I need some ideas of how to thank some of my co-workers/mentors?
As background: I'm in a mentor program where I have been paired with various preceptors over the past year and worked with about half of the people in my department (whole department consists of about 20-25 people). Part of the program required me to move to another department after 1 year. Since I will be moving to a different department and a different floor in the building, I wanted to thank everyone I have worked with over the year. The caveat is that there are about 4 people who have spent significant time mentoring me, sometimes hours a day. There are several other people in the department who I have worked alot with, just didn't receive as much mentoring, and then there are yet other people in dept where I have not really interacted with them at all. The problem is, I don't want people to feel left out and having trouble figuring out where to draw the line. And I was thinking of just getting a big cake for everyone, but we share our floor with other departments so it would be difficult to find a place to put it without being eaten by others. To further complicate the situation, I may have the opportunity to get hired on and work with this department in the future after my mentor program is over. Any advice or experience would be helpful! I am currently thinking of going with a cupcake and cookies in a bag, and putting it on everyones desk? But would like other ideas and the politically correct way to handle this!
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"Deep down you may still be that same great guy I used to know. But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" Rachel Dawes, Batman Begins
I think the best idea would be to do the cookies/cake thing - announce it to the dept, buy a lot so you know there will be leftovers then once your dept has enjoyed their bit, invite the rest of the floor to enjoy.
We do this a lot at work, where the marketing team will get a cake or something fun as a thanks for whatever work we've done, then sales and accounting are invited to join along but always afterwards.
I agree, and give your top people a personal note thanking them for their help. You could also take your top 4 to lunch (individually) to thank them and to celebrate.