What About Celebrating Birthdays and Anniversaries?

Do you celebrate birthdays and work anniversaries at your organization?

It is an interesting question.  

Some organizations are for it while others are not. 

Organizations using online recognition programs usually have options in their programs for employees to turn on or off the ability for people to know when their birthday or work anniversary occurs. Or, if they allow visibility, when someone sends them a congratulatory eCard greeting, employees can still keep it private between the recipient and giver or make it public to everyone. 

And then there are managers who think celebrating birthdays and work anniversaries is like something done only back in high school. At least, that’s the line they are saying to excuse themselves from celebrating their staff. 

How do you handle these situations around personal and work celebrations? 

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How Frequently Should You Give Recognition?

One of the amazing findings coming out of surveying employees about recognition is the fact that so few people feel sufficiently recognized.

You are probably aware of Gallup’s “Q12 Employee Engagement” survey. They have a recognition question which asks, “In the last 7 days I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.” It seems reasonable that a person should be acknowledged at least weekly. All people want is to be recognized or praised for their progress, some positive action, or recognized for contributions made. (more…)