10 Best Practices for Recognising and Celebrating Work Anniversaries

Work anniversaries matter. They are important opportunities to reflect, connect with  

teammates, and recognise the dedication and contributions of your employees over time.  

A well-planned celebration—the kind that includes words of appreciation from teammates and leaders, gifts, keepsakes, and fun experiences—can help employees feel seen and valued. Work anniversaries are opportunities to strengthen team bonds and enhance employee engagement. They can even encourage your employees to stay with the company longer.

So how do you celebrate each employee’s tenure at your company in a meaningful way?  

Here are 10 ideas to help you craft work anniversary celebrations to create lasting memories among your team.  

O.C. Tanner helps thousands of companies celebrate careers in personal, meaningful ways with our Culture Cloud Anniversaries platform.

1. Start early

Why wait 5 years to recognise an employee’s contributions to the company? Many employees reevaluate their jobs well before the 5^th anniversary, so why not start recognising them at year 1 and 3 as well?

Research shows 59% of employees don’t have their 1-year anniversary celebrated (and 57% miss out on a 3-year anniversary celebration). Recognising these earlier years can significantly increase engagement, belonging, and retention.

See how BHP’s custom service award pins foster belonging and pride by telling stories of the company’s history, identity, culture, and future.

2. Personalise the celebration

Get to know the people you’re celebrating. How do they like to be celebrated? Do they want a large celebration or a quiet event? Learn more about their history, their experiences, and their life outside of work—family, hobbies, and any stories or anecdotes you can share during the celebration remarks. Service anniversary presentations are a great time to highlight the employee as a whole person.

Ask the employee who they’d like to invite to the celebration: close teammates, friends from other departments, past leaders, and even family members.  

Finally, ask about their favourite food or treat, restaurant, or other activities. If you have the time and budget, incorporating additional off-site experiences can really bring the team together and elevate the work anniversary celebration.  

CIBC celebrates the moments that matter and strengthens belonging with Yearbook.

3. Spotlight specific contributions over time

Be specific in describing how the individual contributed to the organisation and the accomplishments they’ve achieved. Take time to highlight and discuss things like:

• Major projects and initiatives
• Completed goals
• Job transitions and promotions
• Industry awards or certifications
• Big recognition moments  
• Extra effort and times they helped a colleague

This moment is a celebration of all these experiences during their time at your company, so start at the beginning and finish up with some recent wins and accomplishments.  

NFCU recognises employee anniversaries with a Careerscape that not only showcases their years of service but also all of the great work they’ve accomplished through those years.

4. Connect to company values  

Remind employees why they chose to join, and stay, at your organisation by connecting their work accomplishments to your company’s purpose and values.  

You can easily do this as you share how the employee’s work, actions, attitude, and teamwork have demonstrated your company values. Spotlight a time when they:

• Welcomed a new hire
• Mentored another employee
• Recognised a teammate  
• Assisted with a project from a different team
• Supported a team member through a tough time

Teammate connections are an important part of each employee's experience at your company. Make sure to highlight these moments during their work anniversary celebration.

“We have a wide array of gifting opportunities at Amway, because Celebrate and Uplift Personal Worth is one of our core values. It really defines how we recognise and champion and support employees as a whole person.”
—Jenni Lee, Director of U.S. Benefits, Payroll, and Employee Programmes

See how Amway uses swag boxes to recognise employee anniversaries, life events, and so much more.

5. Create memorable keepsakes  

Memorable keepsakes can greatly enhance a service anniversary experience, whether it’s notes and comments in a Yearbook or a custom-designed award that reflects your brand and culture.  

In fact, employees are 3x more likely to remember a recognition experience when it includes a symbolic award. When organisations use symbolic awards, odds of having a thriving culture improve 3x and odds of inclusion increase 4x. Odds of increased revenue also improve by 87%.  

At Treasury Wine Estates, numerals feature imagery from their wineries and cellars, deepening connection and leading to a 26% increase in employee engagement.

