The 5 Best Gift Ideas for Administrative Professionals Day

Administrative Professionals’ Day is coming up quickly: this year, it falls on April 27^th. If there’s an admin in your office, you might be wondering what to send. You don’t want to resort to something impersonal, like a gift card, but it can be hard to know what to send an administrative professional if you don’t know them really well. Here are our suggestions about how to pick a gift that’ll be sure to delight them.

First, what are the most popular categories of gifts for administrative professionals? We find that these always go over well:

• Self-care gifts
• Snack gift baskets
• Personalized gifts

1. Make it Personal.

 An admin’s job often centers on making sure things run smoothly, and that all the boxes are getting checked. That means they have to pay attention to you; make sure you’re doing the same! If you’re giving a gift to a coffee-lover, make sure you haven’t chosen a beautiful set of mugs and tea instead.

One great way to give a personal gift (that isn’t too personal) is a care package. A box of self-care essentials is far less expensive than a day at the spa, but it tells the recipient that you know they need a chance to relax and take a break from their stressful job. A handwritten note really completes the gesture, showing the recipient that you actually care.

2. Brighten up their desk.

 We spend an enormous amount of time at our desks, even more since the pandemic started. An item that makes that space more beautiful or cheerful is always going to be a hit. A plant from The Sill would be a great choice: try a succulent that doesn’t need much care, since you might not know how much time they want to spend being a plant parent.

For brightening up their space at home, try a Jiggy puzzle. Each puzzle is an actual piece of art, created by female artists, that you can glue to a backing board. The designs range from dark and moody starscapes to bright, sunny days at the beach, so there’s something for everyone. They’re gorgeous!

3. Make their commute more fun.

If your company has gone back to in-person work, try a gift that will make your admin’s commute more fun. Modern Picnic is a women-owned brand that has great insulated lunchboxes that look like sleek, professional handbags. They can tuck a Tupperware container inside a larger bag, or fit some trail mix into the smaller version (The Snacker).

If you know your EA might be traveling soon, Cadence capsules are a fantastic gift. They’re beautiful, magnetic & refillable travel containers made from recycled ocean bound plastic. They make organizing all your self-care essentials a breeze, and can handle everything from skincare to jewelry.

4. Get them out of the office.

If it’s an option in your workplace, it’s always great to take your administrative professional out to lunch. It gives you a chance to get to know one another outside the context of the office, which is always beneficial for a relationship. The real key here is: don’t make them organize the lunch! This is one time to call ahead and make the reservations yourself. (You’re laughing, but…we’ve seen it happen.) 

5. You can’t go wrong with food.

If you’re not sure what to give, food gifts are always a great option. Chocolate, cookies, and popcorn are always well-received. We usually recommend a beautifully packaged box with a lot of variety between sweet and savory, since it covers all the bases.

If you know your admin drinks alcohol, a wine sampler from In Good Taste is a great gift. The samplers let them try multiple kinds of wine around a theme, like the California or Wild Child boxes (and the labels are beautiful).

 Or, if they like to cook, try a box set from Omsom, an innovative new women-owned brand that has pantry shortcuts for Asian dishes, combining all the sauces, aromatics, and seasonings you need. 

 And finally, Brightland Olive Oil is always a good choice: it’s a universal kitchen staple made over by an innovative women-owned brand, so that it’s cleaner and much better for you.

Ultimately, the most important thing is that your administrative professional feels appreciated and recognized. The value of that relationship actually goes even beyond a single day: employees are 30% more likely to remain at an organization for another year if they feel that their contributions are acknowledged.

For all these reasons, make sure that you’ve thought ahead about what you’re going to do for Administrative Professionals Day. This isn’t a day you’re going to want to forget about until the last minute.

And of course, we’re always happy to help curate bespoke options if you have a larger team! Get in touch with us here if we can help take this task off your plate.