Leaving Gifts for Colleagues: Ideas for Retirement, a New Job and Parental Leave

The email goes round on Tuesday: "Petra is leaving at the end of the month, we're collecting!" An envelope travels from desk to desk, a card gathers thirty signatures, and someone eventually has to actually buy something. If that's you: a good leaving gift for a colleague is personal, easy to carry home on the last day and says "It was great having you here", not "Finally". Here are ideas for retirement, a new job and parental leave, for the colleague at the next desk and for the boss.

First: where are they heading?

• Retirement: lots of free time ahead. Anything linked to hobbies, the garden, travel or grandchildren works well, plus a reminder of all those years in the team.
• A new job: something small and useful for the fresh start. Warm rather than sentimental, after all you may bump into each other at the next trade fair.
• Parental leave: they're coming back, but right now they mainly need a helping hand. A meal voucher or food delivery credit for the first few weeks is often worth more than the tenth babygrow. More on that in our gifts for parents.

A collection from the team: how to make it work

One person organises, everyone else gives what they'd like. A few euros or pounds each is plenty, voluntary and with no list of who gave what. The card matters more than the amount: instead of thirty "All the best!" messages, everyone writes one specific sentence. "Thanks for explaining the printer to me in my first week" stays with someone longer than any voucher. Ideally, hand it over on the second-to-last day, so the last one is free for packing boxes and eating cake.

Leaving gifts for colleagues: ideas they'll take home

• A memory book with photos from team meetings, the summer party and the Christmas do, plus the best in-jokes.
• The office plant she has watered for years, with a bow and adoption certificate.
• A voucher for their hobby: garden centre, bookshop, cookery class or concert.
• A nice bathroom set: Soapi is a magnetic soap holder. You press a bottle cap halfway into a bar of solid soap, the soap hangs from the magnet on the wall and dries all the way round instead of going soft in a dish. It sticks to tiles, glass or mirrors without drilling. €12.95, ten colours, made in Berlin, with a 10-year durability guarantee. As a ready-made gift there's the Starter Kit for €14.95, with a 100 g lavender soap handmade in Marseille and a cleaned bottle cap. Perhaps from the farewell drinks?

A gift for the colleague at the next desk

If you want to give something on your own because you've sat side by side for years, keep it small and personal: the chocolate she always kept in her drawer, coffee from the roastery round the corner, or a book you talked about over lunch. A tip for the fresh start: a new job often means a new routine, and sometimes a new flat. The magnetic key holder for €11.95 sticks to a smooth surface by the door without drilling and holds even a heavy bunch with car keys. It's the tidy alternative to a key rack, and no more mornings lost to searching.

A gift for the boss: from the team, not just you

With a boss, it's better to give together than alone, otherwise it can quickly look like flattery. A book, a bottle of something they enjoy, or a light-hearted reminder of the team all work well. If you're after something special for the bathroom: stone soaps from Stone Soap Spa look like polished stones, are shaped and marbled by hand, and no two are alike. A brand from Norway, made in Thailand, from €13. Paired with a Soapi in Black, it becomes a small object for the basin. For farewells at company level, see our article on gifts for employees.

One parcel, lots of little things: Mix & Match

If the team wants to put together a gift with several parts, or two colleagues are leaving at once, Mix & Match is handy: choose 5 products, pay €50, free shipping within Germany. With ten people in the team, that's €5 each. An example for a retirement:

• a Soapi in their favourite colour and a soap from Marseille for the bathroom at home,
• a Skargard shampoo bar for hair and body that can't leak on the first big trip,
• the key holder for front door, garage and garden shed,
• a soap by Grete Manufaktur for the guest loo.

For parental leave, swap the travel bar for a My Happy Tiger children's soap, but only if there's already an older sibling aged 3 or over. We don't recommend soap for babies.

FAQ

What should I write in the leaving card?

Something specific: a shared moment, something you learnt from them, a wish for what comes next. Two genuine sentences beat a whole poem copied from the internet.

Will Soapi stick in a new office or a new flat?

It holds securely on smooth surfaces such as tiles, glass, stainless steel or varnished wood, but not on painted or papered walls. After the next move, a replacement sticker for €1 lets you stick it up again.

In short

A good leaving gift for a colleague reflects what you went through together and suits what comes next. A card with genuine sentences, plus something used every day, a Soapi in the bathroom or a key holder by the new front door. For the team gift, put together a Mix & Match bundle now, 5 items for €50. And when Christmas comes round and you're shopping for the whole team again, see our small Christmas gifts for colleagues.