Employee leaving gifts: what to choose and what to write
What do you choose for an employee leaving gift, and what do you write in the card? Choose one useful item that suits the person's next chapter, and write a card that names a specific thing they gave the team. The budgets by tenure, who picks and how remote leavers are handled are covered in the guide to leaving gifts for employees, which pairs with this one; here the focus is the choice and the words.
A leaving gift carries two messages at once. The item says what the business thought of the person, and the card says it out loud. Get the pair right and the send takes ten minutes of planning; get them wrong and the same budget produces a card passed around at 4pm on a Friday. This guide gives a way to choose the item and a three line formula for the card, with two worked examples.
TL;DR
- Choose one useful item that suits the next chapter: travel, a new commute or a new routine.
- Write three card lines: what they gave the team, what will be missed, a wish for what comes next.
- Name one specific contribution instead of stopping at good luck.
- Present the gift before the last day, with the card signed by everyone who worked with the leaver.
What to choose: buy for the next chapter
The most common leaving gift mistake is buying for the job the person is leaving. A branded mug marks the office they are departing; a useful item serves the life they are moving into. Three categories cover most departures.
- A new commute or travel. The Black & Blum Steel Bottle 600ml at £15.26 suits a leaver starting a new commute, a new city or a trip, because it travels well and it lasts.
- A new daily routine. The Black & Blum Stainless Food Flask 400ml at £24.74 suits someone moving to a workplace without a canteen or heading into study, where lunch becomes part of the new rhythm.
- The same field, new desk. The Appeel 'Predaia' Medium Notebook at £9.80, made with paper from recycled apples, suits a leaver staying in the industry, where the item carries goodwill into the next role.
The test behind all three: would the person have chosen the item themselves? If the answer is yes, the gift reads as a farewell. If the answer is no, it reads as a handout.
What to write: a three line formula
Cards fail when they are either empty or exhausting. Three lines are enough, and each line has a job.
- Name what they gave the team. Be specific: a system built, people trained, a standard set. This is the line the person remembers.
- Say what will be missed. One honest detail, not a list. A single concrete absence lands harder than three general ones.
- Close on what comes next. A wish tied to their actual plan, not a generic send off. If they told you about the trip or the new role, use it.
Two card examples
For a warehouse supervisor leaving after nine years: "You built the induction every new starter still goes through. The floor will not feel the same without you on it. Enjoy the van, and send photos from the coast."
For a marketing executive heading off travelling: "You turned our launch calendar from chaos into something the rest of us can read. Tuesday will be quieter without you. Have the best trip, and keep the notebook full."
Both follow the formula: a contribution named, one specific absence, a close tied to the plan. Neither needs to be long to be kept.
Who signs, and when it is handed over
One named person holds both the item and the card from the day the notice lands. The card circulates early enough that everyone who worked with the leaver can add a line, and it closes two days before the last day so it can be written up without a rush. The gift is presented in person on the second to last day wherever possible, so the moment belongs to the team rather than to an exit interview. The tenure bands that set the spend, and the remote leaver case where the gift is posted to arrive before the last day, are covered in the paired guide.
A worked example
An office manager at a 60 person engineering firm opens a shared document on the day a resignation is accepted. The document carries one prompt: name one thing this person gave the team. Colleagues add a line each over the notice period, the document closes two days before the last day, and the card is written from the strongest lines using the three line formula. The item is chosen the same week from the tenure band already published. Since the process was written down, no card has been chased in a final week and no send has arrived after the leaver walked out.
What to avoid
- A card that stops at good luck. Two generic words undo the effort of the gift.
- Gifts for the old job. Office branded items mark an exit; useful items mark a farewell.
- Managers only signatures. A long serving leaver with five signatures reads as thin, whatever the item cost.
- Presenting after the last day. A gift that arrives once the person has gone loses the moment that made it matter.
- The same card for every leaver. A three month intern and a nine year veteran should not receive identical words, and everyone notices when they do.
FAQ
What do you write in an employee leaving card?
Three lines: what the person gave the team, one specific thing that will be missed, and a wish tied to their next chapter. Specific detail in the first line matters more than length anywhere else.
What is a good leaving gift from an employer?
One useful item that suits the person's next chapter, such as a steel bottle for a new commute, a food flask for a new routine or a quality notebook for a new role, paired with a card that names a specific contribution.
Should a company leaving gift be branded with the logo?
Keep branding minimal or leave it off. A leaving gift is personal, and a large logo turns a farewell into the company saying goodbye to itself.
How much should a company spend on a leaving gift?
Budget by tenure: roughly £10 to £20 for a shorter stint, £20 to £40 for one to three years, and £50 or more for long service or retirement. Confirm the tax treatment with finance before the band is published.
Who should sign the leaving card?
Everyone who worked with the leaver, which means the card circulates early in the notice period rather than in the final week. For long service, signatures from across the business carry the weight the years deserve.
When should a leaving gift be given?
In person on the second to last day or the last day, before the farewell. For remote leavers, post the gift to arrive before the last day, while the person is still in contact with the team.
One last thing
The card outlasts the gift. If several leavers are expected across 2026, write the one line prompt into the offboarding checklist now and every card that follows writes itself from the team's own answers.
Related guides
If a departure is already on the calendar, note the tenure band and the leave date. Contact the ethical gift box with those details, and the team can suggest items that suit the next chapter and hold stock so the send is ready before the last day.