.27%. That’s the percentage that 1 day of a year signifies.
When thinking through things you do for your direct reports for their birthday, nothing is probably as valuable as giving them time. This is the one day where their world is a 100% more focused on them. Have them enjoy it.
At BrightGauge we gave people a half day off on their birthdays. I’d receive great feedback during Annual Reviews about how that little tiny perk was.
In some cases, people made plans with their significant others for a long lunch. In other cases, it gave them a head start for a weekend getaway, tackling that book they had been sitting in their night stand for most of the year. One person even treated themselves to four hours of prime beach time mid week with an empty South Beach. One that always stayed with me was a direct report who said it gave them an opportunity to visit a relative who couldn’t spend time with them later in the day.
In this world where we are all time starved, go to bat for your team and propose that next year you help people celebrate their birthdays with a small gesture from the company. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that when we needed our people to come to bat for the company, they were always willing and ready.