One Way to Make Birthdays Special

When it comes to birthdays, how many of you work in an organization where your boss simply gives you a card and signs their name?  This approach is so impersonal and is one of my ultimate pet peeves!! 

Unfortunately I was "that person" until I read EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey.  Dave suggested that bosses should consider sending individualized birthday emails to every employee.  At first I wasn't sure if I liked this idea because emails feel so impersonal. However, I decided to test out his suggestion... and it has paid huge dividends. 

Not only does this approach allow me to wish our employees a happy birthday on their special day, the email also provides me with an opportunity to give the employee specific, positive feedback. Furthermore, the next time I see the employee I love asking them to tell me about their birthday festivities.

For anyone with a small staff, you may want to stick to handwritten cards or individual conversations. But for large staffs (we have 250 employees) I would highly recommend getting in a habit of sending birthday emails!