Birthday Culture
by Miki Saxon
Today is my birthday and I’m not working (I wrote this on Sunday).
From the time I was old enough to understand that my birthday was the day of MY birth, my special holiday, I refused to go to school on April 26.
No matter where I worked I’ve always taken my birthday off.
I never lied about it and even mentioned it during my interviews. I said I was happy to work weekends, Christmas, other holidays, but not on my birthday.
Surprisingly, they all agreed.
So it’s not surprising that when I started RampUp Solutions part of the culture was no one worked on their birthday; nor did they have to ‘make up’ the time off.
Over the years many executives have explained to me why giving people their birthdays off was a bad idea; here are their arguments and why they are wrong.
- Too expensive – not when viewed as a recruiting, productivity and retention tool. It was surprising how many people viewed having their birthday off as a deal-breaker when interviewing.
- Disrupts work flow – 95% of work can be scheduled to avoid a birthday and employees are the first to recognize the other 5%.
- Other employees would be jealous – these execs and mangers just didn’t get it. They saw this as a perk for “stars” or “professional staff,” as opposed to everybody, totally missing the point.
Think about it, it’s one of those little things with enormous ROI.
And while you’re thinking, please have a piece of cake and drink a birthday toast to me.
Happy Birthday to ME
(No, there are not enough candles, in case you are wondering:)
Fickr image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonlightbulb/4871952762/
April 26th, 2011 at 3:03 am
Happy Birthday, dear Miki!
Surprisingly great successes to you!
Peter
April 26th, 2011 at 7:00 am
Happy belated birthday Miki! (I assume since you took the day off you will read this tomorrow!)
Glad you wrote ahead – I look forward to reading what you have to say so appreciate your thoughtfulness in giving me my “Miki” fix when you are off! ;)
By the way, I agree with you! I do my best to take my birthday off too. I’ve had to work it a couple times in the last 20 years because of staffing issues but I enjoy having my personal holiday so make it a priority!
April 27th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Thanks you, Peter, and the same to you on your new project!
April 27th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Thanks Julie. When I came back I realized that I got distracted and left Monday’s post as a draft, so it morphed into Friday’s post.
I’m glad that you have had your special day off, too. I know many people who feel this way and it’s surprising how many managers will allow it, especially if approached in the right way.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:47 am
i did the same for the day before thanksgiving 2010, going to do the same next thanksgiving 2011
August 29th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Taking off the day before Thanksgiving is different—unless it’s your birthday it seems that it’s just grabbing an extra long weekend.