How Can We Streamline Office Birthday Celebrations to Save Time and Money?

Hi there!

I am looking for an HR policy on Staff Birthday celebrations in the office. Currently, we celebrate each employee's birthday with a cake cutting ceremony. However, a suggestion has been made by one of the staff members to only cut a cake on the first birthday and have all the birthday associates of the month participate, while giving individual gifts to each person on their actual birthday. This proposal aims to save both time and money.

Could someone with experience design a streamlined policy on this matter?

Thank you!

Hi everybody,

I am a new member. It is a common practice to cut the cake and celebrate one's birthday in the office. Why can't it be something different? Everyone would normally like to spend his or her birthday or wedding day with their family.

Could it be possible to give a special leave with a gift voucher or allow him to spend a certain amount on the company's account to cover his expenses for dining with his family?

Varadarajan

Dear Team,

Great policy - No gift, no card, just one notice board reminder so all employees can see the notice and offer their regards to the person. This saves company time and money.

Regards,
Bhavesh

Hi,

We have a policy wherein we celebrate birthdays at the end of each month. We have a small function in the office and also cut cakes and serve snacks. We do not have a policy of giving gifts, but you can give Sodexo birthday vouchers as gifts.

Thanks, Ligy Jose

Presently, we celebrate each and every employee's birthday in the office with a cake-cutting ceremony. Our club provides a gift on that day (the club is formed by all employees contributing a certain amount per month). If an employee's birthday falls on a holiday, the celebration will take place on the following day.

Hi,

I agree with you that instead of spending money on each employee, we can spend on a few employees at a time. It may not be possible to celebrate individual birthdays as the employees are in large numbers, and it is also time-consuming. The best way is to celebrate all the employees who fall in that month at the end of every month. This way, we can save money, time, employees' productive hours, and it will also be a good gathering.

What you can do is order a huge cake and have all the employees who fall in that month cut it at the same time. You can also give them gifts.

Thanks,
Pallavi.

Hi Dear,

In our company, we give a rose from our nursery to all the employees on their birthdays.

Regards,
Sirisha.

Hi,

We celebrate employees' birthdays in the following way:

1) Birthday wishes will be displayed on the notice board and in front of the employee's seat before he/she arrives at the office.
2) A flower bouquet will be placed in front of the employee's seat with birthday wishes before he/she arrives at the office.
3) A good birthday card signed by all/particular division employees will be presented with a gift by his/her superior around 11 AM.
4) Sweets and snacks will be served by support staff.
5) All expenditures will be on the company's account.

In my opinion, we should definitely make the day special for the birthday person(s) and make them feel happy without hampering our routine workflow.

Regards,
Chida

Dear All,

In my previous company, we gave one-gram gold coin and a card to employees at their workstation with their Head of Department (HOD).

Regards,
Netha 😊

We celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries of our employees. We send out a nice birthday card or mail to the employee, copying all others. The HR team gives them a half kg cake with a bouquet and card signed by all the managers of the center and wishes him/her. The employee cuts the cake within their group or project.

For anniversaries, we send out a bouquet along with a half kg cake to their residence for the family.

Maria

Hi all, :)

In our company, we organize cake cutting once a month, but ours is a bit different from other companies. We cut the cake in the middle of every month because it is done according to zodiac signs. All staff members (from different departments) of the same zodiac signs get together with all the company staff present in the cafeteria followed by cake cutting, cake distribution, and cold drinks.

This way, people greet each other and they get to know about individuals from different departments. It also saves time and money.

Regards,
Shelly :)

:roll: WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE :roll:

Generally, birthdays are celebrated in the case of employees only, but organizations never think about the most important and emotional part, which is the "Employee's Wife." We have created our own way; we are not cutting the cake or giving flowers. We simply send a greeting to the employee's house with "Best Wishes from all of us" signed. This is generally a practice no organization is doing.

Hanumant

Hi,

We wish warm greetings to the employee on the same day through mail and send its copy to everyone in the company. We celebrate birthdays of all staff employees in the first week of the month whose birthdays came in the last month. Bouquets are presented to those employees by our MD and it's a kind of gathering of all staff employees. Birthday song is played in the background. We offer snacks to all and also use this platform to recognize and give rewards to the Monthly Contributors who have done extraordinarily in that particular month.

Thanks.

Regards, Simta

Hi Everybody,

I feel it is better to give a meal voucher. Most 3-star hotels are now approaching companies with offers. The birthday buddy can spend time with his/her family.

Soba

We celebrate by cutting a big cake for all employees who celebrate their birthday in the particular month on the last Friday of each month. The birthday list is displayed for every month on the notice board, and the workplace is decorated with flowers on the employees' birthdays.

Dear all,

In our company, we celebrate employees' birthdays by gifting them a cheque of Rs. 501/- and a birthday card at the hands of the Director of our company. This way, the employee gets an opportunity to meet the Director (the topmost authority in the company). This practice has proved to be very useful for the 3rd and 4th-grade employees who usually don't get such an opportunity.

We also display names with best wishes on notice boards.

Looking forward to your comments/views, please.

Regards,
Priyanka

Hi,

My suggestion is totally different from our respected HR colleagues. I suggest providing compensatory time off along with a birthday allowance (calculated as a percentage of the employee's basic salary, such as 5%, 10%, or 15% based on the company's policy) to the employee. This allowance would be deducted from another allowance account. Celebrating an employee's birthday occurs once a year and offering this benefit would surely boost their morale, allowing them to enjoy their special day with family members. Additionally, if the employee wishes to invite all staff members along with their families (though not all may attend due to personal priorities), this approach could establish a unique birthday celebration policy within the organization. By doing so, valuable production time in the office could be saved, and the individual would feel honored with a birthday celebration tailored to their preferences.

