Reflection on Workplace Birthday Rituals: Authenticity and Time
Posted on: Nov 15, 2024
The 1980s saw massive layoffs. The turmoil from this period wasn’t just people losing their jobs, but people losing their jobs who thought that their relationship with their employer was personal and that they would always have a job. Work was like a family. People given pink slips felt betrayed, which made the job searching experience all the harder. I knew people who experienced this reality, and I still remember the emotional turmoil they felt because they confused family and employer. The two are not the same, and your employer may need to lay you off or fire you. Which leads to the topic of this article, which is employer driven birthday celebrations or what I call institutional birthday protocols (IBP).
First, what are institutional birthday protocols? This is a work policy or procedure which may be handled by a manager, supervisor, or for large companies, the Human Resources department. It specifies how birthdays will be celebrated. Two reasons are cited for IBPs. The first one is to help reduce employee turnover. Research done by Continuing Education of the Bar (and frequently cited by most of the posts on IBP) found job hunting jumps 12% around milestone birthdays, class reunions, and other big changes. Also, work anniversaries or transitions prompt more job-hunting (6-9%). The study doesn’t say if that corresponds to people leaving, but just looking. Given this information, many companies decide to do something for employees’ birthdays to make people feel valued so they don’t leave. Employee turnover is expensive, so reminding them on their birthday that you care about them as a person is the logic. Of course, once they leave your employment you will not be sending them birthday greetings. Their family and friends will celebrate their birthday, but their former employer will not because work isn’t family.
This leads indirectly to the second reason to have IBPs, and that is to make people feel valued in the workplace. This post on Indeed.com presents a good argument for celebrating birthdays. “Birthdays are the perfect excuse for workplace celebrations. “ Workers who don’t feel valued, happy, and engaged are less productive. Employees who don’t feel valued are more likely to quit their jobs, so IBP are a way to create a positive, appreciative culture. The post lists 9 ideas for ways to celebrate employee birthdays suitable for various sizes of companies.
Birthday celebrations may seem like a no-brainer, after all, who doesn’t like cake. However, no study shows that Happy Birthday actions lead to an engaged environment. Such institutional protocols may even cause problems since not everyone wants their birthday celebrated which means people have to have an “opt out” method. HR articles emphasize the importance of customizing the birthday celebrations to the employees, even though to handle all of this on any scale requires automation. Essentially, the goal is to make the birthday message personal using impersonal technology systems such as emails that trigger to employees on their birthday, or an option to select a gift. The ideas for how to celebrate are quite creative, although I found some of them astounding, such as having someone assigned to create a video montage of birthday wishes from coworkers and send that to the birthday victim.
While I think it is inauthentic to do have IBP for retention, I do like thinking about why celebrating birthdays is important. A convincing reason comes from Hizky Shoham. His article “It’s About Time” on birthdays as modern rites of temporality is worth reading if you enjoy history and are interested in reflecting on the meaning of birthdays to your employees. Shoham explains that birthdays are a ritual of temporality – meaningful because they regulate people’s lives. We don’t have rites of initiation, which would be the pre-calendar way of marking meaning in people’s lives. “The main point is that it (birthdays) honors objectified time, which will continue to pass, regardless of whether the ritual is performed or not.” Noting how old you are is a way to celebrate the miracle of existence, honor progress, and grapple with the reality of being one year closer to the grave. Maybe that is reason enough to have birthday protocols. Whether you implement IBP or leave birthdays to friends and family, be thoughtful and do it because it works for your business, not because it is a trend. Time is passing, make the most of it!