Staff appreciation ideas for Long-Service Awards

Celebrating careers and moments that matter, such as long service awards, is an impactful way to acknowledge the relationship between employee and employer. According to Personnel Today, 63% of UK companies use years of service awards programmes. Recognising employee tenure, which, apart from performance, is one of the most significant factors in creating a strong, stable, high morale culture for a company. It’s no surprise then that ensuring your staff appreciation ideas to support this must be well considered. Based on our vast experience working with some of the most successful global businesses, read on to learn the best practices we deploy when recognising employee long service, and examples of how this looks for our clients.

Firstly, what are service awards?

Service awards are a way of celebrating employee service anniversaries and is a practice that has been around for centuries, but mainly since the Industrial Revolution. The purpose? To commemorate and show appreciation for employee loyalty and commitment at major milestones in tenure.

Until recently, these milestones have focused on ‘long service’, beginning the awards when an employee reached a 5-year tenure and then at 5- or 10-year intervals thereafter; 10, 15, 20, 25 etc., up to 50 years. However, new trends are emerging, on account of changing attitudes and shifting patterns in workplace loyalty, more visible amongst younger generations. According to BI WORLDWIDE research, the average tenure across surveyed organisations was 4.8 years but when we focused in on the millennial age group this reduced to 2.6 years, suggesting that younger generations are less loyal to their employers. This trend is supported in the latest employment figures for Europe from the OECD database and the EU Labour Force Survey, where we see older generations tend to stay with the same employer for longer than younger employees. Whilst understanding that there will be other external factors that impact these figures, understanding these trends is important in future-proofing employee engagement strategies such as service awards.  According to BI WORLDWIDE research, currently only 27% of organisations recognise and reward employees for 1-3 years of service.

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There are some quirky traditions too; for example, in the Netherlands they celebrate 12.5 years for marriage and work anniversaries as this is halfway towards the greater milestone of 25 years!

A history of Service Awards

While many companies have kept up with the evolution of service awards programmes, some still exist in the past. What era is your organisation in?

1930 to 1949: Emblematic Period
Awards were symbolic and consisted of jewellery items such as lapel and stick pins that employees wore at work and in public.

1950 to 1969: Certificate Period
Printed certificates began to appear and were given to employees along with their emblematic jewellery.

1970 to 1979: Heirloom Period
Awards with heirloom status became popular. Crystal, silver, watches, and clocks became standard offerings.

1980 to 1989: Merchandise Period
Gift offerings began to include lifestyle merchandise in addition to emblematic and heirloom items.

1990 to 1999: Internet Period
The Internet began to replace printed materials and opened the door for automation. Lifestyle awards used away from the workplace began to dominate programme offerings.

2000 to 2009: Social Period
The Internet expanded, and programmes became social recognition conduits for domestic and global audiences. Lifestyle merchandise continued to expand.

2010 to present: Mobile Period
Communications are moving from the desktop to the phone. New offerings like digital downloads and donations to charitable organisations are gaining acceptance.

The importance of long-service Awards

Our research shows that employees who receive multiple types of recognition are happier, more engaged, committed, and perform at higher intensity. Service awards that celebrate and recognise employee loyalty are known to increase desire to stay, motivate continued effort, and build the feeling of being valued by the organisation.

When recognition hits the mark, employees are 5x as likely to be connected to company culture and 4x as likely to be engaged (Gallup 2022).

And when celebration with messages is added into the mix, we know that this will increase effort, retention, and the overall feeling of being recognised.

How can long-service awards increase retention?

According to a study by the Employee Benefit Research institute, ”Over 22% of workers aged 20 and older spent a year or less at their jobs in 2022. That’s the highest percentage with a tenure that short since 2006".

Understanding the positive impact service awards have on employee engagement means it’s a great tool in helping to improve employee retention. At BI WORLDWIDE, our research shows that it’s not just the presence of recognition like service awards that has an impact but the frequency of when it’s given. Finding ways to recognise employees at shorter intervals from Day 1 actively drives engagement and fuels the sense of belonging, loyalty, and commitment.

A call centre that experienced a high level of turnover in the first few months of an employee’s tenure focused on establishing a culture of recognition early in the employee’s career. According to a research study on The New Rules of Engagement^®, employees who receive recognition are twice as likely to feel inspired. And inspired employees are 2x more likely to stay at their jobs for the next 12 months.

The company introduced a pilot programme to recognise these new employees frequently, including:

Day 1:

Welcoming new employees with branded company merchandise.

Week 1:

Having the manager send specific recognition with points. Points could be accumulated and used for a variety of merchandise and experiences.

Week 3:

Recognising learning success with a thank you and points.

First 60 days:

Recognising completion of training with points.

Month 3:

Ongoing recognition with a gamification component and points for positive results/successes.

Month 6:

Celebration email for this milestone anniversary along with a gift selection to reinforce the employee's value to the company.

Managers received nudges to recognise their employees along their journey to show support and reinforce new employees’ contributions to the company.

This strategic onboarding plan delivered great results. A positive correlation existed between employee recognition and retention. In fact, turnover was 4x lower among employees with the highest volume of recognitions that were given with awards (points towards merchandise and experiences) compared to those with the lowest volume.

With average employee tenure reducing, organisations looking to appeal to their younger associates need to consider celebrating service sooner in the relationship to increase its effectiveness as a retention tool.

