Standout ways to celebrate your employees on their birthday
Who doesn’t love celebrating their birthday? Next to holidays, birthdays are a major life event where you can celebrate yourself, your achievements, and how far you’ve come from the previous year. The workplace is no exception. Celebrating your employees’ birthdays has been linked to boosting morale, employee engagement, and retention! In fact, by appreciating your employees, you can reduce the likelihood of them looking for other opportunities, which helps keep rockstar talent at your company. From surprise parties to personalized employee birthday greetings, here are some creative ways to deliver employee birthday messages that aren’t the corporate standard.
1.) Bring the birthday party to their desk
One delightful way to celebrate birthday wishes for your employee is to brighten up their desk, office, or workspace with birthday decorations! Twist and tape streamers around the edge of their station, anchor balloons to the top of their workspace, or sprinkle party hats throughout the office so the whole team can celebrate the festivities.
Add a personal touch by color-coordinating the birthday decorations in your employee’s favorite color. Do they like the Jurassic Park, Marvel, or Star Wars franchise? Have they seen every episode of The Office or Park and Recreation? Why not decorate their space in their favorite pop culture reference and leave a matching-themed birthday message for your employee? This thoughtful employee birthday celebration is sure to bring out the kid in everyone (and make your employee feel appreciated)!
2.) Send a card (or digital birthday greeting) signed by the team
Another employee birthday must-have is the classic birthday card. This employee birthday message can be achieved in-person or virtually, making any employee feel extra special on their birthday, regardless of whether they are in-office or remote. For your remote birthday employees, try a virtual card! There are several to choose from that are free or cost little to nothing. Most ecard platforms allow you to pair your message with a hilarious gif or cute motion sticker to make your employee birthday wishes extra special. Here are a few creative birthday greeting ideas:
- Pass around a card for team members to share thoughtful notes, well-wishes, or fun memories with the birthday employee. Or, place the card in a designated spot around the office so your team can sign at their leisure. If you try this, send a few follow-up messages just in case they forget about signing the cards!
- Have your team sound off in your company’s instant messenger by sending fun and celebratory gifs to the birthday employee. It’s highly engaging and usually brings the group together with laughter.
- Have a colleague give your birthday employee a shout out on the company’s socials. This option helps give genuine birthday wishes a nice personal touch in a very public way!
- Ecard services like JibJab and Paperless Post offer both free and paid virtual greeting options that are entertaining and interactive. Plus, it’s an excellent option for your remote employees.
- Send out a company-wide employee newsletter with an internal communications email platform (like Workshop!) so your entire team can send their own personalized birthday wishes! Include a button with a mail:to link so the employee birthday messages will be sent directly to the team member on their special day!
Looking for what to put inside your employee’s birthday card? It’s hard to strike a balance between professionalism, gratitude, and fun. Below are 10 employee birthday message templates for you to try out! These are entirely customizable and can be modified to accommodate any senior or entry-level employee.
It looks like there’s a piece of cake in your future. Grab a plate and dig in! Happy birthday and have a slice on us!
We know you’ve put in your fair share of late nights and early mornings. We just want to let you know we can’t do it without you. We appreciate everything you do for [company name] year-round!
Wishing you a birthday filled with cheers, joy, and laughs! Look how far you’ve come, and look how far you’re going. May this year be filled with nothing but success.
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Happy birthday from [company name]!
Dear [employee name],
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Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for being so dedicated. And above all else, thank you for being…
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Your authentic self!
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We at [company name] wish you a happy birthday.
Happy birthday from the desk decorating crew! We hope your day is just as bright and joyful as your workspace! Cheers to another year of making our workplace a fun and inspiring place to be.
Hey, hey, it’s time to celebrate! Thank you for all your hard work; now take a moment to relax on us.
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Happy Birthday, [employee name]!
[employee name],
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Thank you for all of your year-round hard work. We are so thankful for your dedication to [company name]. We value and appreciate you.
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Best wishes on your special day!
[employee name],
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We want to let you know that all your hard work and accomplishment have not gone unnoticed. You’re a one-of-a-kind employee, and we are proud to have you in the workspace.
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Happy birthday!
[employee name],
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It’s an absolute joy to have you as our colleague. Thank you for being a part of the team. May your special day be filled with smiles, laughter, and happiness!
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We hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday, [employee name]!
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Wishing you a joyful day filled with all of your favorite things! We are so lucky to have you on the team. Cheers to another great year!
3). Donate to a charitable cause in their name
Another employee birthday message that gives back is making a donation to your employees’ favorite charity in their name. Preferred charity information can be asked for during the onboarding process. This employee birthday option truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only does it show how much you appreciate your employee, but it also shows you value and care about the issues they are passionate about. Create a list of nonprofits with diverse missions and causes for employees to choose from in case they don’t have a particular nonprofit in mind. GuideStar is an excellent resource for discovering national charities or nonprofits local to your area!
Here is a list of charitable causes to get you started:
- National Park Service: Accepts donations for your favorite national park, groups within the park, and the National Park Foundation (which is the Congressionally chartered national philanthropic partner).
- The Trevor Project: Uses donations to support and provide resources for LGBTQ youth by offering lifesaving, affirmative care while conducting groundbreaking research to capture the unique experiences LGBTQ youth face.
- The Nature Conservatory: Helps create a healthier future for our planet through your donations. Their main area of focus is fighting climate change and protecting wildlife areas to stop species loss.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society: Accepts donations of any amount to put resources toward protecting endangered species across the globe.
- American Civil Liberties Union Foundation: (ACLU): Uses donations to defend people’s right to vote on the community, state, and federal levels.
4). Deliver birthday treats to the office (or at home!)
Bringing baked goods or yummy snacks in for your birthday goes back to grade school, so it should seem elementary to wish your employees happy birthday with treats! Logistically, this can work in a couple of different ways. Celebrate all the month’s birthdays by having a reoccurring snack time in the afternoon, a catered meal for lunch, or bagels to start your morning. But if you want to celebrate each birthday individually, try ordering a personal treat like a single cupcake or baked goods from a local eatery. Celebrating individual employee birthdays can also translate well to your employees working remotely! Wish your remote employees a happy birthday by having a local bakery deliver their treat directly to their front door!
5). Hold a “surprise” meeting with your team
Have a regular meeting on the calendar, like an all-hands meeting or weekly 1:1? Wish happy birthday to your employees by creating an office surprise party! Schedule your team meeting as usual, but when they walk through the door, greet them with an employee birthday bash of the ages! After you shout, “SURPRISE,” you can use this time to cut the cake, take the team to lunch, host a happy hour, or give them the rest of the day off.
If you’re celebrating a remote employee’s birthday, have the rest of your team log into the meeting a few minutes early and use the filtered background function on Zoom to add digitally-animated balloons and streamers! You can’t go wrong with any option, because either way you’re sure to go above and beyond with your company’s birthday messaging to your employees.
We’re here to help you create beautiful looking employee newsletters so you can streamline your internal comms and keep your team engaged! Create engaging, on-brand internal company emails in less time than ever with our drag-and-drop editor. (Plus, we hook up to your employee data so you always have up-to-date distribution lists, and give you all the analytics you need to gauge your success.)
