A Guide to Gifting Your Employees on their Birthday

If you manage a business and have people working for you -- whether it’s two or two hundred employees -- your employees will experience celebratory moments throughout their lives: the holiday season, weddings, personal achievements, promotions, and birthdays. One way to effectively boost company morale and show each of your employees how much you appreciate them is by recognizing their birthday each year and giving out gifts for employees. A simple gesture like presenting them with a thoughtful gift on their birthday every year can go a long way. If you are new to the world of gifting employees on their birthday, take a look at this helpful guide to get you started.

Gift Them Something They Really Want

Go the extra mile by gifting your employees something you know they really want. Yes, this will take some effort and research. However, if you’ve had an employee working for you for several years and you’ve paid any attention to them at all, it shouldn’t be hard to know what things they like, what hobbies they practice in their personal life, what they enjoy eating, and so on. Giving them a birthday gift you are confident they want is a great way to show you not only value them at your company, but you have paid attention to who they are as people. So if Bob from accounting loves to go golfing on the weekends, make his birthday even more special and memorable by gifting him with some new golf gear. Or if Sarah from the marketing department is a bonafide travel junkie, gift her with an embroidered company bag she can take on her next trip.

Personalize It

Giving your employees gifts on their birthday is not only a way of celebrating their special day, but also presents an opportunity for you to emphasize just how much you value them and the contribution they have made to your company. To make a gift even more meaningful, personalize it. It could be a monogrammed beach towel if they love going on tropical vacations or a high-quality notepad and pen if you know that person is fond of writing things down throughout the day. It should be a gift that shows you have put thought into it.

Gift One, Gift All

As a general rule of thumb, if you are going to remember a handful of employee’s birthdays and gift them with something on their special day, then you need to do it for all of your employees. If you run a large company with hundreds of employees, keep a list with every employee’s birthday on it so you don’t forget anyone or have to scramble at the last minute to get a gift. And if you do run a company where hundreds of people work for you, it’s not financially feasible to buy each person a lavish birthday gift every year. Have a budget for what you can spend and have an idea of what small but meaningful item you can get each person on their birthday.

And If You Don’t Know What They Want, Gift Them WIth Something They Can Use

So maybe you don’t have the time or resources to find a gift that you know your employees will undoubtedly love and want. If that’s the case, get them something you know they will be able to use. This could be something fun, but functional, like a custom company coffee mug that they can take to work or anywhere else they go. Other examples of gifts that are useful include custom notebooks, custom monogrammed pens, hats, cups, or any other little trinket that can be used on a daily basis.

Commit to it Every Year

Just as it won’t be fair to gift certain employees on their birthdays, but forget others, so too would it not be right to give a gift one year but skip several years after that. Commit to gifting your employees on their birthday every year. Show the people who work for you that you are a company dedicated to recognizing your employees’ professional efforts and special moments in life. It will strengthen your corporate image, boost your brand, improve morale, and give individual employees that extra boost of energy and excitement a person gets when they know they are valued.

These are just a few tips and ideas to get you started on your journey gifting employees on their birthdays. If this is your first year doing it or you are a relatively new small business, don’t feel the need to go overboard. You can also make birthday celebrations more intimate and personal by setting aside a time during the day to sing “happy birthday,” cut a cake and present the employee with a thoughtful birthday gift.