10 Clever and fun work anniversary celebration ideas
Celebrate work anniversaries with 10 clever, fun ideas to boost morale from BuddiesHR, and show employees they’re truly valued—without breaking a sweat or the bank.
When you take the initiative to celebrate work anniversaries, employees feel appreciated. It’s a small gesture that goes a pretty long way for increasing employee satisfaction. Five, ten, and fifteen-year anniversaries are a big deal, not only for employees but also for employers - it’s a hat's off to the company culture that drives people to stick around for that long!
Work anniversary ideas should be fun and carefully planned to show that they matter, but they don’t have to be difficult or expensive. The main aim is to make employees feel valued.
Key Takeaway: Employee recognition is a valuable tool for showing appreciation for their hard work and efforts in growing your business. An employee’s work anniversary is a key milestone that should be acknowledged. Show your people that you care about them by doing small (or big) things that make a significant impact.
How to make work anniversaries memorable
1. Automate work anniversary wishes in Slack
Billy from BuddiesHR never forgets anyone’s birthday, and is always ready to make someone’s day, but it’s not only about birthdays - Billy is a pro when it comes to work anniversaries, and other important milestones too!
With Billy, you can automate the entire work anniversary experience, customizing it for individual team members or group work anniversary celebrations. Because Billy works on the platform you already love —Slack— you can involve as many employees in the celebrations as you'd like. This is especially helpful for remote and hybrid work teams that can’t recognize employees in person.
Billy makes it possible to show genuine appreciation for your co-workers, and give them a shout-out in a fun and encouraging way. In fact, it’s the best effort/impact ratio you can find to increase employee engagement and recognition.
Don’t ever forget a special occasion again - get Billy from BuddiesHR
Need more? Check out 👉 Best employee anniversary bots for Slack
2. Send a gourmet meal or packed lunch
For employees celebrating their first year at the company, lunches are perfect work anniversary gifts. Offering employees an easy meal option, delivered to their doorstep, undoubtedly creates a delightful experience, not easily forgotten. With services like Doordash Business, you can order a one-time meal, or implement recurring meals wherever your employees work.
Employees can select their meals and businesses can manage the budget, automatically approving meals up to a certain limit. Celebrate employees by giving them a special foodie experience - deliver food to all remote employees having an anniversary or key milestone (like a birthday), and celebrate together. Then collect pictures of everyone sharing their favorite meal.
3. Create a photobook of their years of service
Memories are better communicated in pictures. Do you have a load of pics from office functions, meetings, or team building events over the years? Then, a photobook is a great one-off gift for employees celebrating five or more years.
Online websites, such as Shutterfly or MixBook, will help you compile all your memories into one beautifully designed, full-color photobook. This is sure to become a special keepsake that will be shared with peers, family, and friends. For a personal touch, add a handwritten note on the front cover of the book.
4. Gift company-branded clothing
Company swag is the classic touch for rewarding employees who have been with you for 1-3 years. Everyone loves freebies, and when employee loyalty is at an all-time high, corporate clothing works to celebrate an anniversary date.
High-quality brand-tagged clothing that is worn by team members to the office (or around the remote workspace), communicates belonging at a time when company culture can feel fragmented. The team meeting goes from being a routine work thing to becoming a company bonding experience.
Allow employees to choose their sizes and colors online, and have it delivered with a personal note attached for even greater effect. A company like SwagMagic can help you get started.
5. Organize a career planning session with a pro coach
A great idea that also helps employees develop professionally is a professional coaching session with a business coach.
Even if you have HR professionals in your company, working with a coach who can help you sort out what you need from what you think you want is invaluable.
Most employees will appreciate the opportunity to discuss their careers with a coach, who will help them to steer themselves in the right direction. This type of anniversary gift is suitable when you’ve had employees work for you between 1 and 5 years, as it shows that you care about them beyond the company's objectives.
Check the International Coaching Federation website for licensed coaches.
6. Offer to pay for an online course
Make each employee's experience unique by offering to cover the cost of an online course from Udemy or Skillshare. This can be related to the employee’s career path, or a personal hobby they are pursuing. Either way, this celebratory gift gets a lot of mileage in the employee engagement department.
One study looked into the benefits of e-learning platforms for workers, and found that software like Udemy and Skillshare offers a wide diversity of educational resources, giving users a combination of flexible options, interactive technology, personalized learning, and the ability to exchange ideas with other learners - increasing personal satisfaction from using these tools.
Education and growth are gifts that will continue to yield benefits for the employee far beyond their work anniversary date.
7. Give them the day off
Ok, maybe this doesn’t seem like a clever and fun idea, but it’s a solid ten on the employee satisfaction rating scale. Paid Time Off (PTO) without strings attached is really what many employees desire.
With 55 percent of workers reporting that they don’t get to take vacation days, an unexpected (and somewhat obligatory) day off is exactly what employees need [1]. However, these special leave days shouldn't mean an increased workload when they return. This can be easily managed with an app like Palmy Vacation, a vacation tracker that helps you schedule time off for your team without affecting productivity.
So, clear your employees' schedules beforehand and give them one or two days of well-deserved rest, on short notice - latch it onto a weekend and really make them smile!
8. Rent a posh car for the day
Everyone dreams of driving a luxury car for a day, and we’re all different when we imagine what we want to drive. Some want to drive a Porsche, others a Bentley, while others prefer a Harley Davidson or an electric car.
If your employee has been with you for between 10-15 years, maybe it’s time to spoil them for the day. Contact your local rental car company to find out what options are available.
Your employee is bound to be talking about this experience for the next 5 years. What if they don’t drive? How about arranging an Uber to take them back and forth to the office for a week? That beats public transportation any day!
9. Upgrade their tech and work desk
Getting a serious tech upgrade is always a crowd pleaser - especially when the opportunity doesn’t roll around every other day.
Have they been with you for 3-5 years without getting a new laptop, an ergonomic chair, or an elevated laptop stand, or any other thing that they really need to make working a bit more comfortable? Then a tech and desk upgrade is the ideal work anniversary gift.
10. Arrange some peer recognition
Peer-to-peer recognition is always a winner. Arrange for your entire team to write down the five things they appreciate most about each of their colleagues.
If you’re on a platform like Slack, integrate an app like Clappy Kudos by BuddiesHR into your workspace and encourage employees to send their ‘kudos’ to their colleagues. Imagine them opening their workspace, and finding an all-day appreciation fest awaiting them. Even better if you can get the top guy/gal to write something too. Actually, nothing could be easier, for the level of impact it will have.
Another way to do this is to ask teammates to write a handwritten note to their colleague. These become personal keepsakes that mean a lot to people. Combine peer recognition with one of the other gifts, like the photobook, or lunch for an extra special touch.
Work anniversary celebration ideas that rock!
Work anniversaries are a special time for employees. They’ve put their heart and soul into their careers, and given the best hours of their lives to your company, so they deserve a really clever and fun work anniversary celebration.
Whether they’ve been with you for 1 year, or 15 years, there’s something on our list for everyone. From simple shout-outs to more extravagant ideas like a hired luxury car, you will find something to please your treasured employee.
The ten ideas we’ve listed are only the beginning. Use them as they are, or brainstorm some more ideas with your team. The primary objective is to show that you’ve kept track of their anniversary date, and that you’ve gone to some effort to make it a special day for them. You’d be surprised how even the simplest ideas (such as Billy, or Clappy Kudos) will make your employee’s day.
The ideas keep coming long after you’re done reading this article. Take a look at 15 best work anniversary messages for even more fantastic ideas. You’re welcome!
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