Employees oftentimes think of giving gifts for their boss on birthdays and during the holidays. You would want to consider giving a group gift together with the other employees to allow them to participate in the planning and brainstorming of ideas on the perfect gift for your boss. Although if you would want to give a personal gift, you might just want to be discreet about it. Co-workers might tend to think you are being manipulative or a show off so it would be good to deliver it privately to them. Here are some gift ideas for your boss:

What To Give:

1. Professional or formal items such as pens and pencils, calendars, coffee, tea, or any things convenient in the office. Simple but useful gifts given sincerely are a plus, however inexpensive it may be.
   
   
2. Memory Books, Collages or Scrapbooks containing employee pictures on company events, personal notes and comments from staff, or other ideas you can put in like company milestones and achievements for the year.
   
   
3. Photo albums or Picture frames with the photographs of staff members. The photo albums could also contain company activities, product launches and such. A nice way of compiling positive events of the company on the year that was.
   
   
4. Handmade or decorative gifts focusing on your boss’s interests, lifestyle, and beliefs. Even in giving gifts for boss that you exerted effort on, it is best to also consider his or her interests and lifestyle. Asking your boss’s family member or a close friend could help you figure out their likes. These may include:
   
   
   • Handmade cards, hats, scarves, gloves, or accessories according to their preferences.
     
     
   • Your boss’s favorite food that you cooked by yourself.
     
     
   • Plants good for all seasons, in case your boss loves plants. These are better than giving them flowers, flowers tend to die quickly.
     
     
   • Scented candles, figurines and pottery items or paintings.
   
   
5. A book that he or she likes or a soothing music collection on CD.
   
   
6. Order or buy your boss gourmet food that he or she likes, look into wide assortments of these appetizing products, some may even come in eye-catching packages.
   
   
7. A simple greeting card or note appropriate for the occasion, especially if you wrote in your personal message of appreciation or encouragement. You can even ask your co-workers to sign in it. The note may also contain poems you personally wrote for your boss. Well that would be a nice gift for a boss!
   
   
8. If you wouldn’t know what to give, to be safe, you can just offer your boss a gift card or certificate. In this way, your boss can just choose and buy stuff that they like for themselves.

What NOT To Give:

1. For food as gifts, it’s always good know if your boss has health problems like, for example diabetes, before you consider giving your boss sweet tasting recipes. Or if he or she is vegetarian, offer food without meat as ingredients.
   
   
2. If your boss is Jewish, Muslim or the like, it might be a bad idea to give something that disrespects their religion. Research on the do’s and don’ts of their religion, your boss would certainly appreciate this.
   
   
3. Giving cash is definitely discouraged. A gift certificate would do but never cash.
   
   
4. Do not give favors or take your boss out to dinner or lunch privately. This is not appropriate for workplace etiquette. Your co-workers might think you’re trying hard to be your boss’s pet.

There could be lots of other gift for boss ideas that you can consider in finding the perfect gift for your boss. But remember that in giving, you should never expect anything from them in return. If you have this intention in mind, then you certainly are giving for the wrong reason.