Partner Article

Secret Santa bust ups

It’s retail focus week on Bdaily. One in five workers have fallen out with a colleague over the office ’Secret Santa’ according to a new study by Vistaprint.co.uk, the UK’s largest personalised gifting company.

Researchers found that one in ten of those polled have felt ‘insulted’ after receiving their gifts, whilst two in ten have felt embarrassed.

It seems that the best way to avoid these uncomfortable gaffes and increase your popularity in the present buying stakes, is simply to put a bit of thought into your purchase. With 44 per cent of workers saying they’d appreciate a thoughtful gift or something that was personal to them, these types of present are likely to go down much better with your co-workers.

Jens Neumann, product marketing manager at Vistaprint.co.uk said: “Ironically, it seems that the Christmas gift tradition could be bringing more upset than team spirit and cheer in some workplaces.

“Secret Santa, especially in the workplace, can be a minefield – there is such a fine line between a joke or novelty gift and one that is just insulting or upsetting to its recipient.”

The study of 2,000 workers who partake in a Secret Santa found that reasons for causing upset among colleagues are far ranging and differed significantly between men and women.

Whilst over a quarter of women were reeling that not enough money was spent on their gift, 28 per cent of men said that a joke was taken too far. With the average worker spending £9.58 on Secret Santa presents, it seems some could make wiser use of their budget and avoid causing office upset.

Neumann commented: “You don’t have to spend a lot to buy a good present for a colleague. Showing some thought and consideration to the individual, it is possible to buy something personal and useful that will be appreciated. At Vistaprint.co.uk we have witnessed first-hand the growing popularity of these types of gifts. Sales of our personalised desk calendars have been growing over the last few years and personalised phone cover sales are expected to increase by over 60% during this Christmas period. Products like this take just a few minutes to create online and can be delivered straight to your door which is ideal for busy workers on the hunt for the perfect Secret Santa present.”

But not everyone is getting it right as a whopping 17 per cent of workers have been left fuming after being handed a gift that they considered too sexual or inappropriate in front of their colleagues and boss, with one in 20 gift givers even receiving formal warnings for buying risqué presents.

Unfortunately some workers are likely to end up empty handed this Christmas with a quarter of participants forgetting to buy anything at all.

However, as the majority of people (68%) admit they usually know who is behind their present, they won’t have to think too hard about who to blame when the time comes. But for those lucky enough to receive presents, not all of them are grateful as a cheeky 40 per cent have tried to sell or even re-gift items because they didn’t like them.

Women were more likely to sell their Secret Santa gifts with 43 per cent of girls admitting to it, compared to just 36 per cent of men.

But it’s not all doom and gloom - there are still a festive few that will happily spread Christmas cheer. 31 per cent of workers enjoy taking part in Secret Santa and 29 per cent say that it gets them in the mood for Christmas.

Top ten reasons for feeling annoyed or upset by a Secret Santa gift:

1. They bought an embarrassing present

2. They took a joke too far

3. They didn’t spend enough money

4. It was insulting

5. It was too sexual or inappropriate to be given in work or from a colleague/boss

6. They didn’t take it seriously

7. It was bought just to take the mick out of me

8. They bought something they knew I wouldn’t like

9. They didn’t adhere to the Secret Santa rules

10. They spent too much money on it

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Vistaprint.co.uk .