Romantic dinner on helipad, parasailing, private yacht ride - This is how corporates are pampering their employees this Diwali

Corporate gifting is going beyond cash award, gift vouchers and the regular box of chocolates. Companies like Snapdeal and SLK Global Solutions are getting more creative and gifting exciting experiences to their employees. It is anywhere between a romantic yacht ride with one’s partner, recording one’s own song in a studio, to flying a microlight.

Marketplaces for experiences and activities are therefore seeing a pickup in demand as host of corporates have expressed interest in their using portals.

For instance, this festive season on an average, one such portal Giftxoxo, is getting 10-12 leads from corporate a day compared to 10-12 a month a year ago.

“Giving cash takes away the entire feeling of recognition and we wanted to move away from that,” he said.

“Instead of giving a voucher we thought we would engage with a portal that has option for every employee,” Snapdeal HR director Abhishek Budhraja told ET.

Some of the experiences popular among Snapdeal employees include parasailing, hot air balloon, Royal Enfield ride around Delhi and fine dining experience at a five star hotel, he said.

One of India’s biggest information technology companies has been running experience gifting as a pilot for the last eight months for its long service awards (10-15-20-25 years). Some of the gifts it has given include a romantic dinner on top of the world at a helipad in Bengaluru and exotic spa experience. “This is a novel concept and the company is running it as a pilot as it wants to give these experience to employees to celebrate the milestones,” said an employee.

Process outsourcing company SLK Global Solutions wanted to gift its employees experiences that they keep dreaming of and make them feel special and wanted for their contribution and achievement at work. “Experience gifting has gone down very well with the employees. The new generation welcomes it and it allows us to connect closely with them,” said Taruna Lohmror, programme director for HR at SLK Global Solutions.

Some of the popular experiences being gifted by corporates in the country include a romantic private gourmet session on a helipad, pizza making session at a fivestar hotel, playing RJ or DJ for a day, private island dining with a spa, horse riding session followed by stable management ending with an exotic Italian dinner at the stable, and romantic yacht ride with one’s partner in the Arabian Sea.