Christmas shopping for your immediate boss or chief at the office is probably the trickiest issue. First of all, the gesture of giving a gift to the boss may raise the eyebrows of your colleagues. It might as well be treated as gesticulation for favorable posting, out of turn promotions and what not. Christmas shopping for the juniors is a common practice but the idea of Christmas gifts for boss is itself a sort of blunder. Well, that does it not mean that you should never consider Christmas shopping for boss. You might offer a gift to your boss as a group of all the colleagues. This article would throw some lights into what are the issues that need to be tackled if you are contemplating to give Christmas gift to your boss.
Although gifts given to the boss in individual capacity is regarded as unusual but all the colleagues jointly offering a gift to the boss during Christmas season is indeed a standard custom at most of the work places. It is more or less an accepted practice when several people working under the charge of one superior join together to buy a gift for the boss during Christmas. In fact, it could be construed as a good etiquette or a sign of appreciation. Well, still, boss is boss and Christmas shopping for boss is certainly not a piece of cake, as several factors need to be kept in mind.
When you and your colleagues have already finalized to offer a gift to your boss, it would make sense to begin with fixing up a tentative figure or decide a fixed amount for the gift. Alternatively, you can first collect the amount from all your work associates and then work out what is the budget for the gift. Generally, people contribute a small amount say around 10-20 bucks. The overall size of the kitty would depend upon number of people who have decided to join the group. Once the amount has been collected, the biggest problem is to buy a suitable gift. Most of the people might be tied up with their personal shopping and therefore somebody has to take the leadership and spare the time for Christmas shopping for boss.
If you have taken the responsibility of buying the gift on behalf of the group, you need to be extra cautious. You must keep in mind that you should not exceed the budget and even if it exceeds, you should never ask for additional contributions. If you can save money and distribute it back to the contributors, it is the ideal situation. However, if you feel that you are short of few bucks for buying a perfect gift, it would be more sensible to pay the shortfall from your own pocket instead of asking the others to contribute the money again. For instance, if the overall kitty is 200 bucks and the gift selected by you costs 202 bucks, it would be foolish to go to your colleagues to collect balance 2 bucks.
Finally, the question of most appropriate gift arises. Selecting a right gift for boss is often a tricky situation. You would be treated as a fool if you don’t buy a gift that is appreciated by the boss. All your colleagues who had handed the responsibility to you may also take you for a ride. If you do not have personal relations with your boss or if you have had no occasion to socialize with him, you may not be aware about his lifestyle, likings, hobbies and interests. In such a case, the responsibility of buying the gift should be best left to another colleague who is close to the boss. If you have taken the responsibility, you can consult other colleagues especially those who have worked longer with the boss and find out the tastes of you boss. Ultimately, if you cannot come up with any suitable gift idea, you can always go for a gift certificate or arrange a lunch or dinner at any restaurant.
Yes, a gift for the boss can be a delicate task, I’d suggest you spend time looking for something not too conspicuous, something handy and usable. I’d suggest an iPod, nothing fancy, just to show the thought.