Long-service awards ideas and considerations

Celebrating service anniversaries does vary across different cultures and organisations. Some traditions are sacred, and while new traditions could happen, they’d probably need to be some kind of hybrid to ensure the tradition is maintained. For example, in China, giving a gold bar, gold medal or watch would be traditional for the major anniversaries.

Service awards recognition has traditionally come in the form of certificates, gift cards, electrical gadgets, pens, personalised plaques, and trophies. Once upon a time, an engraved gold pocket watch or wristwatch were the go-to gift. But as times change so should the approach and the types of awards too. As a provider of service award programmes globally, here are some of our insights for best practice Service Award programmes:

1.     Evaluate your awards choices 

Nowadays, employees want choice. To be able to choose your own gift keeps it personal, adding far more value than a generic gift would. The gifting of points through a service award programme gives that availability of reward choice, from merchandise to far-flung experiences and once-in-a-lifetime holidays. For maximum impact, consider exclusivity for that extra special feeling. A service awards online ‘vault’ that provides gifts only available to those celebrating specific service milestones can be a great tool to magnify the celebration and aspirational impact.

Whatever your approach, don’t forget to reach out to your employees regularly and ask how they’d like to celebrate service anniversaries. Use surveys or focus groups to discover what rewards appeal to them. Many companies offer a broad selection of awards including lifestyle merchandise, eco-friendly items, commissioned art, branded apparel, concierge services, points as part of a multi-initiative platform, and even charitable donations. 

Make it an annual or bi-yearly task to speak with employees and find out what they want so you’re continuously keeping your selections interesting and up to date.

2.     Get social

We’re a society that loves to share our achievements using social media. Consider using a digital solution that can socialise the service award, inviting contributions from managers, co-workers, family, and friends, enhancing the celebration experience for the employee.

3.     Decide if branding is really necessary

Does your current programme still include traditional items such as jewellery, clocks, key fobs, pens, and money clips that include your company logo? While the logo does establish a link between the item and the reason for receiving it, it can add considerable cost to the awards without adding any value. In fact, some employees may choose not to wear or use the item because the logo is on it.

Again, ask your employees if they find the logo to be appealing or a deal-breaker. If employees don’t like the logo embellishment, get rid of it, and use your additional budget to offer more desirable awards.

4.       Empower your entire management structure 

A recent BI WORLDWIDE survey suggested that employees receiving peer and superior contributions are the most valued.

Ongoing support and active participation from all managers can have a profound impact on your service awards programme. The employee experience is magnified when managers play a significant part in celebrating the anniversary.

The good news is that 85% of companies report that the leadership team actively participate in the anniversary programme. To empower your managers, be sure to communicate your expectations on what you want their role to be. Train them on how to create a positive celebration. Measure their involvement with simple surveys and employee feedback and reinforce great manager participation by recognising their efforts and asking them to mentor others.

5.     Make sure your technology is up to date

Technology is always changing, and the solution you set up just a few years ago may already be falling behind. In a busy communication environment, service awards programmes may get lost or dwindle in engagement. Finding solutions that seamlessly integrate into day-to-day business systems like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Chrome, like our RecognitionNow API, removes barriers to engagement and ensures recognition can happen anytime, anywhere.

6.     One size does not fit all

If your organisation has employees across multiple regions around the world, you’re likely looking for ways to celebrate your employees’ service anniversaries consistently. To be effective it’s important to be aware of different needs and cultural expectations. At a simplistic level, ensure your rewards supplier has the capabilities to provide in-country awards selection and delivery, has multi-lingual capable technologies, and has a deep understanding of the local culture.

7.     Analyse employee tenure data

As we’ve indicated earlier, employee tenure is decreasing. Analyse your employee data and the trends in your workforce to reveal the most suitable milestones for your organisation, as well as considering the impact of early recognition on retention. 

New hires who are reminded how they impact the company mission are x2.1 more likely to want to stay. 

- BI WORLDWIDE New Rules of Engagement® Study 2023

Some organisations such as retailers and fast-food restaurants even offer a token award at 90 days tenure followed up with a six-month awards. Just remember, these awards don’t need to be expensive. Rather, they should reflect your appreciation for the service provided to date and the value the employee has bought to your organisation during their length of service.

8.     Take ’non-connected’ employees into consideration

Deskless employees account for the largest portion of the global workforce yet, in an increasingly digitised world, can often be overlooked or under serviced in employee engagement strategies such as Service Awards. Results from our global New Rules of Engagement® study show 80% of these employees reported having some sort of electronic device that allowed their employer to communicate with them but only 34% receive recognition via these devices. As well as looking to resolve this and better integrate recognition with the technology available (including ensuring training is provided), offering additional offline solutions and alternative opportunities to access the programme from kiosks in lunchrooms, break rooms or computer hubs ensures all employees can participate and benefit from recognition from the sales floor, warehouse or anywhere they work.

Make employee service awards a priority in your workplace

Celebrating work milestones with service awards is the ultimate moment that matters, but to be effective, service awards programmes must keep evolving to engage and retain future generations, appreciating employee loyalty from Day One. Employees may not want to wear a company-logoed lapel pin or charm anymore, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be recognised and rewarded for their loyalty and service. By using these eight tips, evolve your service awards programme into a central part of your recognition and retention strategy.

Show employees they matter from the start and create unforgettable milestone experiences that will inspire your people to love what they do and who they do it for.