Should You Buy a Holiday Gift Your Boss My Answer Is No Heres Why

Should You Buy a Holiday Gift Your Boss My Answer Is No Heres Why With the holiday season fast-approaching, employees and employers may soon find themselves juggling any number of seasonal workplace traditions, like schreibstube holiday parties, charity drives, and the eternal question Who do I need to buy presents for at work?The answer to this quandary will inevitably based on your office culture. Some employees swap gifts with only their close work pals, some office managers arrange large-scale gift exchanges, some companies provide holiday bonuses, and some anfhreres like to offer their reports partieal gifts as a token of appreciation.But regardless of your specific office norms surrounding holiday gifts, theres one rule that deserves universal acceptance employees should notgive presents to their anfhreres. Why? Read on to find out...The power dynamic between a supervisor and her employees means that gifts should always flow downwards.According to workplace expert Alison Green of Ask a Manager, etiquette says that gifts in a workplace should flow downward, not upward -- meaning that gifts from anfhreres to employees are fine, but employees shouldnt give gifts to those above them. This dynamic comes from the power differential between employers and their reports if you feel an obligation to buy a present for the person who assigns and evaluates your workload, then theres an inherent pressure to impress, which may lead to overspending on the employees part and will always result in a manager inappropriately benefiting from her position atop the power totem pole.For a good manager, excellent work and strong motivation from her reports should be gift enough.Weve all heard stories of employees feeling pressured to contribute cash to their babos holiday gift or to come up with something unique and meaningful all on their own. But heres the thing for a good boss, your commitment to your work, your reliability, and your consistently-strong performance is all the gift they need.If your boss has an obvious expectation of a present purchased by her employees, that reflects poorly on her, explains management consultant Aubrey Daniels If the boss expects a gift, s/he is a bad boss to begin with and a gift may act as a positive reinforcer for bad boss behavior. Also, if a gift affects the boss behavior toward you, it is not a healthy work situation for you or the boss.In the case of an office-wide gift exchange in which the boss participates, stay within the exchanges normal rules and boundaries.Some workplaces do office-arranged gift swaps, like a White Elephant grab at the holiday party or coworker Secret Santas. And, in certain circumstances, the boss also participates in these exchanges. Assuming that your boss is a reasonable human being (and not a Michael Scott-esque gift exchange saboteur), its best to remain within the established boundaries of the gift swap, even if youre assigned your boss as a giftee. If the defined spending limit is $20, cap your gift budget at that amount and handle your shopping as you would when picking a present for any other colleague.Bottom line the boss shouldnt benefit disproportionately from any type of holiday gifting in the workplace.--