In my last workplace, there was an assigned "sunshine coordinator" whose job it was to arrange bday cake and condolence flowers and the like. (In addition to their other "real" duties.) When the (female) secretary who had been handling it was promoted into another division, nobody volunteered to take over. Eventually, the managers had us anonymously nominate each other on little slips of paper in a jar. I was a few weeks off from giving notice--my partner was interviewing for jobs in other cities--so I wrote down the names of every man in the unit and submitted all of them.
Speaking of sunshine coordinators... I just joined a place where there's a "sunshine fund" that folks of my job title have. They put in $10 a year and it's mostly for cards, flowers, or donations for births/deaths in the family/get well etc. The sticking point for me is that it also goes towards a holiday gift for the head of the division we work for and their office. I'm perfectly fine with the gifts to the colleagues on a horizontal level but on principle don't do gifts flowing up. I've been here three weeks and whatever my reply to this email is will be my first interaction with most of the group. What would you do?
Nicole, thank you for the nudge to read the Tina Turner profile. I don't know why I waited so long; I've been a fan of hers since before her eighties comeback, which if you knew her work at all was especially thrilling to watch. It's so gratifying to see that she's lived an excellent life since then, and now that I'm mostly retired, I have a new role model.
Re: who does the party planning--
In my last workplace, there was an assigned "sunshine coordinator" whose job it was to arrange bday cake and condolence flowers and the like. (In addition to their other "real" duties.) When the (female) secretary who had been handling it was promoted into another division, nobody volunteered to take over. Eventually, the managers had us anonymously nominate each other on little slips of paper in a jar. I was a few weeks off from giving notice--my partner was interviewing for jobs in other cities--so I wrote down the names of every man in the unit and submitted all of them.
Speaking of sunshine coordinators... I just joined a place where there's a "sunshine fund" that folks of my job title have. They put in $10 a year and it's mostly for cards, flowers, or donations for births/deaths in the family/get well etc. The sticking point for me is that it also goes towards a holiday gift for the head of the division we work for and their office. I'm perfectly fine with the gifts to the colleagues on a horizontal level but on principle don't do gifts flowing up. I've been here three weeks and whatever my reply to this email is will be my first interaction with most of the group. What would you do?
Nicole, thank you for the nudge to read the Tina Turner profile. I don't know why I waited so long; I've been a fan of hers since before her eighties comeback, which if you knew her work at all was especially thrilling to watch. It's so gratifying to see that she's lived an excellent life since then, and now that I'm mostly retired, I have a new role model.