Writing holiday gift reminders that humans actually read
Since the holiday season is right around the corner, I figured what better way to get you in the annual communicate-about-gift-policies mood than to share this timeless advice?
But, let’s be real: the more holiday gift reminders you write throughout the years, the more you *might* dread writing them. And your employees probably don’t love getting them. Nobody really enjoys getting rules about giving gifts.
So how do you write a holiday gifts communication that your employees will actually read?
The Basics
The first rule of thumb is: If you want people to do something for you, make it easy. In this situation, you want your employees to follow the gift-giving policy without actually having to read the policy itself (‘cause snoozefest, amirite?). To keep it easy for them, make sure your message is:
Short and sweet. The longer the email, the less likely people will read it. If they do read it, the chance of them internalizing what you’re trying to tell them is slim.
Specific. Avoid using legal jargon or vague language. Simply tell them what you want them to do, and what isn’t allowed.
Clear. Tell them everything they need to know without making them click through to additional content. In other words, no “check our policy here” or “visit the Code of Conduct.”
Now that the groundwork is laid, let’s dive into the three essentials of your holiday gifts communication.
The Essentials
1. Get to the point.
Start your email by letting people know that they need to follow your gifts policy … and make it short and sweet. This intro can be simple as you want, but be sure to include a few words about why following the gifts policy is important to them.
By narrowing the focus to exactly what they need to know, and how it benefits them, you immediately draw their attention and get their buy-in.
2. Use a chart.
Follow up your short intro with a chart that explains what they can and can’t do, and a call to action in case they need help. And as mentioned in v1.0 of this blog post, do not include a bulleted list of principles or a five-factor balancing test that belongs on a law school exam. Because regular people (like us!) use charts, and that’s exactly who this message is for.
3. No attachments, no links.
Don’t link to your policy and tell your employees to read it for more info. All that will do is send the message that everything you just said didn’t matter, and all you care about is CYA (not a good look).
Likewise, don’t scan a PDF of your policy or a message from your GC saying everything that you just said. It’s hard to read and goes against everything we covered above.
Now that you have everything you need to send your employees the annual gift-giving reminder (and a beautiful template above), I’ll leave you with some final thoughts:
❌ If an employee or third party doesn’t care about your policy, the holiday reminder is not going to change that.
✅ If they do care about your policy, they’ll appreciate the conscientious reminder.
Most importantly, don’t confuse these two groups. The first one is unreachable. The second one just needs to know what to do. In the words of our founder: Keep it simple, keep it visual, and you’ll be good.
