Setting Up Manager Alerts for Birthdays and Anniversaries

A Manager Alert is a notification sent to an employee's direct manager ahead of that employee's birthday or work anniversary. It is separate from the celebration message posted to the team channel.

The celebration message goes to the team on the day of the event. The manager alert goes to the direct manager (or backup users) anywhere from one day to two weeks before, giving them time to prepare.

Manager alerts are available for both birthdays and anniversaries and are configured independently for each.

Enabling and Configuring Manager Alerts

1. In the CultureBot web app, go to the Birthdays or Anniversaries settings page.
2. In the advanced settings section, click Manager Alerts & eCards.
3. Configure the fields in the modal that opens (see below).
4. Save your settings.

Message to Manager

A custom message template sent to the manager via Slack or Teams DM. Supports dynamic tokens that are replaced with live employee data at send time. See the token list below.

Image URL (optional)

A direct link to an image to include with the alert message.

When to Send

Choose how far in advance the alert goes out: 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week, or 2 weeks before the event. The alert sends at the same time of day as the main celebration message.

Send eCard (optional)

If enabled, the alert includes a shareable digital eCard link. The manager receives the link and can distribute it to the team to sign before the celebration date.

Backup Users (optional)

If the employee has no manager on file, the alert is sent to these users instead. You can select multiple backup users and all of them will receive the alert.

Dynamic Tokens

The message template supports the following tokens, which are replaced with live data at send time.

{names} — Employee name with @mention {employee_name} — Employee's plain text name {manager} — Manager's name {timing} — Alert lead time (e.g., "3 days") {department} — Employee's department {location} — Employee's location {title} — Employee's job title {years} — Years of service (anniversaries only)

How Manager Lookup Works

CultureBot looks up the employee's manager from the manager field in the employee directory, which can be synced from your HRIS or set manually. If no manager is found, the alert goes to any configured backup users. If neither a manager nor backup users are configured, no alert is sent.

How Timing Works

The alert sends at the scheduled lead time you selected, at the same hour as the main celebration message. For example, if birthdays send at 9 AM and you set a 1-day lead time, the manager receives the alert at 9 AM the day before.

The alert only fires if the timing lines up exactly. If an employee's birthday or anniversary is added to the system after the alert window has already passed, no catch-up alert is sent.

Birthdays vs. Anniversaries

Manager alerts are configured separately for birthdays and anniversaries. You can enable alerts for one or both, and each can have its own message, timing, and backup users.

A Few Things to Know

Manager lookup depends on the manager field being populated in the employee directory. If managers are not set for your employees, configuring backup users ensures alerts are still delivered.

Employee alerts, a separate advance notice sent to the employee themselves, are also configured within the same modal but are a distinct feature.