The holidays remind people to give - to family, friends, coworkers, bosses, etc. This week's Talent and HR News Weekly Update focuses on the work part and giving to employees. Happy holidays from exaqueo. Enjoy!

1) Employees get $1,000 to shop as holiday bonus from CNN Money

"It's the holiday bonus that's also good for the boss. Shopify is giving away $1 million to its employees -- in Shopify credits. The company sells e-commerce technology used by 200,000 merchants. Those include startups like GoldieBlox, which sells engineering toys for girls; Leesa, a mattress retailer; Tesla Motors(TSLA); and roughly 1,000 nonprofits like Charity Water. Now, each of its 1,000 employees will get $1,000 to spend wherever they choose. "We had a really incredible year," said Shopify (SHOP) marketing chief Craig Miller. "We wanted to give a big thank you to our employees, but also thank our merchants." The company went public in May and has exceeded revenue and profit expectations."

2) In sign of strength, millennials forcing U.S. firms to rethink policies from Reuters

"Millennials, quickly becoming the dominant force in the U.S. labor market, are changing the dynamic between employee and employer as they seek enhanced benefits, increased flexibility and other workplace changes to keep their loyalty. By 2025 the generation born between the early 1980s and early 2000s is expected to make up 75 percent of the global workforce, according to the Brookings Institution. It is a generational shift that is bringing with it different approaches to work and company culture that businesses are heeding as they seek to attract and retain top talent. "They are already having a dramatic impact on companies, forcing changes that I think are long overdue," said Kip Kelly, director of public programs at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School in North Carolina."

3) 6 Things Your Employees Want From Performance Reviews from Inc.

"Here are six of the most important universal building blocks for conducting effective reviews. It's been a tough year for performance reviews. Headlines urge us to kill them, nix them, blow them up. Studies reveal alarming stats, like the fact that 95 percent of managers are dissatisfied with their performance-management systems. (Nearly as good a barometer: there are now over 300 Dilbert strips about performance reviews.) So how can we build a feedback mechanism that works--for the business and for the employee? There is, of course, no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are some basic, universal building blocks of effective reviews. Here are six I've found to be most important."

4) 8 employee perks that beat a holiday office party from Benefits Network

"Who wants to go to another holiday office party anyway? Of companies surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) this year, only 65 percent said they plan to hold an end-of-the-year gathering for their employees, down from 72 percent in 2012. Why are fewer companies hosting holiday parties than ever before, especially when, according to Gallup, less than one third of U.S. workers are engaged? Some say it’s because companies are increasingly trying to attract and retain millennials, who value benefits differently than other generations in the workforce."

Lexi Gordon is a Lead Consultant for exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps organizations build their cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn more about our employer brand innovation, workforce research, and recruiting strategy offerings.