Making a gift card thoughtful

Chris has worked at the same company for the last 7 years or so. When he first started, he was one of about 8 employees. Today, he is a partner and the company has over 130 employees and has remained on the Portland Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies list since being awarded #1 in 2008. It is a busy place, but it is a place where many employees feel like family, especially those who have been there for multiple years and have shared in the company’s success.

Each year, Chris has added employees to his department which has slowly allowed him to delegate and get a little more time with us at home. Those of you who know him might laugh at the idea of him having “time”, but honestly, his hours now are nowhere near what they were before we had Carter. The idea of a 40 hour work week or even 50 hours is laughable to us, but we really do appreciate that he has dedicated employees which allows him to occasionally go an entire weekend *gasp* without going into the office (working from home doesn’t count).

So, when Christmas comes around, we try to think of something that we can give or do to show these employees how much they are appreciated, because, they really are appreciated. One year I slaved over cookies and made them look like calculators (they work with numbers) and gave a gift card. The following year we introduced them to 31bits with a piece of their very cool jewelry. This year… Oh, this year! We tried so hard, but this year he had more employees than ever before and our brains have yet to recover from having a newborn (please don’t tell me if this is a permanent state. Ignorance is bliss.) Almost every night we would discuss and come up with nothing. Finally, one night while Chris was in the shower, I started to write a poem. When he came out, I was half done and read it aloud. He jumped right in and together we completed it. We then printed it out and had our family create thumbprint reindeer and put it all together.

Today the boys hand-delivered the poem with a gift card to each employee.

The goal was to give a gift that we put thought into to show our appreciation for all that they do. I think we succeeded. What  do you think?

The poem reads:

T’was the month of November, early at that,

And the heads of the Roberts house – together they sat

Racking their brains, and thinking so much

Oh what to give his employees for Christmas and such.

With three boys in the house, all aged under four

Life had been hectic, nerves shot to the core.

On top of it all the youngest was new

With “baby-brain” setting in, what could they do?

They thought and they thought then, they thought some more

They wanted something thoughtful, not just bought at the store.

After a month and a week it finally became clear

It was the thought that counted to those so dear.

Surely they had thought long and hard enough

With 35 on the list, this year had been tough!

With a little more Starbucks they figured it out

Gift cards for a treat would be nice, no doubt.

With the warmest of wishes please accept this card

And thank you so much for working so hard!

 *Please feel free to copy/edit and use the poem in any way.