You submit your Years of Service Award employees to your recognition provider, but that is only the beginning of the Employee Recognition process. You need to make sure your employees are appreciated and engaged throughout the year. Here is where your provider should step in.

Opportunities to Celebrate Your Employees

Employees celebrate Service Award anniversaries every month, and if you don’t have a budget to have a formal event, at the very least, call your department together and present the awards in front of their co-workers. 

If you have a budget to have an event or can combine it with a holiday party, it is best to recognize employees in front of their peers. Come up with a new “theme” each year and design posters, banners, invitations, and eVites. An event should be about those not receiving awards, as well so that everyone in the company feels engaged and appreciated. 

Engaging employees and providing real-time recognition can be a challenge. There are many questions to consider such as, what are the best tools to boost employee engagement? How can you encourage peer-to-peer recognition the most meaningful way? Should you leverage social media to increase engagement? 

It's Not Magic; It's a Software Platform

Fortunately, implementing an employee recognition software platform can alleviate your concerns. Utilizing a recognition platform allows you to design a program that brings total recognition to the forefront of your workforce by adding processes that promote genuine appreciation between peers, in a relaxed and social atmosphere. 

The Importance of Employee Recognition

There are few things in the corporate world that I would consider “fun.” Most days are chock full of meetings, conference calls, and emails. However, recognizing your employees for achieving a service award milestone, is one of those things that should be a highlight of your day. It should be a chance for you to take a moment to show sincere appreciation for all your employees do for you and your organization. What is unfortunate is that many organizations have not created a strategic employee service award program that creates a culture of recognition within the workplace. By not providing employee recognition training, and not having a formal process in place, many times what should be a fun experience for all, is looked at as more of a burden or waste of time & money.

A quick story. I worked at an organization for about 5½ years right out of college. On the anniversary of my 5 years of service, I received an envelope on my desk with no explanation, my name misspelled, and a small coffee stain on the right corner. I honestly thought I was getting fired in the most inappropriate way I could imagine. As I cautiously opened the envelope I saw a letter from the CEO thanking me for 5 years of service and a small catalog of awards to choose from. The catalog consisted of 5 branded trinkets ranging from a stress ball to a hat. To top it off, it was going to take nearly 4 weeks for me to get the hat. I left the office that day feeling less appreciated than I did the day before. I felt defeated and unappreciated for the 5 years and countless hours of overtime I had given that company.

So, the point of the story is, just because your company has a Service Award Program, doesn’t mean that it is well-structured, nor that it is having the impact on your employees that you believe that it is. In fact, it could be doing more harm than good.

A Personal Touch to Employee Service Awards

Here’s the thing. Technology makes all of our lives easier. We couldn’t do business without email, computers, and cell phones. No one is denying that it’s probably a bit more cost effective, and definitely quicker to offer everything via the Internet. However, we think that some aspects of business, including employee recognition, should be more personal than a simple email announcement. Do more than tell your employees they matter — show them. It's all about creating memories that last a lifetime.

The Importance of a Years of Service Award

A Years of Service Award Program is about more than just getting a gift for sticking around. A systematic service award program encompasses the event, the award, and the recognition experience. By providing tangible, personalized presentation options that fit with the organizational culture and budget, you are able to maximize the impact and improve overall satisfaction of the program itself.

Studies have shown repeatedly that an atmosphere of encouragement and appreciation has a huge impact on employee performance, engagement and retention. Simple, yet personal methods for recognizing the work of your employees is the way to gain traction in these areas. Let’s take a look at ten creative, high value ideas for showing employee appreciation and promoting a healthy, purposeful atmosphere within the ranks.

Show Employees They Are Valued

• Chapter 1: What Is Employee Recognition?
• Chapter 2: Why Does Employee Recognition Matter?
• Chapter 3: The Three Levels of a Total Recognition Program
• Chapter 4: 5 Ideas You Can Use to Improve Employee Recognition and Show Your Appreciation
• Chapter 5: Understanding Your Next Steps

Your company gets it. You know your employees are the lifeblood of your organization; you understand how important it is to reward them for their hard work; and you realize just how critical it is to recognize your team for their years of service.

But when it comes to throwing a great service award banquet that makes a lasting impact, you could use a little help. Good news, C.A. Short Company has you covered with three ideas that are sure to be big hits!

Last week, United Airlines announced their plans to replace quarterly bonuses with a lottery rewards program. As you might imagine, their employees didn’t react favorably. In fact, the backlash was so severe, the company was forced to pause their plans almost immediately.

14,200,000. That’s how many results come up when you search for “employee engagement” on Google. 

As of late, there has been an explosion of interest when it comes to employee engagement. And, that’s with good reason. Reduced turnover rates, increased productivity, decreased safety incidents -- these are just a few of the benefits companies experience by focusing on employee engagement.