Pena Ajaib

Memorial Day weekend was coming up, and the office had already started to feel festive.

I asked my assistant to bring in the gift cards we had prepared. They came in a thick stack.

It had been our company tradition since the day we were founded. Every holiday, and every employee birthday, each person received a $300 gift card.

Tara Collins, the new intern, poked her head up from her desk.

She glanced at the gift cards in my assistant’s hand and pouted.

“Such a big company, and we don’t even get a holiday gift basket?”

Her voice was not especially loud, but it carried just far enough for everyone nearby to hear.

Ms. Carter, one of our longtime employees, quickly tugged at her sleeve and reminded her in a low voice, “Tara, our company gives out $300 gift cards as holiday benefits. They’re much more practical than gift baskets. You just got here, so you probably didn’t know.”

Another colleague chimed in. “Exactly. I used mine last year to get my mom a new phone. That’s better than any random gift box.”

“Oh, really?”

Tara dragged out the words in a sarcastic drawl. “A gift card is a gift card. A holiday gift is a holiday gift. If the company can’t even bother to hand out one basket, don’t tell me the benefits are generous. If there’s no personal touch, what’s the point of throwing money at people?”

Ms. Carter and the other colleague both looked embarrassed. Neither of them said anything else.

That afternoon, someone knocked on my office door.

Tara stood outside, holding a folder to her chest.

“Ms. Lee, do you have a minute? I’d like to talk to you about company culture.”

I nodded.

She walked in, closed the door behind her, and gave me a polished professional smile.

“Ms. Lee, I just feel that as a benchmark company in this industry, we could strengthen our company culture a little more.”

“For example, with Memorial Day weekend coming up, gift cards are practical, of course, but they don’t really create much of a holiday feeling. If every employee received an additional gourmet gift box, it would make people feel more appreciated.”

I looked at her and found the whole thing almost funny.

“Our tradition is to give employees the freedom to choose their own benefits. With $300, you can buy dozens of gift boxes in whatever style you actually like, or you can buy something else for your family. That’s much more considerate than the company bulk-ordering one generic box and forcing everyone to take it whether they like it or not.”

The smile on Tara’s face stiffened.

“Ms. Lee, that’s not what I meant. I’m saying the two can coexist. It would be both practical and thoughtful.”

I cut her off. “What I know is this. Giving employees real money in a form they can actually use, and letting them choose for themselves, is the greatest respect.”

She choked for a second, then forced out a dry little sentence.

“I was only making a suggestion.”

With that, she hugged her folder and hurried out.

I did not take it seriously. I assumed she was just a young new hire trying to prove herself.

The company had struggled badly in its early days, and I had always felt indebted to the employees who had followed me from the beginning.

So once the company was on stable footing, I maxed out the benefits. I wanted to build a workplace where everyone could have dignity and make a decent living.