The Exotic Teapot

I have been assigned to serve as hostess at our annual employee recognition dinner. As such, I am challenged with selecting gifts for employees who have worked with the business for five years, for ten years and for 20 years. I do not wish to separate gifts by gender and of course want to provide more progressively expensive gifts per milestone. Since this is my first assignment, I would certainly appreciate gift suggestions from those on this forum.

It really depends on your company's budget. If it's a decent amount, I would prefer receiving cash and probably a small button pin that says how long I have been in the company. If the budget is low, desk accessories will be nice.

Whatever token you give (I have to agree it would depend so much on your budget), don't forget to include something that they can just display in their homes or in their offices, like a plaque. I'm sure they will appreciate it so much and will put it in the most conspicuous place for a long, long time.

I would consider giving them something that they could share with their families since we spend more time at work than at home. I realize others have suggested before giving one of the nice tea sets sold on this site for different types of themed gifts. I think it appropriate in this case as well. There are different types of sets and baskets ranging in costs to accommodate your varying milestone anniversaries.