Here’s Why You Should Celebrate Employee Birthdays and Anniversaries at Work

And, the Best Ways to Do It!

Several studies state that one of the biggest motivators for employees is recognition. Yes, bonuses too work well, but that serves as a motivator only for a time. This is because once an employee receives his/her reward, the effect wears off quickly. Recognition and the feeling of being appreciated are, on the other hand, long-lasting and serves as an excellent way to motivate employees.

Why celebrating Birthdays and Anniversaries at the Office is a great idea?

Why celebrating Birthdays and Anniversaries at the Office work well as very often businesses commemorate the completion of a big project, increase in profits, and net sales. While such team building activities and group recognition are excellent tools to boost morale and team spirit, they don’t do much for improving individual confidence and job satisfaction. While team parties and events are needed, they don’t focus on one person.

Celebrating the birthday or anniversary of an employee is a great way to shine the spotlight on individual employees. For the whole day, they feel as if it’s their day. Even if the work proceeds the same way with meetings, client calls, etc., the employee feels special and appreciated throughout the day.

What happens when special days are forgotten or ignored at Work?

Not celebrating birthdays and other special anniversaries can lead to de-motivation. When one’s colleagues don’t remember one’s birthday, a person feels unappreciated. He considers himself as a cog in the machine and begins to doubt their worth as an individual. They start to think that the company looks at them just as a tool for producing results. This can cause morale and commitment to hit rock bottom.

This, in turn, leads to declining productivity levels, frequent employee absenteeism, and high employee turnover.

Now, coming to the big question,

How to Celebrate Birthdays and Anniversaries in the Office?

The first step is to include birthdays and anniversaries (if required) in your attendance tracking software. This way, you can be notified of the special days before the actual date. Also, this ensures that you don’t miss out on the birthdays of anyone.

Once you have tracked birthdays and other special occasions, the next step is to decide how you want to celebrate them. The choice is all up to you – while some businesses order takeaways while others take the entire team out on a special lunch. Others finish with just a cake in the office.

Additionally, it’s a practice for businesses to pass a birthday card for all other employees to sign on. Some go the extra mile by decorating a conference room with some simple décor and banner.

Remember, ultimately, it isn’t how you celebrate birthdays at work – but the fact that you take the time to celebrate is what that makes the most impact!

Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to Help You Out:

The Do’s

• Electronic birthday cards, especially if you’re a large organization with Hundreds of employees.

• Special lunch with the CEO/VP/manager.

• Gift cards to outstanding restaurants or other popular stores.

• Surprise decorations at the employee’s cubicle/desk.

• Let the birthday person take a “one-day holiday/break” on his/her birthday.

• Contribution by all employees to a charity of choice of the person celebrating his/her birthday.

• Team lunch – you can get a catering company to serve dishes right in your office space.

• If you are a big organization, celebrating a combined birthday for all Employees born in the same month makes more sense – budget-wise and Time-wise.

• Try to customize each celebration so that they don’t end up feeling the same. For instance, you can tailor it to depict the horoscope signs of the celebrant.

• Make sure that you invite the entire team or the branch for the celebration. Don’t make the enormous mistake of forgetting to invite some person, thereby making them feel left out.

• Also, be mindful of the timings of the celebration. You don’t want to affect work hours or make employees stay back after the workday is over. Lunches are the best times to celebrate birthdays without affecting routines.

The Don’ts

• Don’t make it a point to mention someone’s age on a cake or card, until the person has no problems.

• Don’t point out a person’s birthday on social media networks, office emails, or the intranet before getting permission.

• Similarly, don’t arrange for a birthday cake or special lunch without getting consent from the celebrant. After all, not everyone celebrates birthdays. Some may avoid doing so for religious or personal reasons. Make sure to respect the wishes of each person.

• Don’t pressurize other employees to contribute more than they can. Also, if a person doesn’t want to participate, don’t force him to do so. Furthermore, just because a person hasn’t contributed, don’t exclude him/her from the event.

• Don’t celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in the workplace if you aren’t consistent. For instance, celebrating a few birthdays while skipping others is sure to hurt employee morale.

• And, above all, don’t ask the celebrants to bring in their treats or contribute to the event. After all, it’s their special day, and they shouldn’t feel burdened.

Brainstorming

Here are a few questions to help you figure out the right type of celebration that suits the occasion and the person being honored:

• What does this person like? Does he/she have a hobby/passion that they devote all their weekends to?

• What do most people in the office never get to do?

• What activity is sure to please the whole team and boost morale?

• What type of celebration do employees enjoy?

• What activity fits in the work schedule, without disrupting deadlines?

These are a few questions to help you get started.

The Takeaway

If you don’t want to spend much time organizing a birthday at work, yet wish to make the day memorable for the employee and his team, the best way is to get a catering team to serve a specially prepared lunch in the workplace. This doesn’t interrupt working hours and is affordable when you combine all birthdays in a month. Ring us at +91-989-998-8185 to work out a package exclusively for you.