It’s always best to include why you enjoy working with them and why they make such a great boss, advises Mitchell. “Using your words to express your intention is excellent.” A handwritten card is underrated-and more than enough to show your appreciation.
“I would say cards are also really great,” says Post. Your best bet is to stick to a $25 to $50 price range-anything more than that might feel inappropriate. Or donate to a charity that’s important to them, on their behalf. You can also opt for beautiful glassware or ceramics like candle holders, a serving bowl or wine decanter. You can’t go wrong with consumable items, like gourmet hot chocolate, a gift card to their fave coffee shop or a gift box of charcuterie ingredients (but be sensitive about dietary restrictions and allergies). Same with what Mitchell calls “dust collector gifts” like paperweights, branded water bottles or another “world’s best boss” mug. Things like jewelry, clothing, designer items, lingerie (obvi), perfume, concert/sports game tickets or anything else extravagant and expensive are no-gos. How well do you know your boss? What stage of their life are they in? It’s important to consider those things when choosing a gift, says Mitchell. And bonus points if there’s a personal connection, says Post. The general rule of thumb is: the smaller and more low-key, the better. If I want to give my boss a gift, what are some appropriate ideas? If you’re a small company of say 10 or less people, where it's more of a tight-knit vibe and you're all really good friends, then you could do a gift exchange that includes the employees and the boss, advises Mitchell. Maybe they can sign the group card and still be part of the gift giving process-without feeling isolated. One thing to be mindful of, according to Mitchell, is the employees who might not be able to contribute financially to the boss’ gift. “You don't want to look like you are trying to gain favor by buying gifts for your boss,” says Post. Ask the group if they want to contribute, pick a price point that everyone is comfortable with and present your gift as a united front. The other exception? If you give your boss a gift from the whole team. “It's a great gift exchange between two people who work very closely together,” she adds. Then, Bradshaw gives Louise a much more extravagant, higher-priced gift: a Louis Vuitton bag (which is ok when it’s from a leader to their subordinate, not the other way around). “It was low stakes, small but sweet and connected to something personal between the two of them,” says Post. Louis and Bradshaw had never seen the film). Louis (because she calls herself Louise from St. Louise gives Bradshaw a DVD of Meet Me in St. Think of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her assistant Louise (Jennifer Hudson) in the Sex and the City movie. One of them is if you have a really close, special connection with your boss. There are only two exceptions to this rule. By giving your boss a gift, it could look like you’re trying to outshine your coworkers. “Some people say, ‘Well, I just like giving gifts,’ but you have to be really careful about your position and the boss's position,” says Mitchell. “You really don't want to gift up the corporate ladder,” she says. Juliet Mitchell, a certified etiquette trainer, business coach and the founder of Life Etiquette Institute Do I have to give my boss a gift? Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute, co-author of Emily Post's Etiquette, The Centennial Edition and co-host of the Awesome Etiquette podcast Most employees get a little something from their boss around the holidays (a bottle of wine, an engraved ballpoint pen, a box of overpriced truffles) as a sign of appreciation, but does that mean you’re expected to give something in return? What about a colleague that surprises their whole office with Starbucks gift cards when all you had for them was a measly e-card with a dancing elf? And for remote teams, how does the whole holiday gifting situation work if you’ve never met your team IRL? With all of the conflicting advice out there, we asked two etiquette experts to give us the corporate gifting lowdown. Let us unpack the politics of gift giving at work (and all of its nuances). As if it wasn’t hard enough to shop for your extremely picky aunt.
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