Whether we have managed to keep up a physical presence in the office or we’ve been relegated to video-conferencing, 2020 is the year to show our coworkers a little appreciation. There are plenty of excellent options for gifting to our coworkers that are both cost-efficient and appropriate. From ground coffee to hand lotions, we cover the best ideas for short notice and a tight budget.
High quality ground coffee
A caffeine jolt to kick-start the day is a given, and one of our favourite ways to approach gift giving for coworkers is to give them an upscale version of an everyday item. High quality coffee is always a practical winning idea. By spending just a little more money on freshly ground coffee, the taste and flavour profile really shine through. Ordering a bag or two of specialist beans may be the jumping off point for a colleague’s new-found love of coffee, or else may be a way to show an old work friend how well you know them and their penchant for the finer things in life.
With a £20 limit the savvy shopper could buy three or four bags of extra-special ground coffee, each from different regions around the world. Print up a ‘taster wheel’ and you’re giving them a fun activity, too: challenge the recipient to taste each ground coffee and try to match the flavour profile. Peru’s ground coffee is known for a milder flavour with chocolate undertones, while Ethiopian ground coffee has notes of jasmine, bergamot and blueberry.
Who knows, your coworkers may love the gift of ground coffee so much that they bring it into work, when we can all return to our offices. By treating your colleague to some delicious java, you might also be able to look forward to a healthy debate about the best ground coffee at the next work function!
Hand sanitisers and lotions
Following on with the theme of spending a little more money on everyday essentials, we come to hand sanitisers and lotions. With the extra hand washing we’ve all been doing in 2020, and as we come into the cooler, dryer months of winter, our hands are taking a beating. Your colleagues will thank you for the gift of softer skin.
The Body Shop’s coconut hand sanitiser is a delightful alternative to the gloopy tea-tree options on supermarket shelves. With a silky texture the gel goes on seamlessly, leaving a delicate smell that suggests pina coladas and days spent on the beach – something we could all do with during the darkest days of the year! Purdy and Figg is an alternative, for your colleagues who prefer spicy or perfumed scents and like their packaging to reflect their exemplary sense of taste.
And to keep skin hydrated, handbag sized bottles of L’Occitane hand cream are a must. Not only do the creams come in luxurious packaging, they have grown-up scents of almond and bergamot. A spot of L’Occitane hand cream is the next best thing to a spa day, and keeps the winter blues at bay. As a plus, the company is also an ethical choice, and supports visual impairment around the world and emancipation for women in Burkina Faso. So when giving your colleague a little treat, you can both feel pleased to also have done some good in the world.
Stylish coffee mug
If you are fed up with your colleagues nicking your favourite mug, buy them their own beautiful vessels for Christmas, or consider german beer steins. Selecting a new mug for your workmate can be a fun way to show them how much you care.
A Pantone mug is trendy and simple enough to please almost anyone. Select the colour you think best matches the wallpaper in your coworker’s home, as seen through the computer screen all year. Bright yellow or ultra violet are both sturdy choices, or else soft grey goes with everything. The mugs are large enough to hold a decent amount of coffee.
For those who prefer a maximalist design, Emma Bridgewater’s beautiful ½ pint, personalised mugs are always a winner. Put your coworker’s name on the mug alongside multicoloured polka dots or purple hibiscus leaves. Maybe they’ll take the hint and stop using your favourite mug! As a British institution, Emma Bridgewater’s porcelain is always popular, so it’s a sure-fire bet for putting a smile on your colleague’s face.
Finally, if your coworker has been at home with small children for large parts of this year, they will thank you for a Chilly’s insulated coffee mug. Parents know all too well the devastation of making a freshly brewed cup of coffee only to have to deal with some minor emergency, returning to a stone-cold beverage. Make sure your colleague never has to deal with that particular pain again and you’ll be their favourite coworker for life.
Takeaways
Three little gift ideas that are both useful and beautiful, these are inexpensive items that any coworker would be delighted to receive. And easy to mix and match: give a bag of ground coffee alongside that personalised mug, and you’ll go down in office history.
