[Chrissy Scivicque]

This question was asked by Pat Chuffo in our focus group:

Who has unique ideas for celebrating employee birthdays (or not)? And, the same for company anniversaries (by employees)?

[OA Staff Member]

This answer was submitted by Tracy Langely:

Suggestion: Once a month post names of birthdays in the “common area” or “lunchroom”, purchase cards for birthdays that month and pass them around for others to sign, then decide on one day of the month to have a brief gathering in the lunchroom with everyone to have some cake (or brownies, etc) to celebrate the birthday boy(s) or girl(s)! It’s a real treat for everyone, and YES, you all HAVE to sing the Happy Birth Day to Yooouu, Happy Birth Day (well you know the rest).

[bigpup49]

I bake a batch of cookies or cupcakes and pass them out (wrapped with a small cookie card made from the computer)to each employee who has a birthday for that month. I don't bake for each birthday date, I bake one Sunday of the month and then distribute. Then, when the actual date arrives, I make sure to wish them a happy Bday on their special day. It is a personal touch just like having your mom around.

Now, this works great for 40 employees. I am sure it would not work for 600 employees.

[HewDaily]

Keep it simple though, and offer an "opt out" so an employee's birthday never has to be mentioned.

But, to stay on topic, the coolest employee birthday celebration I ever saw happened after work. It's amazing what the right pub, the right people from the office, and some crazy birthday shots can do to show an employee you're happy they were born. Sure, there were some awkward feelings the next day but... That's all right

[galfriday]

At our company of 80, we post all birthdays and company anniversaries on the intranet. We all have to keep an electronic timesheet to track hours for vacation, comp time, sick time, etc (exempt or non-exempt) so everyone sees the intranet first thing in the morning. There's a quick link on the name so anyone can send a quick email to wish the employee a happy day or congratulations.

In addition, I make sure to have a full supply of a variety of birthday and anniversary cards so that the CEO can personally wish them a happy day or congratulations. We have 80 employees, so that's about 0 - 6 a week... AND, I don't reveal this secret to anyone at work, but I write them. I have my exec's handwriting down pretty accurately and it's MUCH easier if I remind him of the special day in case he sees the employee in the hall and I write the card. If I were to wait on him, the poor employee wouldn't get his/her card till months later... I hear from employees how much they really like the CEO's personal attention. I don't feel bad writing the card myself...I'm literally my exec's right hand.

((OH, and there is an opt-out button for employees who don't want their birthday announced on the intranet)).

[Toni Breeden]

This was such an issue with our company until just recently. It was tough because we have multiple locations, which led to some birthdays being celebrated with cakes, balloons and cards while others went unnoticed. My boss and I decided there needed to be one cohesive plan for birthdays, company-wide.

We came up with sending each staffer a $5.00 gift card to "everyone's favorite coffee establishment" in a birthday card. According to birthdays saved on the company calendar, we send the cards through inter-office mail so that it arrives the day of the staffers birthday. This way, everyone feels appreciated and no one feels left out - not to mention, it's much easier than picking up a cake, balloons, etc...

[kbrown]

Every 2 months, my CEO treats those with birthdays (usually 8 to 10 ppl) in those months to a 1 hour breakfast at a nearby restaurant and uses that time to have casual chat, get to know his employees, as well as allow them to get to know him by asking him questions about the company (past, present and future) that they may not otherwise have the time or opportunity to do.

[Kevin Cannella]

I don't believe there should be any formality for birthday's. The point is that the day is special for you.

It's the one day they aren't like everyone else, they are special.

If you treat everyone the same on their birthday's then nothing is special. It is anticipated and routine.

From the CEO's standpoint taking people to breakfast, he goes to breakfast because there is a birthday (stress on the 'a' implying how generic it is) not because it is Kevin's birthday.

Do something special for your friends at the office, something meaningful to them. If many people are friends with the person then maybe a small party is thrown or something of the like.

That is not exactly fair, but I don't believe it should be in a situation like this. If I am well liked around the office and get the same generic birthday that Negative Nancy gets, that makes me feel terrible.

[Patricia]

My firm posts all birthdays on the Intranet, unless you absolutely do not want it. Some people have a thing about people knowing their birthday, but I'm not one of them. I love birthdays, so I don't mind this at all.

When people read it is your birthday they usually come around and say Happy Birthday and my closest co-workers might even give me a card. At my last employer they gave you a day off on your birthday, which was a nice bonus.

My friend says at her office they celebrate once a month with pizza and a cake for all the birthdays that month. I love cake as well as birthdays

[mazeppa]

In our company, acknowledging birthdays is considered invading privacy, believe it or not. We were considering sending out cards as appropriate and were told that was not permitted. That seems rather sad to me, but I guess that's society today.

In a previous company, there was 20 people, we would have cake at least once a month; those who were within a few days of each other shared the day. It was nice.