'My colleagues have literally been brainwashed': Sales team pressured to give $100 each for a Holiday gift to their boss, one worker refuses and causes rift

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 23, 2023 8:00 AM EST

Company Holiday gifts should flow down the chain, not upward to management. Employees are pressured to take on extra duties and responsibilities all the time under the sometimes false promises of promotions and rewards. So after an entire year of that pressure, how is it this common that employees might then be doubly pressured to pitch in money to give a gift to their boss? I suppose if this kind of gift-giving were reciprocated, that would be slightly more acceptable. I suppose if it were mandated that no one should contribute anything more than a mutually agreed-upon amount, that would be slightly more acceptable as well. However, neither of those conditions was applicable in this instance.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    "[Why] would I give $100 to someone who makes more than I do?"
    via Artboard Studio

  • This thread was posted to Reddit by u/terekkincaid, who worked on a relatively new sales team and was just getting the hang of the dynamics among his team members. So when one team member suggested that everyone should pitch in $100 to give to their boss Cathy, OP was particularly perplexed: was this the norm? was this expected? why $100? 

    Keep scrolling below to see what happened when OP rejected this idea on principle and how it affected the team dynamic in the ensuing weeks before Christmas. For more stories like this, check out this post about a boss who makes his workers fight over a piñata during the annual Holiday party.

  • 02
    Yet another work Christmas gift post: my colleagues have literally been brainwashed at this point I've seen all of the posts, I was hoping to avoid it, but it finally came up today. I joined a new team in my company earlier this year (went from a technical sales support role to just straight sales - not as fun or challenging, but it pays much better and I've got a kid starting college soon, so...).
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 03
    A text went out today from one of our team members (7 sales reps total in our region) saying: "Hey, let's think about a gift for Cathy (our boss, not her real name). No real response to the chat.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 04
    "Let's do a gift card again this year." A couple of random thumbs up, again no real enthusiastic response. "Ok, let's do $100 each. You can Venmo me the money."
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 05
    I almost did a spit take. $100? I don't even get $100 worth of stuff for my younger ones, why the would I give $100 to someone who makes more than I do? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Cathy, she is a perfect manager. However, gifts flow down in a corporation, not up. I honestly wasn't going to even pitch in $10, but $100 just made it insane.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 06
    Now, not knowing the history of the team, I decided to call a different colleague to see what the deal was. Maybe Cathy gives everyone really expensive presents or something. The answer is "sometimes she does, sometimes she forgets". A little more prodding and I found out when she does buy presents she expenses them anyway. I told my colleague "Then it's not a present from Cathy, it's just a bonus from the company".
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 07
    My colleague then admitted she didn't really want to pay in either, which was my suspicion all along. Last year she didn't mind because she hit her quota and made a ton of commission. This year her territory has been miserable and she's only at 75%, meaning she's not getting squat bonus-wise. There's no disposable income here.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 08
    I then called up the colleague that was trying to organize the thing and told her that while I appreciate her efforts, I don't believe gifts should flow upward to management and I won't be participating, though I would be happy to sign a card if we wanted to do that instead. She said she had no problem with my decision and actually agreed with me. It turns out she only organized it
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 09
    because another colleague had organized it last year, but that person left the team recently, so she felt like she needed to take over and do it. She didn't personally think it was a good idea but she was so brainwashed that she went ahead and organized it anyway!!
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 10
    Now it's a giant . She said on the chat she understood some people didn't want to participate and that's Ok. Some people had already donated, so now there will be some that do and some that don't. I told her flat out just return the money and stop the whole thing, but for some reason she wants to keep going. I told her again under no circumstances would I be donating.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 11
    Why do people do this to themselves? My boss is great, but the plan, if it went how my colleague envisioned it, was to give her a $700 Nordstroms gift card! ?!? I'd love a $700 gift card, too!
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 12
    Just a reminder to stand up for yourselves and don't be bullied into buying a gift for your boss. If you have a really good relationship with your boss and feel like they are a friend, and they give you a gift, then feel free to give them a gift in return, as an individual, as a friend. Do NOT feel pressured to pitch in for a group gift. It's not appropriate.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 13
    verucka-salt 13 hr. ago The boss does NOT need your $$$. This is ridiculous & 100% inappropriate. My god this is ABSURD! 327 Reply Share
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 14
    arrow2theknee82 · 6 hr. ago idle "Here's your wages." "Thanks! Here, have some of it back!" 152 Reply Share
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 15
    steve3146 4 hr. ago Years ago i worked for a company where certain employees used to compete with each other over things like this. Fortunately buying your boss an xmas gift isnt a thing in the UK, but every few weeks an email would go round from the same 3 ppl saying something along the lines of "Sarah just got engaged! Lets all donate to a present for her!" The problem was it was a large call centre so these emails went round every 5 mins.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 16
    The final straw was when one of these emails went round for "Johns just moved into his new house, lets get him a moving in gift!" i just hit reply all and said, "I scrapped my knee falling over after having a few too many last Sat. Can everyone be generous during this difficult time and send me as much as you can spare." Needless to say those 3 ppl didnt talk to me much after that.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 17
    johnnydlive 11 hr. ago So the person who didn't make their quota is organizing a $700 giveaway for the boss? I think her motives are quite clear here.
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 18
    Desperate_Set_7708 - 5 hr. ago Where I worked you could only give your boss something worth $10 max. And no pooling of money. Nice, straightforward rule for anyone so inclined
    via u/terekkincaid
  • 19
    Sage_Planter 3 hr. ago I'd be mortified if my employees bought me a gift especially something so expensive. A nice holiday Slack message is more than enough.
    via u/terekkincaid

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

christmas workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work gift reddit thread Reddit company job interview interview toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article