There are times in a business atmosphere when you must give a gift to someone you may not know on a deeply personal level but circumstances dictate that you honor them with a special offering. Maybe it's their birthday, or they are retiring. Possibly they have been promoted, or even if they are being transferred to a different location.

So what sort of item is appropriate as a business gift? It's always safest to stay away from anything that's inappropriately personal; however, that doesn't mean you can't get a business gift that's personalized. For example, a pen set for a co-worker's retirement, inscribed with the name of your unit and the years that individual worked there-this is not only appropriate, it's an excellent choice for a traditional business gift. This would be a good combination, giving a sense of place and time, while staying within company personality.

Everyone likes getting a present, and a business gift is no different. Even though the environment is usually a bit more structured and less informal in general, this does not detract from the fact that a business gift is still exactly that, a gift. You are giving someone something to commemorate a portion of their life. It is important to put careful thought and consideration into that business gift, just as much as you would if you were giving a present to your best friend, or your mother.

Let's say that Martha is retiring. Martha has been the executive assistant for your company's president for as long as you've been there . . . and many years before that. She has been in the same position for twenty-five years. There's nothing Martha would not do for any of the employees who work for her boss. She's spent many hours beyond daily quitting time working on a project needed the next day, or many a lunch hour-not at lunch but, instead, taking care of a rush letter that absolutely had to be in the mail within the hour.

The boss has been moping around the office for days. He doesn't know what he'll do without Martha. He feels like he's losing his right hand and in many ways, he is. Another executive assistant has been hired but of course it won't be the same. Martha has become . . . family.

The boss will give Martha a business gift but that will be from him alone. You and the others in the office have gotten together to decide what sort of business gift you want to give her from the group. There's no way you can neglect to acknowledge her contribution to not only the excellent working atmosphere in which you all work but in many ways, it has been Martha who created the basis for that atmosphere-always cheery, willing to jump right in and help, just always there for whatever she was needed to be there for. That was Martha.

So it couldn't be simply any business gift you will give her. The business gift for Martha from the group must be clearly meant for her-from all of you-the very minute she opened the box. A variety of ideas were tossed out, and discarded as just not the right combination of corporate and personal. What about-a nice pen set? No, not enough. A clock or a watch? No, too expected. A gift certificate to her favorite store? A nice thought but it still didn't do the trick. Too mundane for the likes of Martha, and even too impersonal.

So what sort of business gift could you give a woman who has made your lives so pleasant all these years, day in and day out? What kind of business gift could you offer to the consummate professional, a woman without whom the office could never have run as efficiently as it had for so long?

Martha loves clowns. She's always had clowns all over her office area, and never made any secret about her addiction to these colorful figures of humor and happiness. And it somehow seemed so fitting, and suddenly so obvious, to give Martha a clown which could only come from her friends in her office. An unusual business gift? Yes, but totally appropriate and, in its way, the perfect business gift. There was just enough time to personalize this business gift idea in the most unique way so you contact a special clown artist, and commission an office drawing in pastels which depicts just the right number of folks in your office. It will show a reasonable facsimile of your physical work area, and put the boss in the middle with Martha, as always, to his right. Standing behind are all the employees.

And everyone is dressed and made up like a clown. Each of the ten employees, not including the boss and Martha, are identifiable. The boss and Martha can't be mistaken for anyone else. The artist matted the pastel drawing in such a way that each employee could sign it, and the boss had his own special place to put his deeply touching message.

Everyone held their breath the day of Martha's party when she was handed the wrapped box. She looked up expectantly, her eyes already bright with as-yet unshed tears. When the boss encouraged her to continue opening it, she did so, never once taking her eyes from his. When she finally looked down at what was inside the box, the beauty and unexpected personalization of the business gift tore down the last shreds of Martha's composure. She cried. Her tears were happy tears but she was sad, too. She had loved this office every minute she had come to work, and to leave it was difficult-though, at this point in her life, it was the right thing for her to do.

After Martha dried her tears, she thanked everyone for her beautiful business gift, one which she promised she would cherish forever. It was at that moment you knew what it meant to give just the right present to the right person-Martha's business gift was personal in that it spoke only to her, yet it was altogether appropriate since it also spoke directly to Martha's connection with each one of her co-workers. One cannot work day in and day out with others without becoming attached to them in some way. This particular business gift showed Martha how much she meant to every one in her office . . . and for that, there could not have been a better business gift.

It's always all in the thought behind that gift-whether it's a business gift or a solely personal one. Always have sincere thought behind it and the giving will be meaningful.