Easter is the historic day when Jesus came back to our land from the grave to vindicate his teachings and justify to the Romans the ideologies handed down to us. Those who opted to follow this ideology remember this occasion as one, which signals the end of Lent - a period of abstinence from material pleasures when one returns to the old adage of piety.

Easter is a great opportunity for a get-together and gifts! The first thing that strikes one’s mind when you are wished Happy Easter is a toss-up between Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny. Home-made Easter Eggs can be packaged prettily and presented to office colleagues wrapped in cute baskets.

Easter Eggs are wonderfully chocolate-y with a colorful (gold being the main color) surface. Arranged well they make for great decorative items for the desk. If your colleague is married, gift enough eggs for everybody.

Rope everybody else in the office and make a gift hamper for the boss. Make it complete with bunnies (either the soft toy variety or the edible variety), large eggs in a suitably big basket, with a dashing bow.

Keep the right colors and patterns in mind. Opt for a deep color for the bow and for the wrapping material – pick stripes and checks and muted colors.

Opt for an Easter hamper – a beautiful basket, two or three dozen eggs, depending on the number of people in office, confetti, popcorn, sponge balls, or your choice of filling. Get a small gift each for your colleagues and of course, the Easter Bunny. Order a bunny cake, too.

There are options in form of Le Meridien and Patchi for Easter Bunny! Almost every patisserie and cake shop will have its fair share of Easter goodies to select from for every budget.

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Corporate gifting

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To understand what makes an effective corporate gift strategy is, it helps to follow what it isn’t. Begin by making the differentiation between incentive award and gift giving. Though gifts and incentive awards may often involve similar types of recipients and similar type of offerings, the two vastly differ on both practical and strategic levels.

Gifts are more or less spontaneous whereas incentives are planned. The latter are awards for meeting pre-set levels of activity, such as good attendance, increased productivity and sales quotas. In contrast, gifts are given not as part of any defined or predetermined exchange between giver and its recipient. The recipient doesn’t anticipate a gift for meeting any targets, whereas the recipient of incentive does.
It is rather tempting to view incentive programs and gift giving in the same light. At the end of it, you want to make sure that you’re getting your money’s ‘worth’ from any business investment. Most givers are keen on motivating the recipient in one way or the other, But this is where one needs to be careful.
Leaving employees or customers with the impression, that they are being pushed and not simply rewarded can do more harm than any good. Instead, be subtle in your approach. Look to develop a long-term process of fruitful relationship through a mixture of surprise gifts and publicly announced incentives so that they help in winning the confidence of receivers.

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There are certain nuances of the British behavior that one needs to understand before learning gift giving etiquettes in the UK.

The British essentially are very private and reserved people. For them, privacy is very important, and they expect others to respect it. They like to maintain a distance and don’t like to open up as much, at least to begin with. There’s a proper way of presenting yourself in most situations. The British people strictly adhere to protocol. They do not make use of effusive language, and show a marked tendency to employ ‘qualifiers’ like ‘possibly’, ‘it could be’ or ‘perhaps’. They are restrained in their hand gestures and overall body language.

It’s important to keep in mind the fact that the British can get quite formal; they prefer to work with individuals and firms they know well personally or through their associates. In this regard, the younger generation is much more open, and looks beyond long-standing personal relationships for doing business.

Nonetheless, relationship building and networking often hold key to long-term business success. It takes longer to build relationships or friendships with the British business associates. However, once they are formed, the bonds tend to be deep. In fact, most Britons look for forming long-term relationships, while doing business. They will tend to go into their shell and become cautious if it appears to them that you are running after a quick deal. Gifts can be a way of increasing familiarity and building bonds, but as explained, one should be careful in following the gift giving norms or else your purpose won’t be served.

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Chinese differ from Westerners in their approach to gifts and gifting. In the West, a sincere thank you note is an acceptable way for extending appreciation. In China, a more tangible gesture, or gift, is preferred. Let’s follow some gifting etiquettes there.

• Chinese refrain from opening gifts immediately after they receive them. You should do likewise and avoid opening gifts after receiving them unless the other person insists so.
• Gifts with your company’s logo are fine provided they do not carry things that are considered taboo and are not too flashy.
• Gifts of foreign cigarettes, fine whisky, cognac, quality wines are acceptable.
• Do not give anything in sets of four.
• Avoid gifts that carry the connotation of funerals or death like cut flowers, white objects, clocks, etc.
• Do not give scissors or any sharp object as a gift as it symbolizes severing of relations.
• Giving food items as a gift idea may not be such a good idea as it can suggest poverty.
• Do not forget to wrap gifts, but avoid using white paper. Avoid elaborate wrapping.

It is rightly stated that imitation is the best form of flattery. Taking time and effort to imbibe Chinese culture and traditions can pay rich dividends.

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Varying cultures & traditions across countries also applies to gift giving, what may be considered appropriate in one country may be a cultural ‘faux pas’ in another.

Within the interdependent, global and multi-cultural marketplace of the 21st century, cross cultural differences in the approaches to and practices of business people across the world are important to learn.

Every week we will be covering one country/nation/continent and we will provide a good understanding of the gift giving practices across these countries as to help you cultivate a worthwhile relationship with your business colleagues.

Gift giving in Japan:

• Gift giving and receiving is considered very important in Japanese culture and it is viewed as a mark of respect or appreciation.
• The gift need not be extravagant
• Be sure to gift senior colleagues better or more expensive gifts than their juniors
• The best time to give the gift is at the end of your stay
• Ensure that the gift is neatly wrapped but not in white or bright colours.
• Do present individual gifts in private, in case you are giving a group gift then ensure that all the members are present before doing so.
• The correct etiquette would be to present the gift with both hands
• Gifts that are unique or reflecting the receiver’s interests are highly appreciated.

Occasions -
The most popular gift giving occasions in Japan are oseibo, which falls at the end of the year and O-chugen which falls during the middle of the year.

Gifts -
Good gift ideas include top choice beef, fruit and alcohol such as brandy, quality whiskey and Bourbon along with excellent wines.
They also appreciate gifts from high-end department stores like Saks and Neiman Marcus.

You must bear in mind that the above listing is not exhaustive and is only meant to serve as an initial guidance. It would be advisable to do a bit more research before you choose a gift. Always remember that thoughtfulness in choosing a gift would be more appreciated than the cost or size of the gift!!

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