Holiday decorations have been up for weeks now in some locations, but not everyone is thinking ahead about holiday and year-end employee gift-giving, despite dire predictions that inventory is low and products might not make the requested delivery deadlines.

PPAI President and CEO Dale Denham, MAS+, delivered another reminder about the importance of planning ahead in an October 19 interview published in the Dallas Business Journal.

“If you’re thinking December 15 is your goal to have gifts to your employees, you really do have an October 31 cut-off,” he said. “But the challenge is that if you wait until October 31, that popcorn gift set that you wanted to give or that hammock that you wanted to give could be out of stock, if it is not already.”

During the interview with Plamedie Ifasso, DBJ’s digital reporter, Denham explained how labor shortages are causing warehouse shelves to be empty and that this domino effect is creating delays in decorating, packing and shipping items as well. He also explained how important employee gift-giving is to employee morale—especially this year, when many workers are still working remote. “You can’t just throw a lunch and pop by and say, ‘Hello, how’s it going?’ By giving a gift that appropriately brands your company, it reminds the employee that they’re important to you.”

The full story is available exclusively to Dallas Business Journal subscribers here.