10 Best Practices for Recognizing and Celebrating Work Anniversaries

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

teammates, and recognize 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?  

Voici dix idées pour vous aider à organiser célébrations d'anniversaires de travail qui laisseront des souvenirs impérissables à votre équipe.  

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 recognize an employee’s contributions to the company? Many employees reevaluate their jobs well before the 5^th anniversary, so why not start recognizing 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). Recognizing 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. Personalize 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 favorite 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 organization and the accomplishments they’ve achieved. Take time to highlight and discuss things like:

• Principaux projets et initiatives
• Objectifs atteints
• Transitions professionnelles et promotions
• récompenses ou certifications de l'industrie
• Les grands moments de reconnaissance  
• 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 recognizes 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 organization 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:

• Accueil d'un nouvel employé
• Mentorat d'un autre employé
• Reconnaissance d'un coéquipier  
• Aider à la réalisation d'un projet d'une autre équipe
• Soutenir un membre de l'équipe dans une période difficile

Les relations entre collègues constituent une part importante de l'expérience de chaque employé au sein de votre entreprise. Veillez à souligner ces moments lors de la célébration de l'anniversaire de leur travail.

“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 recognize and champion and support employees as a whole person.”
—Jenni Lee, Director of U.S. Benefits, Payroll, and Employee Programs

See how Amway uses swag boxes to recognize 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 organizations 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.  

Le sentiment qu'ont les employés d'eux-mêmes, de leur travail et de leur organisation évolue au fil du temps. récompensesanniversaire de carrière doivent refléter ces différentes étapes.  

Culture Cloud Anniversaries allows employees to select a gift from an online catalog with a variety of options. Impactful awards include home items, electronics, sports and leisure items, jewelry, 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. Planifier la célébration à l'avance

Réussir une célébration d'anniversaire de travail n'est pas le fruit du hasard. Il faut du temps pour créer une expérience employé particulière.  

Quelques mois avant la date fatidique, décidez à quoi ressembleront vos récompenses et qui participera à leur création. Veillez à prévoir du temps pour la production des souvenirs ou des récompenses.  

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 recognize 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. Impliquer d'autres personnes dans la célébration

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.

Pour certaines étapes, il peut être judicieux d'inviter l'ensemble du service, voire de l'entreprise. Vous pouvez également inviter des personnes extérieures à l'entreprise à participer - membres de la famille, fournisseurs, amis et anciens employés.

All employees at ICF can make someone’s service anniversary personal and special with their large catalog 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 organization.

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 recognize employees:

• Embarquement et transitions professionnelles
• Atteindre les objectifs
• Achèvement des projets
• Améliorer un processus
• Soutenir les coéquipiers
• Victoires quotidiennes et actes de gentillesse
• Les jours fériés comme la journée d'appréciation des employés ‍
• Développement des compétences et 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®.

Célébrer les anniversaires travail et les étapes importantes de la carrière

Les anniversaires travail marquent des étapes importantes dans la carrière d'un employé. En les célébrant, vous montrez que votre entreprise et vos coéquipiers apprécient leurs efforts et leur engagement.  

La reconnaissance des anniversaires travail est utile :

• Improve tenure. Employees stay 2-4 years longer at organizations with a service award program.
• 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.  

Les dix conseils présentés ci-dessus jettent les bases d'une célébrations optimale des étapes de la carrière. Si vous souhaitez faire passer ces expériences au niveau supérieur, consultez notre guide complet sur la célébration des anniversaires carrière dans votre entreprise.

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