It is OK to Gift Colleagues on Valentines
Valentine’s Day is a special moment for all loved ones. It is professional and ok to show appreciation to coworkers on Valentine’s, a day set for appreciating love. While most people celebrate it with their partners, colleagues are also special people deserving of your appreciation.
If you have colleagues whom you truly appreciate it is ok to gift them during valentine’s. Gifting your colleague on valentine’s is quite normal and should not be misinterpreted.
A valentine’s gift for your colleagues is a good appreciation of their friendship at work. It is not weird but quite acceptable as long you are gifting all your colleagues.
Cheap, Simple & Unique Traditional Valentine’s Gifts for Your Colleagues
1. Gift your Co-Workers Chocolate on Valentine’s Day
Ladies love chocolate and naturally, it becomes the most popular valentine’s gift you can get your female co-workers. While there are quite expensive chocolate brands, there are cheaper yet quality chocolate brands out there that you can gift your female colleagues.
Some men love chocolate too as well so this valentine’s gift can go both ways.
2. Chocolate Covered Fruits – Inexpensive Unique Gift
Unlike store-bought chocolate goodies, chocolate-covered fruits are great cheap valentine’s gifts for your co-workers as you can make them at home. It is a great option as you get to customize them and give them a homemade touch.
You can use fruits such as strawberries bananas, and cherries covered with melted chocolate. Both male and female colleagues love this inexpensive valentine’s treat.
You can also bake cookies which you can share with everyone. It shows you have put thought and effort into the gift and hence becomes impactful.
3. Invite your Co-Workers for Dinner/Lunch on Valentine
If you are quite social with your colleagues you can invite them for dinner on valentine’s. It can be really nice hosting your co-workers at your home. It communicates that you truly love and treasure them.
Allow them to come with their significant others. Inviting your colleagues together with their partners avoids making this invitation weird and unacceptable.
The dinner does not need to cost you much. You can cook a nice valentine’s dinner for your colleagues with frugal ingredients. You can have your partner or friend help you with the dinner.Your colleagues will be truly amazed by this gesture.
Alternatively, you can do lunch instead of dinner. Invite everyone at work to go out for one lunch together to show appreciation for their work. When you put such an effort into making your colleagues happy, they get the gesture.
4. Flowers/Roses – Popular Gift for Female Colleagues
People are not- comfortable gifting their friends flowers on valentine’s Day. Gifting flowers to your colleagues is ok when you gift everyone and avoid getting taken out of context. Flowers are a darling to many people and speak volumes.
Ladies especially love flowers and hence you can buy your ladies’ friends’ flowers on valentine’s as an appreciation gift. Nothing can communicate to your co-workers that you love and treasure them like flowers.
However, flowers are attached to romantic partners so avoid making the gesture seem romantic or inappropriate. Also chose non-romantic flowers such as daffodils, thistles, or shamrock. Ensure that you gift all your colleagues so that it is not weird or comes across as unacceptable.
Make sure you steer away from any romantic ideations, and let your colleagues voluntarily pick the flowers for themselves. Create enough uniform bouquets for everyone, put them in a common bucket/place and ask them to pick or help themselves or gift their partners. Through this, flowers become an acceptable valentine’s gift for your colleagues.
The valentine’s flowers do not need to be expensive. You can buy cheap ones at gift shops or flower shops. Alternatively, you can go the most inexpensive way of picking and making your flowers bouquet if you grow them in your yard.
5. Framed Colleagues Photo for Valentine
If you have some nice photos of you and your colleagues, then framing these photos is quite a thoughtful yet cheap valentine’s gift to them. The option can be quite inexpensive yet you can go for some good affordable printing and framing options. It shows so much thought and effort went into the gift-making.
Specifically, get a small or moderate size which is a nice gift that can be displayed on their work desk. Such a gift for your colleagues can be quite sentimental as they communicate your love gesture and that you care. You can manage to fill this gift idea last minute as you can print and frame them yourself.
6. Buy your Colleague Books Gifts
Books are quite a thoughtful and meaningful gift for your colleagues. Books also add knowledge and gifting your co-workers on valentine’s speaks of your good intentions to them. You can hence buy your co-workers copies of their favorite books and gift them on Valentine’s Day.
You can get quite some goods books inexpensively. Second-hand cheap books are quite accessible these days. All you need to ensure your book gift is adding value and aligned with the goals and values of the colleague that you are gifting.
7. Shopping Vouchers- Popular Valentine’s Gift
If you are out of ideas on what your colleagues may love as a valentine’s gift, then you can gift a shopping voucher. Allow them to buy something they truly want and need by gifting them a voucher that they can use to shop. You do not have to give them too much on the voucher.
You will realize vouchers as a valentine’s gift are quite thoughtful and allows your co-workers to get something meaningful and useful. You can get this ready last minute for valentine’s. It also shows so much thought and effort went into the gift-making.
8. Valentine Movie Tickets
If your co-workers love movies, get them tickets for a movie for Valentine’s. It can be really fun to enjoy a movie night out together with your colleagues on valentine’s. They can bring their partners to the movies as well or go separately if they wish.
Valentine movie tickets are not exactly expensive and you can cheaply get them for your colleagues. Get something you can afford to buy for everyone in the office. You may be lucky to get last-minute tickets to for your co-workers.
9. Hand-make Valentine’s Cards and Notes
If you want to show care and appreciation to your colleagues, valentine’s cards will do. Valentine cards are quite cheap yet will communicate your message to your co-workers on Valentine’s Day. You can buy and add your own customized message on the card.
If you are artistic, you can hand make cards and notes. The customized cards and notes gifted to colleagues on valentines are considered quite special and an amazing show of concern and love. A handmade gift is quite sentimental and special as a gift.
Small notes with messages such as “It’s great to have your positive spirit and talent on the team! Happy Valentine”.
10. Create a Scrapbook of Work Projects
If you have worked with your colleagues for a while you must have done amazing work and projects together. Create a scrapbook of all that you’ve done together and gift them. It is cheap yet so thoughtful that your co-workers will love it. It shows so much thought and effort went into the gift-making.
11. Gift your Co-Workers Office Supplies
If you want to gift your colleagues something meaningful, then you can go to the office. You can small things such as notebooks, pens, rubber bands, paperclips, etc, all of which are quite cheap. All these are quite affordable, especially when you buy in bulk to be enough for everyone.
Since these are things your colleagues use daily, your valentine’s gift comes across as quite thoughtful.
