The holiday season is officially in full swing (and office productivity is no doubt down, while Amazon sales are up). We now have less than a month to shop, plan and prepare!

For companies, 'tis also the season for planning and preparing for office holiday parties. The office holiday party tradition dates back to the Great Depression when workers needed a little more motivation to look forward to the holiday season. The concept has evolved over the decades, but the key theme is the same: recognize employees for their hard work.

But just how do employees want to be recognized?