Your employees do a lot to ensure your business succeeds. Every time the earth completes an orbit around the sun, it’s a good idea to recognize your employees by celebrating their anniversaries! Anniversary celebrations aren’t just great for individual workers; they can also help to bring your entire workplace together and show your employees that you really care about them and their contributions.
But there’s a difference between handing your employee a basic card and going out of your way to celebrate employee anniversaries memorably. If you don’t know where to start, read on – we’ll break down eight ways to make employee anniversary celebrations more memorable than ever.
Give Public Recognition
For starters, don’t hesitate to make employee anniversary celebrations public! Giving employees public recognition shows them that:
- They are honored and treasured members of your workforce and you aren’t afraid to show it!
- Other employees can expect the same recognition and special treatment when their anniversaries roll around
“This is crucial for establishing celebratory expectations in your office or other workplace,” says Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB Sports. However, keep in mind that some employees may prefer a private celebration or recognition of their talents and achievements. If, for example, they are shy or don’t like public attention, don’t go out of your way to make their anniversary a big deal.
Instead, follow the below tip…
Don’t Forget Private Recognition, Too
Dr. Michael Green, Chief Medical Officer at Winona says, “Private recognition is just as important as public recognition, if not even more so.” For example, you can call an employee into your office on their anniversary, then tell them how much you appreciate all their hard work and how you hope that they will stick with your company for another year.
Then you can capstone that experience with a reward or bonus (see more below). “The right bonus can make an anniversary something your employees look forward to,” says Jae Pak, Founder of Jae Pak MD Medical. “That alone might be enough inspiration to keep them with your organization rather than jumping ship for a competitor.”
A private and face-to-face meeting with you can go a long way toward improving your relationships with each of your employees. Since you’ll (theoretically) offer private anniversary recognition each year to each employee, this is also a great way to keep tabs on your employees, their morale, and how they want the office or workplace to evolve.
As a side note, you might consider using anniversary celebrations or meetings as opportunities to get feedback. For instance, you can ask your employee:
- What they would like you to do differently
- If there was anything over the last year they especially liked
- If there was anything over the last year that really bothered them and that you can improve
In other words, you can use private anniversary meetings and celebrations to gain valuable critique and improve your skills as a manager.
Consider a “Reward” or Bonus
Recognition is great; everyone likes to be told that they are doing a phenomenal job by their boss. But you can go above and beyond by offering a reward or bonus to employees who make it another year at the office.
This doesn’t have to be huge, of course. “No employee expects to get a massive pay bump or tons of time off just for making it another year,” says Lina Miranda, VP of Marketing at AdQuick. “They know that the real reward is getting to work at a stellar organization like yours. But a little something extra can sweeten the deal and really show your appreciation in a way that words can’t.”
However, you can offer them bonuses or rewards like:
- Gift cards for local stores or restaurants
- A $50 bonus on the next paycheck
- An extra day of paid time off that they can use as they please
- A plaque or trophy they can proudly display on their desk
- A poster or picture you can hang up in the office for everyone to see
- Something else
Rym Selmi, Founder of MiiRo says, “One thing to keep in mind is that if you offer a reward to one employee, you need to offer it to the others on your payroll as well. It won’t do at all to play favorites with your workers.”
So if, for instance, you give one employee a gift card for a local restaurant, be prepared to do the same thing for every employee when their anniversary comes around!
Make a Big Deal Out of Long-Time Anniversaries
While celebrating every employee’s anniversary is important, you should also pay special attention to your most tenured and experienced workers. If someone, for instance, has been with your company for 20 years, the 20-year anniversary is a big deal and should be celebrated as such!
Important long-term anniversaries to celebrate include:
- Five year anniversaries
- 10-year anniversaries
- 20 year anniversaries
- And so on
As with the advice above, be sure to standardize long-term anniversary celebrations for every employee. “Don’t plan a major, 20-year anniversary celebratory bash for one of your favorite employees, then let another coworker fall by the wayside when their 20-year anniversary crops up in the next week,” says Benjamin Meskin, President of Cabrella. “All you’ll do is make other employees feel bad.”
Of course, this can be quite costly. If your long-time anniversaries look to be a bit more expensive than you anticipate, consider grouping them together (for example, having a communal or group celebration to recognize and appreciate three workers who’ve been at your company for 20 years).
Consider Themes for Big Years
When big year employee anniversaries roll around, you might consider setting an important theme for the party or gift.
“For many decades, it was traditional to give a 20-year employee a watch,” says Max Schwartzapfel, CMO at Fighting For You. “It signified their dedication to the company and, since a good watch is no cheap gift, told the employee that the company really appreciated all their hard work.”
You should take a page out of this book and consider cleaning your gifts or celebrations for employees who reach important career milestones.
Involve the Rest of the Office
Employee anniversaries can be fun not just for the employee being celebrated and you, but for the entire office. In fact, you should try to involve the rest of the office in employee anniversary celebrations and parties as much as possible.
There are a few big benefits to doing this:
- You help improve office morale and tie people together more directly. This, in turn, makes people more loyal to each other and your company
- You give everyone a chance to unwind and socialize in a context that isn’t strictly about work
- You give everyone the chance to make friends with each other, which can improve productivity and workplace culture. “That’s a big deal when you are trying to retain good employees and attract top talent to your company,” says Jorge Vivar, Creative Director at Mode.
Make the Event Personal
Whatever you celebrate an employee’s anniversary, you need to make sure that they feel you recognize them specifically. “Make the event too generic or basic, and they’ll easily see through your attempt to curry favor with them or to have an excuse for a pizza party,” says Cody Candee, Founder and CEO of Bounce.
You can and should make an anniversary event personal and special by:
- Producing a card for everyone to sign
- Making note of the employee’s major accomplishments and specifically breaking down what they did over the previous year
- Getting the employee some of their favorite food for the party, such as a specific cake or flavor of ice cream
By making the event personal, you also have to distinguish one employee’s anniversary from another’s. This gives other employees something to look forward to; it’s like a work birthday party!
Budget for Employee Anniversaries Ahead of Time
Naturally, many of the best employee anniversary celebrations will cost quite a chunk of change. With that in mind, you should budget for your employees’ anniversaries ahead of time. Depending on your corporate policies or the decisions of executives in your company, you might be able to put these expenses on the company card or otherwise write them off.
If you can’t, be sure to budget a certain amount of money for each party or anniversary celebration. Melissa Rhodes, CEO of Psychics1on1 says, “That way, you won’t go overboard and drain the corporate discretionary spending account on employee anniversaries when you also need to account for other celebrations or expenditures later in the year.”
Plus, budgeting for employee anniversaries prevents you from accidentally spending more on one employee than another. If you aren’t careful, this can accidentally lead to jealousy and bad feelings all around.
Wrap Up
At the end of the day, making your employees’ anniversary celebrations memorable is one of the best ways you can show that you really care and appreciate their hard work. Anniversary celebrations only happen once per year, so take advantage of the opportunity to show your gratitude to your workers – they’ll pay you back in spades with another year of dedication and loyalty!
