Sending birthday wishes to team members, colleagues, and employees is a nice gesture that goes a long way. A simple Happy Birthday wish makes people feel acknowledged and valued. It shows that you care about them and want to celebrate important moments in their lives together. Furthermore, a birthday message is your opportunity to connect with employees or colleagues more personally and let them know what you most appreciate about them.
However, writing a birthday message may not be as simple as it seems. You have to use the proper tone and words, personalize the message for each team member, and make sure never to send the same message twice. So, check out everything you need to know to write inspired and thoughtful birthday wishes.
Knowing why you want to send birthday wishes is the first step to writing a good message. For example, if you write to colleagues, you probably want them to know how much you appreciate being around them. But if you write to employees, you may want to make them feel recognized.
Most employees usually spend their birthdays at work, so taking some time to celebrate creates a pleasant work environment. It makes people feel engaged and happy. They aren’t just a generic number on the payroll. They are individuals with distinct personalities, and this is their moment to shine.
You can use birthday messages to show people what matters to you and what you like about them. For example, some choose to send formal messages and praise employees’ professional skills. Others prefer to be friendlier and focus on social skills or creativity. It doesn’t matter whether you are their boss, colleague, or HR manager. Think about what you want to convey before writing the birthday message.
Once you’ve established what you want to say, it’s time to consider how to say it. First, choose the tone of your message. It may be formal, friendly, professional, heartfelt, or even funny. Make sure the tone of the message fits the company’s culture, isn’t offending, and suits your relationship with the receiver.
Then, decide on the length of the message. It may be as short as a ‘Happy Birthday!’ written on a card or longer and more elaborate. Again, it depends on how much you want to communicate. Birthday wishes for employees may include congratulation for a good job, appreciation for being with the company for a long time, support for a difficult task, and other meaningful content for the person you send it to. The more detail you add, the more personalized the message will be. Therefore, the employee will be sure the message was intended for them and written for the current occasion.
Make sure your message begins with the receiver’s name and title. You can use their full name and title or just their first name based on your relationship.
You also have to decide how you send the message. It may be an email, including just text or a written card. Or you may want to be more traditional and send a printed card. Small details matter because employees and colleagues will appreciate the time and energy you invested in this gesture.
If you need some inspiration, feel free to use the following examples of birthday messages for employees. We cover several types of messages to make sure you find the right one for your employees.
Formal Birthday Messages to Employees from HR
1. Dear [Title] [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Full Name],
We are happy to celebrate with you on this special day. From the moment you joined the company, [exact working period], we knew you would be a valuable employee and colleague. We appreciate your hard work and wish you all the best. Happy Birthday!
2. Dear [First Name],
On this happy occasion, we want to wish you happiness, wellness, and prosperity. We are proud and grateful to have you here with us and hope to have another wonderful year together. Enjoy this special day. Happy Birthday to all of us!
Professional Birthday Wishes for Employees
3. Dear [Title] [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Full Name],
On behalf of our department, I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday and all the best. You are a dedicated employee and reliable colleague, and we are happy to have you here. Keep it up! Happy Birthday!
4. Dear [First Name],
Best wishes on your birthday! You are a valuable employee and deserve nothing but the best. Your creativity and friendliness didn’t pass unnoticed. We really enjoy having you here and hope you have a wonderful day today. Happy birthday!
Heartfelt Birthday Wishes for Employees
5. Dear [Title] [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Full Name],
To an amazing employee, colleague, and friend, Happy Birthday! We wish you all the happiness in the world and a life full of joy and success.
We are grateful to have you in our company. Your contribution didn’t pass unnoticed. Have a wonderful day!
6. Dear [First Name],
We want to congratulate you on your birthday. Our blessings and best wishes will accompany you for the year ahead. We are happy to work by your side and hope you know you have our full trust and support. We are here for you, so let’s celebrate together. Here is to your happiness, good health, and all the adventures to come. Happy Birthday!
Simple Birthday Messages for Colleagues and Coworkers
7. Dear [Title] [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Full Name],
On behalf of our team, I want to wish you a Happy Birthday! All the words in the world could not describe how happy we are to have you on our team. You are always friendly, supportive, and dedicated. You make our days at work a delight. We wish you all the best, good health, and good luck.
8. Dear [First Name],
To our friend and colleague, Happy Birthday! We raise the glass (of coffee) to your health, happiness, and joy. May this birthday start a year of achievements and adventures. We know you want them! So Happy Birthday from all of us, and have a great year!
Warm Birthday Messages for Team Members
9. Dear [Title] [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Full Name],
Happy Birthday! We are so happy to celebrate with you and wish you all the best in the world. May this special day be full of joy, surprises, and smiles.
We wish you an incredible year, just like you want it to be. Fulfill your dreams and make new ones. We are always here for you. Have an amazing birthday, and let us celebrate again next year!
10. Dear [First Name],
A great person like you deserves all the happiness and prosperity in the world. We are grateful to have you with us and benefit from your kind heart and good spirit. We wish you all the best in every part of your life. Let’s celebrate this special day together. Have a Happy Birthday!
If you want to thank your coworkers for their birthday wishes, we do have some messages you can use to bring joy and spark emotions.
Ok, you want to surprise your friends or coworkers with something even more special than a personalized message. You want to add a quote that stood the test of time and can act as a way to differentiate your birthday wishes or a letter. A quote from Dr. Seuss, Oprah, or Picasso might be the one. Take a look below and choose the one that you fit best the personality of the celebrated coworker. Below you can find a selection of quotes that we enjoyed, and we believe you will do also.
"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" - Dr. Seuss
"A birthday is just another day where you go to work and people give you love. Age is just a state of mind, and you are as old as you think you are. You have to count your blessings and be happy." - Abhishek Bachchan
"Don't just count your years, make your years count." - George Meredith
"Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years." - Ausonius
"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey
"The best way to predict your future is to create it." - Abraham Lincoln
"Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter." - Satchel Paige
"It takes a long time to grow young." - Pablo Picasso
"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." - Lucille Ball
"Today you are another year older, and we know how fast time flies as we get older, so enjoy every moment of your life to the fullest." - Kate Summers
"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest." - Larry Lorenzoni
"Wishing you a day filled with happiness and a year filled with joy." - Anonymous
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis
"We turn not older with years, but newer every day." - Emily Dickinson
"May your birthday be filled with sunshine, smiles, laughter, love, and cheer." - Anonymous
If you struggle to keep track of employees’ birthdays, some tools may help you. For example, you may use an employee birthdays report and get a notification with the employees’ birthdays when they happen directly within your Google/Apple/Outlook calendar. Or you may use dedicated Cloud HR software that stores employee data and sends notifications when a birthday is about to occur. You’ll never miss a birthday, and your employees will receive the birthday wishes they love so much in time.
Sending birthday messages to employees and colleagues should become a routine. It’s your opportunity to be more than a boss, HR expert, or team member. You can be warm and appreciative, send all your best, and create a pleasant and happy work environment.
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