6. Offer appropriate gifts for each milestone

Work anniversary awards shouldn’t look the same at year one as at year 25. As employees reach higher levels of years of service, the awards you offer should reflect their contributions. For three years, a piece of tech or homeware might be appropriate; for 25, you might opt for a luxury gift or experience.  

How employees feel about themselves, their work, and their organisation changes over time. Career anniversary awards should reflect those different stages.  

Culture Cloud Anniversaries allows employees to select a gift from an online catalogue with a variety of options. Impactful awards include home items, electronics, sports and leisure items, jewellry, watches, travel and entertainment experiences, and gift cards. Employees can choose a gift they love—one that celebrates their dedication, loyalty, and contributions to your company.

See why Roto Rooter’s employees love their service awards.

7. Plan the celebration in advance

Pulling off a successful work anniversary celebration doesn’t happen by chance. You need time to create a special employee experience.  

A few months ahead of the milestone, decide what your awards will look like and who will be involved in creating them. Make sure to allow time for the production of keepsakes or awards.  

Set aside the time and place to celebrate the milestone a couple of weeks in advance and invite people to participate far enough ahead that they can plan to be involved. Prepare your remarks ahead of time so you can deliver a personal, genuine presentation, and pre-arrange any off-site meals or activities.

O.C. Tanner’s Culture Consulting services can help you design an impactful strategy to recognise service anniversaries, so your leaders are prepared for every employee milestone. In-app training and automated reminders ensure managers never forget to plan an important recognition moment.

At Zions Bank, managers are reminded of upcoming service anniversaries so they can invite peers and leaders to write in employee Yearbooks. As a result, 94% of Yearbooks have peer and leader comments.

8. Involve others in the celebration

Over the course of our careers, we work with many people to accomplish goals and complete work. All of these relationships should be celebrated during a work anniversary, so be sure to invite and involve others in the celebration. You can even ask them to share a few words.

For some milestones, it may be appropriate to invite the entire department — or even the whole company. You can also invite people outside the company to participate — family members, vendors, friends, and former employees.

All employees at ICF can make someone’s service anniversary personal and special with their large catalogue of eCards.

9. Spread the word

If employees are comfortable with it, celebrate work anniversaries publicly. This helps employees see great work happening across the entire company and the unique value each individual brings to the organisation.

Share the milestone in a department or company-wide email, on the Intranet, in shared screens around the office, on your recognition platform’s social wall, or even on your company’s social media profiles. Employees can like and comment on the post and keep the appreciation going.

Recognition at AGL Energy is shared on their social wall, on posters at operational sites, via email, on their intranet and digital noticeboards, and on their social media pages.

10. Keep recognition top of mind

After celebrating a team member’s work anniversary, it’s important to keep the appreciation flowing. When leaders continue to show appreciation for more than just career milestones, employees feel a greater sense of belonging and connection.

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate and recognise employees:

• Onboarding and job transitions
• Reaching goals
• Completing projects
• Improving a process
• Supporting teammates
• Daily wins and acts of kindness
• Holidays like Employee Appreciation Day ‍
• Skill development and certifications

Delta Air Lines’ holistic recognition strategy through Culture Cloud strengthens culture, earning them designations such as World’s Most Admired Airline, a World’s Best Employer, and a Best Company to Work For®.

Celebrate work anniversaries and career milestones

Work anniversaries mark significant milestones in an employee's career. Celebrating them demonstrates that your company and their teammates value their efforts and commitment.  

Acknowledging work anniversaries helps:

• Improve tenure. Employees stay 2-4 years longer at organisations with a service award programme.
• Build belonging. There is a 35% increase in feeling belonging and inclusion at work with service award recognition.
• Inspire great work. A majority (65%) of employees say just hearing about the accomplishments of others inspires them to do great work.  

The 10 tips covered above lay the foundation for peak career milestone celebrations. If you want to take these experiences to the next level, check out our full guide to celebrating career anniversaries in your organisation.

See how O.C. Tanner helps thousands of companies around the world celebrate employee careers with Culture Cloud Anniversaries.