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Whether it’s for a birthday, retirement, relocation, whatever— finding an awesome gift that your boss will love is tricky, but fear not!
We’ve scoured the internet to find great gift ideas for your boss, as well as some pointers on the etiquette of corporate gift-giving.
Gifts for Your Boss
1. Personalized Leather Business Card Holder
Anything timeless, classy, and monogrammed is in the running. We think this personalized leather business card holder is perfectly professional.
2. Wood Phone Stand + Dock
This handcarved Wood Phone Stand + Dock is so modern and unique, it’s bound to draw compliments. It’s made from sustainably-sourced woods, and proceeds from the purchase of Matr Boomie products help support development projects in India, right in the communities where their talented team of artisans call home.
3. Travel Tote Backpack
This Herschel Supply Co. tote/backpack is great for traveling, but is also a great replacement for your boss’s ancient, unitasking laptop bag.
4. Wireless Charger
If your boss has it, this wireless charger will charge it. It includes a wireless charging stand, and charging pad for easy travel. Also, the stand charger works vertically or horizontally, perfect for Netflix viewing or alarm clock displaying.
5. Heated Travel Mug
This smart mug has a battery life of 10 hours and is temperature-controlled by a Bluetooth app. There’s no excuse for bathwater coffee ever again.
6. Mini Fridge
Cute and lightweight, the Cooluli Mini Fridge Electric Cooler and Warmer is exponentially useful, but we think it’s the perfect gift for the breastfeeding boss, or the boss whose office attracts a crowd.
7. Hexagon Letter Board
The LoLueMade Original Hexagon Letter Board comes with hundreds of letters, numbers, punctuation, characters, even emojis. No one can say they didn’t get the memo.
8. Pour Over Coffee Maker
The Bodum Pour Over Coffee Maker is downright elegant. It’s the perfect gift for the boss who entertains or frequently holds meetings in their office. Did we mention it’s super affordable at just over $14? Perfect.
9. Succulent Terrarium
Your boss will love this practically maintenance-free succulent terrarium with river rocks and moss. Either hanging or sitting on a surface, it gives any office a cozy, personal touch.
10. Art Print
Delightfully retro, this US map print is sure to make any boss smile. It also comes beautifully framed. What’s not to love?
11. Charitable Donation
If your boss is socially and/or eco-conscious, you can never go wrong with a gift to a charitable foundation in their name. If you’re unsure or just want to find a charity with a great reputation, we really like the work they’re doing over at https://www.kiva.org.
Pair with a beautiful, thoughtful handwritten note, and you’ve got a gift they’ll love to give back with.
12. Stainless Bottle
One can never have too many stainless bottles, and Chilly’s makes a classic. This leak-proof, vacuum-insulated stainless bottle keeps your boss’s drink cold for more than 24 hours, or hot for 12.
13. Notebook
The possibilities of a brand-new blank notebook are endless, which is what makes a fancy spiral notebook a great gift for any boss. This notebook is as gorgeous and as fancy as they come.
14. Wireless Earphones
Beats premium earphones are the perfect gift for the boss who works out. With up to nine hours worth of battery life, they’ll never have to exercise in silence.
15. Mini Bluetooth Speaker
This speaker is small yet mighty! It is not only good for listening to tunes, but if your boss travels a lot for business it can be used for hands-free conference calls.
Choose the Perfect Gift & Avoid Boss-Gift Faux Pas
It can be hard enough picking out the perfect gift for someone you know well, such as a significant other or member of the family, much less choosing one for your boss.
If none of the suggestions in our list set off bells and whistles for you, or none of these great ideas from Gemnote.com hit the spot either, it’s all good!
Here are a few tips on selecting a great gift with confidence, along with rules of etiquette for how to select a corporate gift with a personal touch:
Do Your Homework
How well do you know your boss? Well enough to know for sure they’ll love those pink bunny slippers you saw online?
It’s very possible that you don’t, so ask around and gather some intel. Seek out people who have worked with them longer than you have, or that know them personally on some level. No one wants the cringe factor of watching you give your boss a crappy or inappropriate gift. Chances are they’ll be glad to help.
Social media is a good place to find information. Most bosses keep their social media accounts (that are open to public view, that is) squeaky clean. Yet you’ll probably still find personal tidbits in about what kind of tea she drinks or snacks he loves. Whatever you can glean is better than going in blind.
Think About It From Their Perspective
Unless you’ve got a boss with a heart two sizes too small, it’s almost always safe to say that when it comes to choosing a gift, it is the thought that counts.
We guarantee your boss would rather receive a personalized trinket with a thoughtful handwritten note, rather than a gift that was clearly an afterthought. Even if the gift isn’t exactly their style aesthetically.
Scenario:
- Your boss has a lot of employees
- You’ve noticed their desk overfloweth during the holiday season
- You’re pretty sure they don’t need anything else to clutter that desk
- As we pointed out in the list above, a philanthropic gift in their name to a favorite cause is a fantastic solution
If you don’t think the charitable gift would be appreciated, an alternate solution to the above scenario is to give them a gift card or that you know they would love. Done.
To Booze, Or Not To Booze?
It depends. This is dicey territory, particularly in a professional setting.
If you’ve been out with your boss for drinks and you know for a fact they don’t have problems with addiction, or aren’t in recovery, a classy alcohol-related gift is a good option.
When in doubt, opt out.
Whatever You Give, Don’t Treat It As An Afterthought
Timing is everything.
Unless you’ve got a good reason, giving a belated gift is almost worse than giving none at all.
With that in mind, priority one, even over what you choose to give them, should be when you give it to them.
If you’ve already purchased something that you can’t return or gift to someone else, and it’s going to be late no matter what you do, give it with a heartfelt handwritten card apologizing for your tardiness.
If you haven’t purchased something, a beautiful card containing a carefully thought through, handwritten message is a great gift. Especially if you can include a photo from a company outing that may make them smile, or a similar keepsake.
Sometimes It Is About You
Don’t buy something you can’t afford just because you think you need to.
We guarantee that your boss would rather receive a desk calendar over a posh monogrammed cashmere bathrobe, if it means avoiding putting you in financial trouble.
Make a budget and stay within that budget. Your gift to your boss shouldn’t break the bank, and it shouldn’t cut into your gift fund for your loved ones.
A Little Note Of Encouragement
Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find the right gift, it’ll take all the fun out of gift-giving!
Besides, no one wants crazy employees.
Most reasonable people will be glad to receive whatever you give because you went through the trouble, even if it’s something they wouldn’t have necessarily picked out for themselves. (Sometimes these can end up being the best gifts.)
At the end of the day, if you give your boss a gift that you honestly feel is thoughtful and appropriate, they should have zero complaints!
