Boss’s day is almost here once again!
This year, Boss’s Day occurs this Saturday, October 16. Boss’s day originated in 1958 when Patricia Bays Horoski wanted to recognize her boss (who was also her father – double suck up!). October 16th was his birthday (which she had forgotten; the holiday is apparently based on familial guilt). The holiday was not officially acknowledged until four years later in 1962. This is not to be confused with Administrative Professionals’ Day (the real folks who make the organization run smoothly) which occurs during the last full week of April each year.
How do you feel about Boss’s Day? It kind of reminds me of when kids say “Why is there a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but no Children’s Day?” (You guessed it – Children’s Day is June 1, and Universal Children’s Day is Nov. 20). Parents often reply by saying, “But every day is children’s day!” That’s similar to how I feel about Boss’s Day. Why should those who make less and have less say be buying a gift for their boss? Of course, as a boss, I simply often feel a little awkward receiving accolades from those whose performance ratings and pay raises I control.
My current boss who is not from the U.S. was a little bewildered when we descended on him with our obligatory annual Boss’s Day offering last year. He theorized it was a “greeting card” holiday (designed by Hallmark to make a buck, or several bucks nowadays). Not so, as Hallmark only offered Boss’s Day greeting cards starting in 1979, a full 19 years after the inception of the holiday. A little slow out of the blocks on that one. I think Spencer’s Gifts was ahead of them.
Emily Post states that you should only give a gift to your boss if it is from a group of employees. Otherwise, you may be seen to be currying favor (which, let’s face it, you are). The justification for giving a Boss’s Day gift is to thank your boss for things like having your best interests at heart, giving you valuable career advice, removing obstacles to your success, etc. Clearly, if those things are not true of your boss, you can always go with the standard coffee mug and a mumbled thanks.
Typical boss’s day gifts include: flowers or plants, lunch (plus, you get to go to lunch), greeting cards (or even cheaper, e-cards), gift certificates (especially helpful if your boss lives in another city), desk toys (hoping that reducing the boss’s productivity will have some sort of spillover effect) and leadership books (especially helpful if you have a boss who could use some leadership development, but less face facts, if that’s the case, this is a book that’s not getting read). Last year, my colleagues and I all chipped in and fed a family for a year as a boss’s day gift. (Based on how little that cost, I’m assuming that family was only eating rice). Charitable donations in your boss’s name always seem like a good way to go, unless your boss wants to admit s/he doesn’t give a damn about the little people or those less fortunate (not a likely admission on boss’s day – you can see the beauty of this idea now).
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So, what are your plans for Boss’s Day this year? How do you feel about this “holiday”? Discuss.
Wheat & Tares 
I’m slower than Hallmark.
I have to buy a gift because I have a co-worker who is a suck up. My boss knows he’s a suck up, but he likes it.
I’m my own boss (self-employed), does that mean I get to buy myself gifts this year? Hmm, I may actually enjoy Boss’ day for a change. . .
Coming from Oz, let me just say that this is a very strange concept to me. As a boss, I’d be mortified with any of my team giving me a gift just becasue I’m their manager. Too weird!
And yet, according to Wikipedia, Australia observes National Boss Day (however, the Aussies don’t seem to know that).
Wikipedia forgot to tell the entire country I think!
Boss’s Day is a total bullshoes holiday.
A pox on Bosses’s Day. “Be not many masters.” Having (or being) bosses is a necessary evil. You don’t celebrate things that you put up with because you don’t have any better option. It’s like celebrating Tax Day.
Boss’ Day? It’s awkward. I don’t like it. I’ve never been at a company that participated, so far.
I’ve been at places where we took the administrative professionals out for lunch on that “holiday.” That isn’t so bad. It seems more appropriate to be thankful and show appreciation to staff.
That still creates an awkward show of social status though. What happens to the people sort of in between? (like a senior admin that thinks of their self as a semi-manager)
Never heard of Boss day. There are two ways to look at it: Cynical people may tell you that every day is boss day, and there are bosses for whom that is no doubt correct. This is too simplistic. I’ve been boss, and I’ve had to personally guarantee a variety of necessary business liabilities like the office lease and had to sign all the payroll checks, pay a good portion of taxes on behalf of the employees, pay to insure them against unemployment, pay for some portion of employees’ health care, foot the bill for sporadic pizza parties and occasional morning donuts and an annual winter/Christmas party so on and so on.
There’s a certain theory that says, “Well, you made the money off the business, so you should absorb the risk” This is an argument with a distinguished intellectual history — seriously, it goes back to Marx’s theory of exploitation. The problem with it is that the vast majority of businesses lose money and actually cease to function as a business, so that according to Marx’s arithmetic, it’s the worker who exploits the boss more often than vice versa.
That said, I’m an American, and that means that my foremost models of virtue are people like George Washington, who stepped down from power and avoided overt demonstrations of ambition. This defines the boundaries of gracious behavior in the United States to this day. And rightly so.
It is, therefore, very poor form for an American to both (a) be in charge of people, and (b) expect them to congratulate her for it.
I had no idea it was “Boss’s Day” but by luck I sort-of celebrated it — I attended my boss’s wedding.
Is this an American thing? Here in Canada we get “exposed” to the concept but only due to our proximity (both geographically and culturally) to the US. One would be hard-pressed to find a store which carries Boss’s Day cards, unless it’s a US based store, such as Hallmark.
Even if Hallmark didn’t come up with the idea, it still seems a bit contrived. Either as a boss or as an employee, I’d feel a bit uncomfortable with the concept.