Sheldon Yellen is the CEO of Belfor Holdings Inc., a disaster-relief and property management company. He handwrites birthday cards for every one of his 9, 200 employees. Every single year.
CEO Writes Birthday Cards
Yellen told Business Insider that he started the practice in 1985. (1) His brother-in-law hired him on and the other staff members felt he was being given special treatment. So Yellen decided to start writing birthday cards, thinking it might start better conversations between him and the employees.
“It worked,” he told Business Insider. “It got people talking, we started to communicate more, and I like to think it helped me earn respect in the company.” (1)
Yellen brings a suitcase of cards on every flight he takes, and writes out birthday cards for his staff. But it’s not just birthdays. He also writes holiday cards, anniversary cards, thank you cards, and writes to his employees’ kids when they are sick. Yellen says whenever he learns of a random act of kindness, he likes to send a thank you card to that person so they know they’re appreciated and don’t go unnoticed. (1)
Birthday Cards And Workplace Culture
Yellen’s practice has created a culture of compassion throughout the company. It has made the workplace more compassionate and gracious. Even managers have started writing cards for their clients and team members.
With a company that size, other CEOs and executive management might see this habit as a waste of valuable time and effort, but Yellen sees it differently. He said his experience has taught him that the value keeps coming back in spades. (1)
“It’s also something that doesn’t cost a thing,” Yellen told Business Insider. (1)
Simple Gratitude Practices Improve Workplaces
Researchers agree with Yellen’s theory. Gratitude can eliminate toxic workplace emotions, attitudes, and negative emotions such as envy, anger, and greed. (2) Envy comes from ingratitude and research in envy has found that envy brings counterproductive work behaviors, moral disengagement and social undermining, poor mental health, and depressive tendencies. (2)
That data shows that organizational gratitude has a direct effect on improving work culture, to enhance individual well-being in the workplace. It is also important to employee efficiency, success, productivity, and loyalty. And it enhances team learning and high-quality connections. (3) Gratitude, then, is a simple practice that sustains employee performance and can change the work environment. So when people feel appreciated and recognized, they enjoy their work, they get more work done, and their general health is improved.
Birthday Cards Are Worth It
Writing a birthday card may seem like a vintage or out-dated move. But Yellen says it gets people out of their smartphones and communicating in person. (4)
“Is it worth it?” Yellen said. “I think it is. I think it’s a culture builder. It lets people know and understand that they matter. And they too pass that on to others. When leaders forget about the human element, they’re holding back their companies and limiting the success of others. Focusing only on profit and forgetting that a company’s most important asset is its people will ultimately stifle a company’s growth.” (1, 4)
