聖誕節送什麼禮物給老闆?

The holidays aren't just a time for giving presents to family members and loved ones. Young Yun, director of the Platinum Card Concierge Service for American Express, believes in showing appreciation to business associates and bosses, too. 'Recognition is a really important part of professional relations -- more so now since we're all being asked to do more with less,' she says.

During the holiday season, Ms. Yun orders about a dozen gifts for her business associates -- and helps American Express clients select and order thousands of their gifts as well.

It's important to choose a present that is neither too generic nor too personal. The first will disappear into the mound of gifts that show up at this time of year, and the latter could make the recipient uncomfortable.

'To show that there was extra thought put into it,' Ms. Yun tries to reflect the recipient's interests as much as possible. She keeps gift-giving in mind throughout the year, filing away tidbits she hears in conversations. If someone mentions liking wine, for example, she may get him a leather-bound wine journal embossed with his initials; if a person mentions liking a certain spa, she may arrange for a gift certificate there. 'People have a lot of information at their disposal,' she says, noting that she pays close attention to casual chats before meetings start so that she can pick up on people's likes and dislikes.

After hearing one of her bosses, an avid cook, mention that she liked the sauces at a particular restaurant, Ms. Yun arranged for a gift basket from the restaurant that featured some of its sauces -- as well as a sauce recipe from the chef. 'She was surprised that I remembered that she liked the restaurant,' she says.

If you haven't been filing away tidbits during the year, Ms. Yun suggests doing a little sleuthing via Google or social-network sites like Facebook to get a general idea of the person's hobbies or preferences. Associates who like to travel have received set of chic Luxe guides to various cities. Someone with a sweet tooth received sets of Vosges chocolates that featured bacon and other unusual ingredients, which she said was 'less typical' than a box of chocolates.

Ms. Yun cautions gift-buyers not to get too personal, however. People generally should not buy 'clothing, jewelry or anything overly extravagant' for business associates, she says. 'If you don't know them too well, you don't want to cross personal boundaries,' she says.

If she doesn't have much information about a gift recipient, she generally turns to food, since 'most people like to eat.' One plus: 'It allows the recipient to share it with their team, so it's not just one person getting a gift.'

Ms. Yun avoids anything that looks pre-packaged, instead placing orders with atypical purveyors such as a local bakery that's famous for cupcakes or another baked good. 'Flowers are OK' but not her first choice, she says, as the recipient can't share those with his or her colleagues as easily.

Gifts to business associates should always go to the recipients' workplaces, even if you have the people's home addresses. The gifts should arrive no later than Dec. 15, as 'many people take time off at the end of the year.'

One last thing Ms. Yun does before her gifts go out: 'I write down what I've given to everyone,' she says. When you go to a lot of trouble to come up with a thoughtful gift, she says, 'you don't want to repeat that gift down the road.'聖誕節不只是一個給親朋好友準備禮物的節日。美國運通公司(American Express)白金卡貴賓服務部主管Young Yun認爲，這也是向業務夥伴和老闆表示感謝的時候。她說，讓對方感受到我們的記掛，這其實是發展職場關係的重要環節——尤其是現在這個時候，因爲要求我們做的事情更多，而可供支配的資源更少。

在聖誕節來臨之際，Young Yun會訂購十幾件禮物送給業務夥伴，同時還幫助美國運通的客戶選購數千種禮品。

選擇禮品是有講究的，既不能太大衆化，又不能太私人化。太大衆化會淹沒在這個時節各式各樣的禮品當中，太私人化則會讓對方感覺不太舒服。

Young Yun說，要讓對方感覺到你送的禮物是用了心思的。她會盡量按對方的興趣愛好來挑選禮品。整整一年，她始終把送禮的事情放在心上，從交談中尋找對方的喜好。舉例而言，如果有人提到喜歡喝葡萄酒，她會送他一份印着他姓名縮寫的皮面葡萄酒筆記；如果有人提到喜歡某個溫泉浴場，她會送一張那裏的消費券。Young Yun說，人們會無意中說出不少資訊。她很注意會議開始前的閒聊，從中發現對方喜歡什麼，不喜歡什麼。

有一次，Young Yun有個愛做飯的上司提到自己喜歡某家餐廳調的醬料，她就準備了一個該餐廳的禮品籃，其中包括一些餐廳自制的醬料，以及餐廳大廚提供的一份醬料配方。Young Yun說，她很驚訝我居然記得她喜歡那個餐廳。

如果你平時沒有留心，Young Yun建議你通過谷歌(Google)或Facebook這樣的社交網站做點準備工作，對收禮一方的興趣愛好有個大致的瞭解。喜歡旅行的業務夥伴可能收到一套漂亮的介紹各個城市的Luxe旅行指南。喜歡甜品的人可能收到一盒Vosges巧克力，其中有培根口味和其他一些不同尋常的配料。她說，這要比一盒普通的巧克力“更新奇”。

但Young Yun給大家一個提醒，禮物不能過於私人化。她說，通常而言，不能給業務夥伴買衣服、珠寶或任何過於奢侈的東西。如果你跟對方不是很熟，就不要太越界。

如果對收禮一方不太瞭解，Young Yun通常會選食品作爲禮物，因爲大多數人都喜歡美食。這麼做還有一個好處：對方可以跟團隊成員共同分享這份禮物，送禮的心意就擴散了。

Young Yun避免選擇那些看起來是預先包裝好的食品，而是從有特色的食品供應商那裏下訂單，比如當地一家做杯形糕餅或其他西點很有名的麪包店。她說，鮮花也可以，但不是她的第一選擇，因爲對方很難跟同事一起分享鮮花。

即使你有對方的家庭住址，送給業務夥伴的禮品也應該送到單位位址。禮物應該在12月15號之前寄到，因爲很多人都會在年底休假。

在寄出禮物之前，Young Yun還有最後一件事情要做。她說，我會寫下給每個人都送了什麼。當你絞盡腦汁思考應該送什麼好的時候，不要弄了半天，結果送了件以前送過的東西。