You have an exciting opportunity to create a memorable recognition experience for one of your team members.
Recognition – feeling valued and appreciated by others – is a basic need for all of us. Service Anniversaries provide the perfect opportunity to ensure EVERY employee receives the recognition they deserve.
Drawing on published research and decades of experience and client service in rewards and recognition, Inspirus has found that the first step toward creating a great place to work is to implement best practices that effectively recognize the length of service.
Here are our 10 Best Practices for a Great Service Award Program
1. Ensure timely recognition and notification of Service Award Anniversary dates
- Good: Quarterly recognition presentation
- Best: Monthly recognition presentation
It’s always best to make a rewards presentation on or near the actual anniversary date or the event being recognized. Managers responsible for planning and timing service awards presentations should think of them as they would life events celebrated outside the company. Wedding anniversaries and birthdays are typically celebrated on the actual day itself — or very close to it. Why wouldn’t you also celebrate an employee’s anniversary in a timely manner? With service recognition, avoid letting it slip into the next quarter or business cycle.
2. Involve the most meaningful leader in the recognition experience
- Good: Senior leadership
- Best: Manager
Studies have proven that the most meaningful recognition comes from one’s direct manager. It makes sense. Managers are most closely connected with employees on a day-to-day basis and have intimate knowledge of employee skill sets, competencies and deliverables. In short, managers know their employees best and can personalize the presentation most effectively.
Another advantage of having the direct manager or supervisor give the award is that the presenter can set future expectations and goals for the individual and the company — tying the presentation back to the organization’s mission and business goals.
That doesn’t mean senior management shouldn’t be involved in the presentation. They should be present. But the direct presentation should come from a manager or supervisor.
3. Present the award with flair to make the moment memorable
- Good: A stock, scripted presentation for senior leaders given in a group setting
- Best: A personalized presentation by the employee’s manager given in an individual setting
An effective presentation highlights individual accomplishments and says something about that person’s qualities — all while reinforcing your organization’s culture, mission, goals and objectives.
Managers or senior leaders responsible for recognition should be trained to understand the appropriate timing, message, delivery and follow-up of recognition for different members of their multigenerational workforce.
While practicality may dictate that service anniversaries are recognized in a group setting (e.g., a quarterly or annual event where everyone receives service recognition) it is a best practice that employee service anniversaries be recognized in an individual setting as well, such as a lunch, one-on-one or in a team meeting.
4. Provide a choice: a reward valued by one may not be valued by another
- Good: Company swag, watches, common lifestyle items for home and outdoor
- Best: A wide selection of brand name and luxury gifts
Employees want choice, value and brands they trust. For service recognition, many employees also value items that reflect the corporate image in some way. Best practice programs find a way to incorporate all these elements:
- Choice. Employees want options that include a wide range of items.
- Value. Provide gifts that reflect how the organization values its employees. Service recognition awards are often socialized among peers, family, and friends.
- Trusted Brands. In today’s consumer-driven world, employees gravitate toward known brands for everything from electronics to housewares.
- Corporate Image. Provide award options that reflect the corporate image and incorporate a branded and personalized item, such as a luggage tag that includes the years of service and commemorates important milestones.
It can best be summed up by saying that the best awards are the ones that you’d not normally go out and buy for yourself.
5. Deliver a user-friendly process for gift selection
- Good: Multiple options for ordering: Web, intranet, phone or mail
- Best: A unique and memorable experience including customized and personalized website and greetings
With the breadth and depth of service awards offered today, long gone are the days when an HR manager simply kept a stockpile of lapel pins to hand out when the occasion arose. For the optimum user-friendly gift selection process, provide employees with a wide variety of options they can select online or via mail catalogs.
Increasingly, best practice programs are taking it a step further by incorporating a customized and personalized website experience. A personalized greeting upon login, a branded corporate experience delivered via animation, messages from the organization’s leadership, and other creative displays that connect with the company’s mission and vision elevate the experience and make a positive impression.
6. Equip managers with the right tools
- Good: Keeping managers informed of upcoming anniversaries
- Best: Keeping managers informed of upcoming anniversaries, as well as providing best practice presentation tips, celebration guidelines, and sample scripts
This best practice may sound like common sense, but again, it’s crucial to the delivery of consistent service recognition throughout the company.
