I celebrated a birthday this past week, and I’m floating somewhere in that spot after the last milestone most people are excited about and the uncertainty of some very adult things ahead of me. Seeing how I wasn’t looking forward to celebrating this year, (forever young is a thing, right?) and my birthday fell on Monday, it figures that there was ample time for my coworkers to get caught up in their weekends and forget all about little old me.

Think again.
I walked into the office with a hesitant step, equal parts excited and full of dread that my friends and co-workers remembered my special day.  The streamers, confetti, and banners decorating my desk gave me pause… and a smile.  Today, I thought to myself, is going to be a fantastic day!
I was right; this birthday turned out to be a good one.  You see, I’m lucky enough to work in a place that believes in celebrating their people, and I’ve got the inside scoop on what we do here to make everyone feel special.
Rewind to my first week on the job when I learned that part of my role was to celebrate our people.  Initially I thought, What’s the big deal?
The first few birthday and work anniversaries I helped celebrate lacked my wholehearted capabilities.  Good enough, I told myself. This isn’t that important.  I was wrong. I learned it’s VERY important.  You can see it in the faces of the people you’re celebrating and their actions for the rest of the day. Talk about an instant morale boost!  While I couldn’t feel their feelings, I know they felt good about what was done for them.

Celebrating everything for your staff can seem like a daunting task.  I’m here to tell you that it’s easier than you think.  While I’m no longer leading the charge on celebrations here at ETE, I still feel very much a part of it because of the best practices we have in place to make sure no one walks in uncelebrated on their birthday, even if they think they prefer to.
These are the lessons I’ve learned along the way to help you celebrate your wonderful people:

1. Get organized. The more people you have, the more dates you need to keep track of.  We use a shared calendar with birthdays and milestones.  That way, we can keep track, set reminders, and avoid cluttering up our own calendars.
2. It takes a village. Depending on how many people you’ve got, you probably need a hand with this.  Get your managers involved and ask your team for volunteers.  After all, it’s a lot of fun to make people happy.
3. Start small. Decide what you’re going to celebrate as a company.  Work anniversaries, birthdays, or something else significant happening? Pick one and roll with it.  It may also be helpful to set some limits or establish some standardization.
4. Keep it personal. If decorations and confetti aren’t your thing, no worries.  The single nicest thing you can do is to write a personal note wishing someone a Happy Birthday or thanking them for a job well done.

The time spent on making sure I felt loved was worth it.  I thank my colleagues for the decorations, birthday signing, cake, beautiful flowers, and well wishes.  My work family really turned my day into something, and because kindness is contagious in and out of the workplace, I’m excited to pay it forward.

Girl Wonder has decorated a lot of desks in her day, but when it’s her turn to get celebrated, she remembers just how important it is to take the time (and confetti) to make people you work with feel special. Join the conversation below or email her directly.