4 best practices for your Years of Service Award Program

2 min read
May 23, 2019 12:00:00 AM

One of the best ways to retain talent is showing you value loyalty via a Years of Service Award. But what's best practice for this type of program?

Only 7 per cent of executives agree their organisations are able to retain high performers. But as the global talent shortage worsens, it's important businesses are able to keep their best employees, or risk losing them to companies that have stronger organisational cultures. 

One of the best ways businesses can retain their top talent is by recognising the number of years an employee has spent at an organisation. Often, the loyalty of employees can get forgotten when so much is going on in a business, but introducing a Years of Service Award at your organisation can go a long way in helping employees feel appreciated.

One way to retain talent is by creating a Years of Service Award.

But, it's one thing introducing a Years of Service Award - it's another getting it right. What are the best practices to follow when creating your program?

1) Celebrate their achievements, not just their time

It's important to recognise the tangible benefits that an employee has had for your organisation over the time they've spent there, rather than simply celebrating the number of years in and of itself. So when you present them with their award, ensure you mention a range of achievements they've had over time. These could include particular projects they worked on that have made the business money, or other noticeable changes, such as if they worked on a rebrand or restructure, for example. 

2) Present the award in a ceremony

It's not enough simply to give an employee a Years of Service Award quietly - no one will have realised they've even reached this milestone! To really make an impression, you should create an awards ceremony where you present them the gift, as well as explain exactly why they've received it. This will show other employees at your organisation what will happen if they remain loyal to your business.

Ensure it's a meaningful leader that presents them with the award. This should be someone who is high up in the company, preferably someone at the executive level or at the very least a senior manager. This will help to show how much the company genuinely values the contribution of that employee from the top-down. 

3) Publicise the award

Your Years of Service Award ceremony is great free press!

Your Years of Service Award ceremony is great free press! With so many organisations finding it difficult to retain talent these days (average job tenure in Australia is just 3 years and 4 months, McCrindle data shows), you can use your awards to show potential talent that you break the mould.

Make sure to take plenty of pictures at the awards ceremony - you can publish these on social media to give future talent a snapshot of your organisational culture and show them that you know how to retain employees and keep them happy. 

4) Offer choice

The award will only really go appreciated if the employee in question likes the gift. And you can't really guarantee they'll like it unless you give them a choice. A Workplace Communications Blueprint report suggests that 50 per cent of employees believe their current benefits packages aren't tailored to their needs - you don't want this to be you.

That's why at Power2Motivate we have a global rewards gallery with thousands of rewards to choose from. These include electronics, homeware, event tickets and even travel.

We want to make celebrating achievement, no matter the size, a regular feature of our customers' workplaces. For more information on creating a Years of Service Award with Power2Motivate, reach out to the team today or request a demo