7. Reflect your corporate brand and image
- Good: The company logo is incorporated throughout the experience
- Best: Company brand, history, mission, vision, and values, as well as key imagery, are incorporated throughout the experience
Your company is unique. Your people are unique. Service recognition is a time for reflection and introspection. Organizations that want to set themselves apart and establish themselves as an employer of choice, should use this unique opportunity to reinforce the company brand. The company brand can be incorporated into numerous elements of the service recognition experience, including:
- How the recipient is notified
- Throughout the recognition presentation
- During the gift selection process
- Providing a symbolic add-on gift
8. Incorporate a personal touch
- Good: Service recognition certificate is personalized
- Best: Entire recognition experience is personalized
While good service awards programs will include a personalized service recognition certificate, best practice programs take it further by personalizing the entire recognition experience.
The technology exists today to personalize almost everything — from brochures and certificates to e-cards and gifts. It’s even possible to incorporate a personalized custom website. Employees love to see their names animated when they go to the website to order their award — it’s certainly something they’ll talk about and not easily forget!
9. Truly celebrate the major milestones
- Good: Doing something extra at 30, 40 and 50 years of service
- Best: Doing something extra at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years of service
Just as some birthdays are celebrated differently, major milestone service anniversaries should also include a “step up” celebration element. Dedicating a decade of service can represent 20 to 25 percent of a person’s entire career — it’s a major milestone event and should be acknowledged accordingly.
10. Integrate rewards with a broader recognition strategy
- Good: The organization has a service recognition program
- Best: Service awards are the foundation for a more comprehensive recognition strategy
A best practice service awards program is an important first step toward establishing a culture of recognition. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to be a great place to work without a well-designed program in place to appreciate all the hard work, time and effort employees contribute toward making the company great.
Employee engagement is proven to improve job performance and retention. A Gallup study showed businesses with performance management systems that focus on engagement — such as positive workplace relationships, frequent recognition, ongoing performance conversations, and opportunities for personal development — get the most out of their employees. And when your employees are engaged and productive, they are 18% more productive and your business 23% more profitable*. A great service awards program will elevate employee engagement within your organization.
10-Point Agenda for a Meaningful Recognition Presentation
- Introduce key upper management. Introduce family members.
- State the purpose of the event and its importance.
- Introduce the recipient.
- Use the recipient's full name, and ask the recipient to join you at the front.
- Paint a verbal picture of the recipient. State his or her special attributes and contributions during their career.
- Personalize your comments and be specific.
- Thank the recipient for their hard work, dedication and loyalty, and thank any family members who are present.
- Announce the award and present the award package to the recipient. Shake hands and pose for pictures.
- Invite the recipient to speak briefly.
- Congratulate the recipient on their anniversary and thank them again for service to the company.
- Close the event.
Virtual Recognition - Get creative with the delivery!
Many professionals find themselves working from home so how does a manager make the most of remote work environments to create inclusive celebrations? Discover these tips to host a virtual service anniversary which are sure to make a lasting recognition impression.
- Gather coworkers and the recipient via video chat to virtually present the service anniversary. Ask team members to hold up signs with one word that describes the recipient. If your video software allows, create a picture background with the recipient’s picture and circulate to the attendees for everyone to display.
- Present to the recipient in an online town hall. Invite their family members to attend and share in the recognition celebration.
- Create a list of fun interview questions and send them to 5-10 of the recipient’s coworkers. Ask the coworker to shoot a quick video answering the question and to send their congratulations to the recipient. Aggregate the videos together and share them with the recipient or play the video at a team meeting.
- Coordinate a special food delivery on the recipient’s anniversary. Items such as cookies, cupcakes, coffee drinks, fruit bouquet, snack packs or dinner from a local restaurant can make an anniversary extra sweet.
- Send flowers, numeral balloons, or a party in a box! Party in a box contents may include a party hat, sunglasses, company swag, balloons, and confetti.
- Ask team members to email you a favorite memory or picture with the recipient to create a physical or digital “guest book.” If time permits, you can print out and mail them to the recipient to arrive on or near the anniversary. If you’re in a time crunch, you can also send a Word document or PDF file of all the messages or pictures.
- “Go around the table” and have everyone contribute by sharing a memory. While it goes without saying, be genuine and express appreciation for the individual.
Give each anniversary celebration the recognition it deserves, and you can expect your employees to give you the productivity, creativity, and energy that you deserve from them.