Previous company had some decent one-off gifts for life events. A couple nice coffee mugs with company colors and hearts for a wedding and bamboo cutting boards

Previous company had some decent one-off gifts for life events. A couple nice coffee mugs with company colors and hearts for a wedding and bamboo cutting boards with company logo for a housewarming gift were quite nice and actually were appreciated. felt like these were good things to offer. The employee appreciation day "water bottle" was an awful piece of garbage though that honestly felt insulting, a $5 cafeteria voucher would have been better. I would say the quality of a gift matters. A big part is managing expectations though, if employees aren't expecting a gift, you have a lot more freedom than if something is expected. A free Paczki on Fat Tuesday is more appreciated than a Christmas cookie (especially if referred to as a bonus).