and it brings together the strengths of both.

HR can be respon­si­ble for the company occasions – like end of year or onboarding – where uniformity and efficiency are essential. Team leaders can in turn be respon­si­ble for the more personal or ad hoc moments, such as a birthday, get well soon or the successful completion of an important project. This is how you ensure a nice balance between uniformity and per­son­al­i­sa­tion.

Decentralised, centralised or hybrid: in practice

At Kadonation, we’ve chosen the hybrid approach.At Kadonation, we’ve chosen the hybrid approach. We have central guidelines for recog­ni­tion, but give team leaders the freedom to apply them however they see fit.

At Odoo, they opted for a decen­tralised gifting policy. Team leaders decide when someone deserves a little extra recog­ni­tion.

But they still manage some things centrally:

  • Referral bonus: A nice bonus scheme helps them continue to attract new talent, something that is quite difficult in the devel­op­ment world.
  • Per­for­mance bonus: Every three months, the best performing sales­per­son from each department receives a 300 euro bonus.

GroupM has chosen a decen­tralised gifting policy via Kadonation Select, which allows 200 team leaders to give gifts in a uniform way.

  • GroupM focuses on personal and pro­fes­sion­al milestones such as Valentine’s Day, work anniver­saries and moving house, instead of on the tra­di­tion­al holidays.
  • Central actions, such as onboarding, also remain important: new employees in their pro­ba­tion­ary period receive bulbs that grow into four-leaf clovers, and permanent employees get a per­son­alised chocolate bar with the GroupM logo.

Want to know more? Read our customer success stories.

Conclusion: what’s best for your organisation?

There is no right or wrong answer to which gifting policy is the best. Both cen­tralised and decen­tralised – or a com­bi­na­tion of both – can contribute sig­nif­i­cant­ly to employee engagement and a positive working atmosphere, if applied correctly. The choice mainly depends on your organ­i­sa­tion­al culture and structure.

Is your organ­i­sa­tion large and spread across multiple locations? Then a decen­tralised approach can help keep appre­ci­a­tion personal. Do you work with a smaller, close-knit team that places a lot of importance on con­sis­ten­cy? Then a cen­tralised policy with room for personal gifts may work better.

A gifting policy must be dynamic and grow with the organ­i­sa­tion to be successful in a sus­tain­able way. Clear guidelines and training for those respon­si­ble are essential for consistent imple­men­ta­tion. An online gift platform can play an important role here. This allows you to keep track and control of everything, even within a decen­tralised approach.

Kadonation Select
offers the tools to effi­cient­ly implement your (de)centralised or hybrid gifting policy. Discover the pos­si­bil­i­ties and make appre­ci­a­tion easier and clearer.

White paper

Your practical guide to an impactful gifting policy.

Feel you could get more out of your gifting policy by maximising the power of appre­ci­a­tion in your organ­i­sa­tion? Then download our practical whitepaper below. It’s full of surprising insights, inspiring examples and concrete sug­ges­tions for your strategy around appre­ci­a­tion.
Download our gifting policy whitepaper