Has anyone ever skimmed over your anniversary or significant milestone? Or even worse, forgotten it altogether? It doesn’t feel great and it happens far too often when you don’t have a plan for giving out years of service awards for employees.

People deserve (and love) to be celebrated! We built the Imprint Engine brand around creating thoughtful brand experiences that stay on people’s minds and in their hearts. We believe offline, tangible expressions of appreciation can completely change the way employees and customers perceive, engage with, and feel about your brand. 

One of the greatest applications for brand experience programs is through employee years of service awards. Because employees invest a big chunk of their lives into work, and nobody likes it when milestones go unrecognized.

What are Years of Service Awards?

Years of service awards commemorate an employee’s tenure at work. They’re often given in five year intervals, but who are we to dictate your appreciation cadence? Years of service awards can come in many forms, but the intent remains the same: to engage, retain, and recognize your loyal team members. 

Why Are Years of Service Awards Important?

In news that isn’t new: It is more expensive and time consuming to onboard new hires than it is to retain existing employees. That fact is simple. So celebrating tenure should be no-brainer! A Gallup study observing last year’s retention statistics shows that four times as many people left their job due to “Engagement and Culture” compared with the number of people who primarily left for better “Pay/Benefits.”

People are seeking company engagement more than previous years, and they’re evidently putting it on a higher pedestal than compensation. Employees spend more time at work than anywhere else during the week. It is the leadership team’s responsibility to, in turn, reward them for their time investment. And these awards are mutually beneficial. Service awards don’t just cultivate connections and engagement amongst the team, they improve performance, retention, and your overall company culture.

Boost Employee Morale

Globally, one in five employees experience loneliness at work according to Gallup’s new State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report. And not to be morbid, but people with a greater sense of community and social ties have half the risk of mortality than those who lack community. Connection and engagement are quite literally vital.

Service awards show employees that you acknowledge and appreciate their time and hard work. These small efforts contribute to a greater sense of community and belonging so that when people come to work, they feel happy rather than drained or lonely. 

Demonstrate Values

They joined your team for a reason, right? You introduced them to an intriguing and inviting culture that made them want to sign on as an employee. Years of service awards show employees that their efforts don’t go unnoticed and that there is plenty of recognition to look forward to.

People do expect some sort of acknowledgement of their accomplishments. These awards serve as an opportunity to demonstrate your gratitude along with your cultural values as a company.

Build Loyalty

Almost 40% of employees who’ve been with a company for less than six months plan to leave within the next year. That’s a 6% jump from last year. Loyalty is evidently fleeting, so recognition awards such as years of service should undoubtedly be part of your retention strategy. Consistent, earnest, and unprompted recognition encourages people to continue contributing and most importantly, stay awhile. 

This strategy works externally too: Read about how to build customer loyalty. 

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7 Examples of Service Awards for Employees

Years of service awards can be as intricate or as straightforward as you like! First things first, make sure you’ve thought about your promotional budget. Awards don’t necessarily have to come in the form of a traditional plaque or trophy. (Although who doesn’t love a trophy?) The award doesn’t even need to be tangible. We did a little brainstorming for you to get the ball rolling. Here are seven service award examples that we love to implement: 

Desk Ornament or Decoration

Meaningful and high quality desk decorations can be a great way to level up your employee’s work setups. Whether it’s a clock, custom pens, or paper weights, we’ve got something for everyone. Here’s a few of our favorites:

Commemorative Framed Photo or Video

When you stay at a job for a long time, chances are you make some friends along the way! Give your employee a memory to cherish by framing a photo from a team event or holiday.

  • Custom Frame with Team Photo
  • ‘Home’ Video: Record and edit a video compilation of each team member congratulating their tenure and sharing their favorite thing about working together.

Traditional Award

Trophies, plaques, and other traditional awards are thoughtful and sometimes unexpected ways to honor an employee for their years of service. Add their nickname or accomplishments to the award to make it extra special!

Handwritten Card

Are you anything like me and hoard every nice card you’ve ever gotten? Most people (76% of them, actually) save handwritten thank you notes. That’s because they’re genuinely meaningful! Write a letter of recognition that calls out specific achievements or contributions that make the honoree an asset to the company.

According to Deloitte, 44% of employees value recognition from higher levels of leadership the most, so go the extra mile and have your high-level leadership folks do the writing, then get signatures or additional handwritten messages from others on their team.

Extra PTO

A lot of companies increase employees’ allotted PTO each year of employment or in five-year increments to reward tenure. You can also award extra PTO days as a lump sum gift so they can plan an extra family vacation to commemorate their milestone year.

Experiential Gifts

It’s not uncommon for companies to commemorate major milestones like ten years of employment with a paid trip or sabbatical leave. If a trip is out of budget, or to commemorate shorter tenure milestones like five years, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, or airfare credits are great experiential reward options that won’t collect dust or go to waste.

Parties and Ceremonies

Presenting an award during an all-team meeting or after-hours party makes the tenure celebration visible to everyone in the organization. This not only amplifies the honoree’s pride and sense of belonging, it inspires their coworkers to strive for the same level of recognition. During the event, make sure a company leader presents the award and highlights the employee’s achievements to further personalize the occasion. 

Foster Employee Loyalty and Meaningful Recognition with Imprint Engine

The best way to engage your team is by making them truly feel seen and connected. Plus, life is too short to let another anniversary go by uncelebrated. Contact us and together we can start planning your Years of Service Awards program.