5 Reasons Why a Personalized Pen Is the Best Gift for Your Boss

By Samantha Di Nardo

Personalized cross calais gift pen and brown book

5 Reasons Why a Personalized Pen Is the Best Gift for Your Boss

By Samantha Di Nardo

Boss’s day, birthdays, and end-of-year holiday gifting can be challenging. You want to strike the right note with every gift for your boss. Appropriate without breaking the bank.

There is an etiquette to corporate gifting that enables you to grow internal and external business relationships. It’s a delicate balance between memorability and propriety.

While the typical gifting fallback is a gift card, nearly half of gift card recipients don’t find it memorable at all.

That’s why a personalized pen, whether fountain, ballpoint, or electronic, hits the mark. Here are five reasons to add it to your gifts-for-the-boss roster in 2024.

The Personal Touch

Black Alexandria Fountain Pen

Alexandria Fountain Pen - Black

Vincent van Gogh once said, “Great things happen through a succession of small things brought together.”

A personalized pen channels this same energy. It’s a seemingly small item to gift, however, the time and attention that goes into personalizing it makes a huge impact.

Instead of your gift getting lost in the deluge of promotional and corporate gifts most managers receive annually, it will stand out and have a prime position on your boss’s desk.

A personalized pen is a great gift that reinforces the existing positive and appreciative work culture.

According to Dr. White, an expert in healthy workplace psychology and culture, a thoughtful, personal gift has the most impact.

In contrast, a generic gift chosen for keeping up appearances communicates a lack of consideration and respect which could negatively impact work relationships.

Sometimes adding a clip emblem of the company logo to the engraved pen adds that je ne sais quoi that makes the gift memorable.

It’s a great way to thank the boss for being super at their job. Not all heroes wear capes.

★★★★★

Dayspring pens took the time to help me select a quality pen set that fell within our budget, incorporated our company logo on the clip emblem, and ended up being a very impressive presentation item...

- James, Virginia

Functional Gifts for Your Boss

Parker IM Black Gold Retractable Ballpoint Pen

Parker IM Black Gold Retractable Ballpoint Pen

Minimalism as a more efficient way of living seems to be slowly trickling into all facets of modern life. From fashion and decor aesthetics to digital interfaces, we’re all looking for less clutter, visual or otherwise.

Nowhere is this skew towards functionality more apparent than in the workplace and home office desk.

As you scour the gift aisles or pages, functionality should be a key determining factor for the gift. This is why personalized pens are perfect.

A pen monogrammed or engraved with the recipient’s name is unlikely to be recycled into a last-minute Christmas gift for Aunt Shelly. But that neck massager might!

More importantly, as stationery, it will sit on your boss’s desk, at the center of their work, as a valuable addition to their work life. They’ll use the pen and remember your astuteness.

Bonus points for thwarting the habit of people borrowing and absent-mindedly walking away with your pen.  

Versatility

Now you’re probably thinking, my boss is gadget-obsessed and signs everything on Adobe Sign, how will a pen help?

Enter the personalized stylus.

The 3 Reasons Why I Only Write With a Stylus PenThe 3 Reasons Why I Only Write With a Stylus Pen

The culture of remote working, virtual meetings, and digital collaboration platforms grows in popularity year by year with better technologies and more intuitive systems at our fingertips.

How familiar is the experience of a co-worker quickly jotting down or sketching ideas on their tablet while they’re sharing their screen the whole group?

Said ideas are then immediately digitized with a few clicks and populated or shared for implementation.

A stylus is an indispensable part of the digital corporate landscape and the home office. Your boss will thank you for one that says bespoke instead of 20% off on Amazon.

The Prestige Factor

Modern monarchs in Europe and Asia use a cipher or seal. A stylized version of their initials.

The Ottoman sultans had calligraphic monograms called tughra while in Japan — the Chrysanthemum Seal is still a key royal identifier.

While your boss is no sovereign ruler, their office and role still deserve respect and acknowledgment.

An engraved pen from a premium brand eloquently communicates your recognition of your boss’s leadership role. This positive reinforcement is reciprocal.

A business gift satisfaction survey found that more than 8 out of 10 C-suite executives have seen the positive and measurable ROI of business gifts. Plus there are intangible benefits to the relational environment of the workplace.

Personalized pens are a subtle way to splurge on a corporate gift for your boss. Only the recipient and those well-versed will spot the 14 karat finish or special trim.

These sophisticated, executive pens include:

  • Carène, Expert, and Perspective collections by Waterman
  • Premier by Parker
  • Townsend, Peerless and Century collections by Cross Pens

Maintain Professionalism in Your Gift Ideas

A personalized pen says to your boss,

“I put thought into your gift but I didn’t stalk your social media profiles!”

A brief search through online gift ideas yields results that are bizarre, funny, and inappropriate.

How would you know whether your boss is struggling with insomnia or stress and needs a sleep mask and some incense?

Will it be the $45 popcorn selection or the online liquor delivery service?

Overly personal gifts such as perfume, jewelry or clothing can feel extremely uncomfortable to the recipient and strain your relationships with coworkers and superiors. Just because virtual meetings have opened vistas into each others’ homes doesn’t mean we should overstep professional boundaries.

The Dayspring Pens guide to professional gift-giving goes further into the nuances involved when looking into gift ideas for business connections.

We have already mentioned the functionality of personalized pens. That coupled with their ubiquity means your boss won’t have any trouble meeting your gaze after opening your engraved gift.

Speaking of engraving, how long does it take to get a pen personalized? 

How Hard Is It To Get a Personalized Pen?

Monroe Pen and Pencil Set - Burgundy Red

Monroe Pen and Pencil Set - Burgundy Red

How Long Does Engraving Take?

The Dayspring Pens production time for standard engraving is 4-5 business days, excluding shipping. There is a Rush Gift option that ships out in 1 day.

Is Engraving Free?

personalized Cross Calais Rollerball Pen Matte Metallic Midnight Blue

Cross Calais Rollerball Pen - Matte Metallic Midnight Blue

All standard engraving is free with a purchased pen and includes 1 engraved line on the pen’s cap, up to 25 characters per line in the standard fonts.

The standard fonts are Block, Script, and Times. Left-handed engraving positioning is a free available option, too.

Custom styles such as personal signatures, logo engraving, logo imprinting, and clip emblems attract an additional setup fee.

Is Engraving Worthwhile?

Unlike imprinting or pad printing, engraving doesn’t wear off with time. It will last as long as the pen does, possibly millennia like this shell engraving.

The engraving is done using a fiber optic or CO2 Laser Engraving Machine. Cross pens have the additional option of deep-cut engraving that can be filled with a complementary color of your choice.

Which Gift Pen Can I Get for My Boss?

Dayspring Pens carries Waterman, Parker, Cross, and Howard Miller. These premium pen brands all have options in the appropriate budget range for Boss’s Day and similar occasions.

A personalized pen never fails to deliver understated elegance. Choose the perfect pen for your boss from our corporate gifts and boss’s day collections.

Sam Di Nardo

Sam Di Nardo is an author for Dayspring Pens, where she has honed her expertise in ballpoint, rollerball, gel and fountain pens since joining the team in 2018.

From her initial role as an Engraver to becoming the Production Manager, Sam's journey has been marked by her passion for the history, manufacturing, and the unique value of gifted writing instruments.

A graduate of Regent University with a degree in English Literature and a special interest in Old Norse literature, dive deeper into Sam's world and discover why she's your trusted guide in the realm of gift pens.

Follow Sam on LinkedIn.

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