Regards,
Sanjeev K. Dubey

Hi,

In our organization, we extend warm greetings to employees on their birthdays by sending out emails on the same day and sharing its copy with everyone in the company, along with presenting a bouquet.

We celebrate the birthdays of all staff members in the last week of the month by cutting a cake. Small gifts are given to these employees by our Executive Director or Chief Technology Officer, creating an opportunity for all staff members to come together. Following this, we engage in team-building activities and games.

During these celebrations, we provide snacks for everyone and take the opportunity to recognize and reward employees for their long service and outstanding performance in the quarter.

Regards,
Priyanka

Dear all,

Our GM will come to the birthday employee with a card, handshake, and well-wishes. This is meant to be a "personalized" approach. However, this approach does not work for me. I still prefer material gifts.

- Kath

User input:

Giving a gift to each employee who is celebrating their birthday will be an expense to the company. So what I suggest to you is just to have a cake cutting each month for those who are celebrating their birthdays and also have small fun games. Plan out the party time for an hour and insist your employees to take compensatory time off in the next working day or on the weekends. :)

Can anyone explain to me what is pre-recruitment and post-recruitment and what all the basis come under each.

Hi,

I believe it is a very good practice to celebrate a colleague's birthday by gathering together in the office for about 10 minutes and cutting a cake. It gives a special feeling to the person who is celebrating their birthday. Although it may entail some effort and money, it can be well worth it.

Regards,
Vasudev

Hi all,

I guess it's pretty much the same everywhere. What we do in our organization is:

1. Circulate a birthday email to all employees.
2. Give a bouquet and a gift/coupon/cash to the birthday person on that day.
3. Celebrate all birthdays of the month on the last Friday of the month, with names of all employees written on the cake.

Regards

Hi All,

In my previous company:

1. We would display the month's Birthday babies list on the notice board and the intranet on the first of every month.
2. On the birthday, an email would be sent to the employee with a copy to all other employees.
3. We would also present a cash voucher on the birthday.

In my present company:

1. We celebrate all the birthday babies of the month with a common celebration by presenting a card, a small gift, and cutting a cake.

Regards,
Ananda Kumar KG

Hi,

Our company is a multi-locational one, and on any employee's birthday, I, on behalf of all, send a birthday wish email to the concerned employee, marking a copy to all employees. Then, each one wishes him/her through an email. It's not only the gift/cake or recognition that counts, but I strongly feel that it's just a matter of wishing someone well, especially on their birthday, that makes a great difference. The person feels good and important. While there may not be a policy, practices do persist in each organization.

Regards,
Shilpi
HR - Delhi

Hi all,

In my office, we give a card (signed by all the directors) and a flower to the person on his or her birthday, and the person gives us a snack treat.

On the last Saturday of each month, we celebrate the birthdays of those who had a birthday in that month by cutting a cake, all from the office account.

Additionally, we provide a notice board reminder of the birthdays in a given month.

Regards,
Priyanka

Very well said. It's important to make a professional who spends 8-10 hours in an office feel belonged. Is it asking for too much to have a small celebration for birthdays?

If the organizations are really large like IT/ITES, why not display birthdays on the notice board daily and have a monthly party for all the birthdays in the specific month?

Cheers, Anjali :)

Hi all,

In our company, we celebrate birthdays by cutting cake, and snacks are distributed. This way, all employees have a few minutes of break, and our VP says a few words for the birthday person.

Hi all,

In our company, we provide special leave to an employee if their birthday falls on a weekday. In rare instances where the employee needs to come in for an urgent project deadline, we compensate by crediting a leave day to their account. Additionally, we send them an email with a positive birthday quotation, copying all employees. Apart from that, we place a small gift and a greeting card signed by all colleagues on the employee's desk so that they receive it the next day when they come in.

Cheers,
Sunetra

Hi,

In our company, we practice cutting a cake on the last working day of the month for all those who have celebrated their birthday in that month.

Regards,
Koshy

I think every company should celebrate the birthdays of their employees because it gives the feeling of belongingness.

We celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries of our employees. We send out a nice birthday card/mail to the employee, copying all others. We distribute sweets with a bouquet, card, and wish him/her.

For anniversaries, we send out a bouquet along with sweets to their residence.

Regards,
Mona

Hi,

We celebrate employees' birthdays in the following way:

1) Birthday wishes will be displayed on the notice board and sent a copy to all branches through mail.
2) Through wishes, we also mention the contact number so that other employees can contact as soon as they receive mail from HR.
3) A good birthday card signed by the Director.
4) HR informs the Director, if possible, they call personally.

Similarly, we also celebrate the wedding anniversaries of our employees.

Regards,
Neha

Feeling nice after reading the views on the Birthday Policy. Let me tell you what I do in my organization:

1. We publish the names of the employees whose birthdays are in that month in our in-house magazine.
2. Out of them, we select one as a Birthday Boy/Girl.
3. Sending greetings to him/her by the respective Branch Head.
4. We make a call to him/her from all staff at the corporate office wishing him/her.
5. Celebration by cutting cake.

Regards,
Pritam

Hi Everyone,

Should employee birthdays be celebrated according to their certificate records or their actual dates? So far, we have been following the records; however, employees are not happy as it's not their actual birthday. Can anyone suggest to me how I can proceed?