Best Christmas Gifts, Tips, Ideas, and More

Choosing a Christmas gift for your boss can be a challenge. You have to weigh the delicate balance between giving an appropriate gift without seeming like you’re trying to win favors. So, how you can you find an appropriate way to express your holiday spirit to your boss?

While an individual giving a Christmas gift to the boss is not an accepted practice, it is acceptable for a group of employees to purchase a joint gift for their boss. For example, a boss who oversees the work of a small group of employees may receive a gift from this small group collectively and this would be considered appropriate. The gift is therefore viewed as a gesture of appreciation from all the members of the group and not an attempt by one of them to gain favorable treatment.

So if you’re the one chosen to do the shopping, how do you determine the budget for your boss’s Christmas gift? If you are shopping for a gift from a large group of people, it is a good idea to collect the money first and then use the amount collected to set the budget for the gift. You may ask for a small amount of money, typically around $5-$10 from each person. Once the money is collected you can search for items which fall within your budget. Be sure to stick with the budget or else you will be stuck paying the amount you go over.

It is not considered acceptable to ask for additional money once you’ve collected money from people and promised to stay within budget. However, it is considered acceptable to spend a little less than the budget as long as you refund the remaining money equally to everyone who has contributed. For example if you spend $20 less than you collected from 20 people, you should return $1 to each person who contributed. If you are the person shopping for the Christmas present you may have to exercise some common sense and make judgment calls if necessary. For example if you collect $120 and purchase an item which costs $121.04, including tax, you may opt to simply pay the additional amount yourself if you are able to do so. The additional amount is quite small and if the gift is appropriate, it might be worthwhile to incur this small expense for the sake of purchasing a perfect gift which is within your budget.

Christmas shopping for a boss can also be rather difficult because you may not know what to buy for your boss. If you are not particularly close to your boss and do not often socialize with him you may not know a great deal about his interests. In this case it might be a good idea to either ask someone who knows him better to do the Christmas shopping or at least ask them to provide you with a few gift ideas. Other employees may know the boss better because they have worked with him longer or because they participate in activities such as company softball games with him. In either case, they can probably provide you with some insight into his interests which would help you select a gift he will appreciate. If you are unable to come up with a suitable gift idea, a gift certificate to a local restaurant is always an appropriate, and appreciated, Christmas gift.