It can be a good idea to celebrate employees’ birthdays as it is a great way to show that you care and to bring everyone together. However, it’s important that you do so in the right way. Therefore, make sure you take note of the following seven dos and don’ts.
1. Do View Birthday Celebrations as Part of a General Culture of Recognition
Employee recognition should be a part of your everyday approach. That doesn’t just mean rewarding top employees with awards, certificates, and trophies – although that can certainly be a great way of showing your workers that you appreciate them.
It also means doing simple things like saying “thank you” and “well done” to employees who complete tasks well and those who go above and beyond the call of duty.
By embracing a general culture of employee recognition, you can create a happier and more productive workforce. In turn, that will enable you to retain your top talent and ensure your company is as productive and efficient as possible.
Employee recognition also refers to recognizing your employee’s personal life moments, so make sure you view birthday celebrations as part of a general culture of recognition.
You should create a culture of recognition in the workplace that recognizes both work-related accomplishments and personal life events.
2. Do Celebrate Everyone’s Birthdays Equally
It is important that you celebrate every employee’s birthday equally. If you don’t, you could soon create resentment. In turn, that could lead to employee unhappiness and poor productivity.
So, never do something like take one employee out for lunch on his or her birthday but solely give another employee a cheap gift on his or her special day. Your approaches to celebrating employees’ birthdays must be fair and consistent.
3. Do Equip Managers with a List of Birthdays
Following on from the last point, it is important that no one’s birthday is forgotten. If even one employee’s birthday is overlooked by management, it will cause friction.
So, make sure that managers who are in charge of recognizing employee birthdays are equipped with a list of birthday dates for every worker. That includes ensuring every new hire is included on the list.
4. Do Give Gifts as Well as Cards
You should definitely give cards out to employees who are celebrating birthdays. You can either get a card from management or buy a card that everyone at the workplace signs.
But you should also give gifts of some kind. Whether you do something special like take the person out to lunch or simply buy a cake that the person and the whole team can enjoy is up to you.
Just make sure that your gifts are consistent for each person’s birthday. You will cause resentment and friction in the workplace if you give one employee a significant and expensive gift and another a small and cheap gift.
5. Don’t Announce the Person’s Age Without Consent
While many people are more than happy for others to know their ages, bear in mind that not everyone will be. So, when buying cards, look for ones that do not mention age.
And when getting employees together to note the person’s birthday, by perhaps singing happy birthday or attending a short cake-cutting ceremony, avoid announcing the individual’s age unless you have consent.
6. Don’t Demand the Person Whose Birthday It Is Brings in Treats
In some workplaces, it has become common for people who are celebrating their birthdays to bring in cakes or treats for everyone to share on the big day. But you really should avoid demanding the person whose birthday it is to do such things.
Forcing someone to bring in treats to share is never a good idea, especially on birthdays. After all, birthdays are a time to give presents, not for people whose birthday it is to go through the hassle of bringing in gifts themselves.
7. Don’t Misspell People’s Names
This is a simple but important don’t. Never misspell someone’s name when writing a card or writing the person’s name on a cake. If you do, it is sure to be an embarrassing mistake that the person won’t forget in a hurry. So, always double-check spellings before writing names.
