If your years of service program is getting less and less traffic in the 20 years and up categories – what we like to call the “Everest Level” – you’re not alone. But if you do have employees who have stayed the course well into those double-digit years, here are some tips for rewarding them for their exceptional loyalty…and encouraging others to follow their example:
Be generous. When employees have given the majority of their adult lives to your organization, they deserve rich rewards. This is the time to pull out all the stops. Name brands? Go for the upper echelon: Bose, Movado, Baccarat. And don’t stay in the shallow end of the pool. Offer gifts from the mid to upper range in those brands. Face it, with fewer employees choosing at the highest levels, you can afford to be generous.
Think outside the gift box. Consider non-tangible, high-value rewards like dinner at an exclusive restaurant with theater tickets and a hotel for the night, a cruise or a stay at an all-inclusive resort. Better yet – make it for two. By the time an employee has made it to the Everest Level, they’ve often spent a lot of time away from home, traveling and working long hours. It’s time to reward the spouse or significant other for their patience!
Shout it out loud. It’s a milestone, celebrate it! Publish it in your employee newsletter, send an all-employee email with a brief bio and photo of the awardee, post it to your corporate Facebook page, host a lunch or bring in a cake and coffee.
Leverage your program. Granted, it takes more than a great recognition program to retain great employees, but it’s a valuable element in the mix. Make it a visible, attractive part of the benefits package to new hires and current employees. (That’s where the big milestone celebrations come in handy!)
Go with THE BEST. We have our share of long-term employees at Award Concepts, so we’re definitely doing something right. We’ll create a customized, beautifully branded years of service program that will inspire your employees to keep climbing to the summit!