What to give to a work colleague for a birthday, wedding or anniversary? What to give to an employee who helped out his colleague or helped a newcomer to join the team?
So, let’s consider the most popular gift options and figure out why they should or should not be given.
Present to a professional
It is good that relations between employees are not always exclusively of an official and business nature. If there is a person working next to you who is an exemplary employee for you, an example to follow, then with your gift you can show your attitude and respect towards him.
A book is perfect for this purpose. Specialized literature in a good edition is always appreciated by real professionals because they understand that there is never a lot of specialized knowledge.
True, choosing a good and necessary book for a colleague is not an easy task, because you need to know very well a person’s taste and what books are already on his bookshelf, which ones he would like to receive. It’s almost impossible to guess here, so try to find out your colleague’s preferences in the literature.
In addition, an expensive pen, a beautiful business card holder or tickets to a seminar of a respected trainer can be a good gift for a professional.
For work colleagues
Very often, relationships between colleagues go beyond professional communication. You can sit with some colleagues in a cafe after work, someone will give you a lift to the office, with others it is just nice to chat about abstract topics in the smoking room.
It is clear that such people do not want to give cheap shower sets, and business literature is somehow too serious. Nevertheless, some colleagues would like to make a nice gift that would consolidate your warm communication.
In such a situation, perhaps the best gift would be fun and useful office supplies. They will demonstrate to your colleague that your communication is on a higher level than with other employees, but at the same time, you will not cross the line beyond which work ends and true friendship or even love begins.
Of course, the gift should not be bought in the first stationery store that comes across: your colleague can buy a set of pencils or a stapler for himself. But, for example, a funny calendar, a beautiful designer stand for office supplies, or personalised gifts with photos ordered at Wanapix, will be ideal gifts for any occasion.
Collective gifts
And if you are very lucky and you work in a close-knit team in which understanding and trust reign, then it makes sense to present your colleagues with a collective gift. This will help you show that you value their teamwork and that every team member is important to you.
Such a gift can be, for example, a group trip to the theatre or cinema, paintball, bowling – any event where you can spend time with a big company.
But even if your colleagues are couch potatoes, even in this case, you can pick up a nice gift. For example, employees will surely like cosy house slippers: they look funny, and they will be very comfortable walking around the office.
Another option is to buy something that would be useful to every member of the team. For example, a dartboard, an anti-stress boxing pear, a fish tank, and more.
And one more piece of advice: when choosing a gift for your colleague, if you want to really please a person with your gift, then you will have to make at least a little effort for this.
At least you will have to think, dream up, but in return, you will receive real emotions and sincere words of gratitude, which you can hear not every day. It is more pleasant to give gifts than to receive them, and this is the truth.