Birthdays at work can be a tricky thing. My birthday recently passed and being pretty new to my current day job- I didn't know what to expect. First off- I hadn't told anyone that it was my birthday- but of course weeks before someone asked me randomly when my birthday was. I tried to just let the day slip by and hope that nobody knew. Well, some really sweet coworkers went overboard and decorated my desk with brightly colored paper, sticky notes, and drawings of birthday things. They made a cake, etc. It was out of control! I felt super special and it was so kind of them to do this for someone so new to the organization! My boss gave me a gift, another coworker brought flowers, another a gift. Honestly- I was overwhelmed by the kindness of my coworkers! *If any of you happen to read this- you ROCK! Seriously- thanks again for the kindness!*While all this display of birthday enthusiasm and kindness was going on at the office, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Who in this office wishes people would notice them more? And decorate for their birthdays? Is this going to offend someone?" One might wonder why I'd think thoughts like this. Well, it's because I've dealt with the HR nightmare known as birthdays for sometime now and they truly are a tricky thing.
By now, you all know my thoughts on recognition. We should recognize our employees and a birthday is a day for each employee to feel special (if that is what they want)! So- my proposal for this tricky subject: ASK!
When you get new employees (or if you've never asked your long timers), ask a couple of things:
1) Can we post your name and birthday (no year) on a monthly birthday list that goes up in the break room (or wherever) so that other employees can tell you happy birthday?
2) Would you like to participate in the monthly birthday party? We'll get one big cake for everyone and share it (or whatever you do at your place of work)
3) Come up with other ideas here- but ask the employees and then let them know you'll share with their supervisor - OR leave this up to supervisors! (Just watch out for those slacker supervisors who won't follow up or ever acknowledge a birthday- they will need some motivation from HR!)
The bottom line is that people really should be consulted on what they want to do in regards to celebrating their big day. If their religion doesn't allow them to celebrate, if they are turning 90, or maybe if they are just grumps and don't want to celebrate- nobody should make them- especially HR! Don't hear me wrong, I'm not trying to be negative- I think we SHOULD recognize when and where we can- but this is an area of recognition that requires some employee input for sure.
