10 Ways to Celebrate Employee Loyalty
Honoring and recognizing your employees is a year round endeavor, however there are moments such as years of service or work anniversaries where you want to go the extra mile. We’ve put together a list of creative ways you can honor your employees’ loyalty and showcase your appreciation for their hard work and dedication.
Service Milestones: How to Celebrate Employee Loyalty
1. Professional Development Workshops
Whether they are a new employee or a seasoned vet looking to gain a new skill, professional development workshops can help you advance your team in a creative and fun way. Funding a conference of their choosing or an online webinar class can help them fine-tune their skills and gain additional knowledge that can benefit the whole organization.
2. Hand-Written Note
Never underestimate the power of a hand-written personal note. A simple but effective solution, handwritten notes demonstrate a level of care that can be very memorable to an employee. Take this opportunity to specify how great of a job they are doing and what you appreciate about the employee. Adding specifics can set this gift apart from a regular signed card and showcase how much you care.
3. Custom Company Swag
Not only is company apparel the best type of marketing, but it can really be a meaningful gift to employees when done right. In order for this gift to be memorable for years of service, it should be custom, unique, and exclusive to only employees of certain stature. Think high quality wool pullovers, branded bluetooth speakers, or monogrammed backpacks for travel. Offer high-quality brands such as Patagonia or The North Face to take your company apparel game to the next level.
4. Career Planning Session
In the past, years of service focused more on longer tenure achievements such as 5 and 10 years. As we move forward with years of service recognition, we have to start catering our rewards to new employees and new generations coming into the workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the median tenure for workers aged 25 to 34 is only 2.8 years, a large jump from the median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 that is 9.9 years. This means we have to start recognizing our younger employees sooner and offering awards as early as the one year mark.
Career planning sessions can be a great way to acknowledge employee growth after one year and open up conversations that can sometimes be hard for young professionals. This type of open dialog gives employees the opportunity to discuss anything they may want to do within the company and showcase their excitement for different industries and growth opportunities.
5. Time Off or Remote Day
In order to maintain good health and avoid burnout, employees need to take breaks and vacation days. However, it can be hard to step away sometimes. In 2018, 768 million vacation days went unused by U.S employees. Encouraging employees to take impromptu days off as a reward for their hard work can do wonders for maintaining their mental health and increasing productivity. Encouraging a remote day here and there can also help them balance their work and personal lives, giving them the ability to be present in significant events such as a child starting kindergarten, high school graduations, and more.
6. Standing Desk
As we mentioned above, maintaining employee health and wellness can have effects on employee productivity and burnout. Gifting a standing desk to your employees for a company milestone can tie into your company’s wellness program while decreasing health risks associated with sedentary behavior.
Standing desks can cost anywhere from $150 to $2,000 dollars depending on the make and model, so four years or more is an appropriate benchmark for justifying a gift of this size.
7. Framed Photograph
It’s hard not to make friends with co-workers and their families when you spend so much time over the years with one another. A Globoforce study found that 89% of respondents said that relationships at work impact their quality of life and 42% of employees who don't have friends at work said they'd be willing to take a new job offer. By gifting a framed photograph of their team or work family, you can celebrate the friendships they’ve made and the success they’ve achieved, while providing them something to look back on for years to come.
8. Unique Gifts Through a Point Reward System
The gift of choice can often be as powerful as any of the alternatives we’ve listed above. Point rewards systems can offer continuous engagement throughout the year allowing employees to save up for big ticket items such as high-tech gadgets, stainless steel grills, and more.
Providing additional points for a work anniversary gives employees the choice to find something they truly desire that can be used multiple times or be shared with their friends and family.
When integrated through an employee engagement platform you can receive reminders for work anniversaries, birthdays, and custom milestones exclusive to your company, while continuously monitoring engagement levels to determine how to distribute points and build engagement organization-wide.
9. Masterclass or Personalized Experience
Point reward systems also offer unique experiences such as cooking classes, vineyard trips, concert tickets, and sports games. Whatever your employee’s interest may be, there are a variety of unique experience based rewards that can be fun and exciting. Not only are these experiences a great conversation starter between friends, family, and co-workers, they can play on people’s FOMO - “fear of missing out” to improve co-worker employee engagement and foster productivity.
10. Traditional Awards Ceremony
Of course there’s nothing like a traditional awards ceremony that celebrates employee accomplishments along with tenure. If a live event is unrealistic to comply with the impact and restrictions of COVID-19, we've seen that virtual events can be as impactful and exciting if done with creativity and employee experience top of mind. Providing a physical award showcases how important the member of the team is to your business and how thankful you are for their commitment to your organization.
At C.A. Short Company, we are in the business of celebrating and recognizing employees. We have over 85 years of experience crafting award-winning employee engagement solutions. Our in-depth People Are Everything™ platform combines unique rewards and experiences with employee engagement, years of service, and peer to peer recognition. Contact us today to learn how we can help you elevate your Years of Service program.