In some service industries, service can and should be bought. It's Christmas, so that means tips!
I don't technically have a secretary. My boss has a secretary. So, she decides how smoothly my life will run. In my office, people can and usually do give small presents to secretaries and similar employees in their departments. I gave my boss's secretary a $150 gift card last week with a small, personal trinket. I thought she was going to cry. A couple days later, she told me what she planned to buy with it -- a new TV because her old one was broken. $150 isn't that much for me, considering what she can do for me over a year. And more than that, she likes me. She views me as a good customer/generous or thoughtful person. So, I consider that $150 well spent.
My maid works her tail off. I left her $160 in cash last week. Guidelines say you are supposed to tip your maid maybe one or two sessions worth at Christmas ($50-$100). I'm grateful for my maid, and I want the best service, so I tip more. I know she was struggling when gas went up, I know she does a bang-up job. Service providers want to be appreciated--through cash.
Over the course of the year, these tips are not much for those services. A generous tip at Christmas time is socially acceptable, and it shows appreciation for people who make my life easier. Really, it's not that much money. But it shows that I didn't cheap out, that I was thinking of them, and that I value what these great ladies do for me all year.
Monday, December 22, 2008
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8 comments:
That's very nice of you. Back home, we usually pay our staff 3 months worth of salary and my parents also pay for other things they might need (new school uniforms for their kids, etc.).
As an admin myself I would feel very very very uncomfortable with a gift of that amount. If anyone I worked for or with gave me that, unless anonymously, I would be gracious but inside I'd be really worried what they wanted and expected of me.
Not dismissing your generousity or accusing you of alternative motives. Just a thought on how I would feel in that situation.
R. May, I have to agree. For many years, I was an executive assistant to a CEO. It was not uncommon for him and his wife to give me generous gifts that cost several hundred dollars. He once gave me a trip for $5,000. However, if someone else in the office gave me a gift of $150, I would be very suspect and uncomfortable accepting it seeing as I didn't work for them.
My mom gives gifts to the secretaries in her school and the janitors too because she thinks they do a great job
I disagree with R. May and barb (not their feelings, nor am I trying to dismiss them)..
I just think that if I worked my butt off for you as a maid, I'd appreciate the extra cash and be more willing to be happier about working for you than if you gave me a throwaway box of peanuts or chocolate.
Cash is king..er..Queen.
Fabuously Broke, it's not giving a gift to her boss' secretary that's the issue, it's the dollar amount. Something much smaller would have been more appropriate since, unless we're missing something, this woman does not work for DogAteMyFinances. One shouldn't be "Buying People" at the holidays, as this blog post is titled.
My boss's secretary has gone out of her way for me quite a few times. She doesn't technically work for me, so I am grateful when she helps me out. And believe me, she really has the power to make my life easier.
I appreciate it when she goes out of her way for me. I think that was understood.
Dog, it could have been uncomfortable for her (the admin) to accept it from you. However, I am glad it worked out! I know my group's admin would have not accepted a gift of that size from one person at my office - in fact our ethics code would prevent that from occurring in a work setting.
The only service I regularly use is a hairdresser, and she is also a friend of mine. So she got a gift and I came in for an extra service that I didn't need because I knew she needed the business this week.
That is very generous of you. I am sure that they appreciated it.
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