Buying your line manager a present for Christmas can be a little tricky – you don’t want to look like your sucking up, but if you don’t make the effort, you could end up looking like you don’t like him or her. And even if the latter’s true, you don’t necessarily want them to know that, do you?
One way around the issue is to buy as a group. Perhaps your department or your team can all chip in a fiver or so to get a decent gift for your boss. It will show thought (which equals Brownie points, anyway!), and will stop you looking like you’re trying to bribe your way into a promotion.
So to buy…
Unless you’re very close to your boss and know everything about them, you might find this part tricky, but there are some things that will go down well regardless:
- Something for the family – if you know your boss is married and/or has children, a gift that the whole family can enjoy would go down a treat. A game or puzzle that they can have a giggle playing will bring fantastic holiday memories he or she will be sharing with you in the new year.
- Something for a hobby – does your boss have a hobby? Why not look for something unusual that would compliment their hobby? Personalised golf shoes, or a knitting course on Groupon? There’s something for everyone if you do enough digging – the trick is to start asking as early as possible.
- Something to eat or drink – hampers (good quality ones) go down a treat. Think about team lunches that you’ve been on and what your boss likes to order, what they dislike and see if you can choose the hamper they’d most enjoy.
- Something for charity – does your line manager feel passionate about a particular cause? Maybe your collection could go towards that cause. You can find out about the various charity gift cards and the like from Money Saving Expert.
