Work Milestones

[rebekahb]

Does your company do anything for appreciation once you hit 5, 10, 15, 20+ years? My friend was able to pick out a Tumi work backpack. It just got me wondering what other companies offer if anything.

[megf]

I just passed my 10 year anniversary. My company has a website where you are able to choose a gift for significant anniversaries. Had about 20-30 choices, I picked a Le Cruseut dutch oven.
A previous leader at our particular site used to have a monthly celebration for all the service anniversaries, hand out certificates and provide cupcakes.

[zgood4u]

Went to our President's Club trip a couple of months ago at LaCantera Resort in San Antonio. Had a 1200.00 room credit and gifts were pretty nice. Every attendee got to design their own Nike sneakers, I came away with a couple of pairs of Maui Jim sunglasses and a 4 pc Made In cookware set and the wife picked up a Kate Spade purse.

[BMWGUYinCO]

I used to work for companies that really valued employee retention and longevity with great gifts, but as I transitioned to larger staff base corporations (250,000+) the gifts got really cheap and meaningless.

So while I may be wrong, I think the size of the company may determine the meaningfulness of a longevity gift.

With "The Great Resignation" being a thing in sucky corporate America these days, I think companies should focus more on employee retention. Half of employees change jobs so often they don't know a thing about their company product, culture, values, etc. And it shows.

[Tommy-G]

My employees brother works for a FORD dealer and he just passed 10 years. FORD corporate gave him a check for $2000 and the dealership gave him a check for $500.
He went and bought some crazy gun for $2600 but said the $2500 is not worth the crappy treatment he gets the rest of the year

[///d]

Employee appreciation gifts?

I work for the gubberment

[2000cs]

The first company I worked for out of biz school gave a guy celebrating 30 years with the company a gold watch band. Probably gold colored. No watch. Just the band. That was when I knew I wouldn’t be a long-term employee there.

The company I retired from gave all kinds of stuff. A pack of 9v batteries just before the time change each spring and fall, safety things (pocket/travel flashlight, travel blanket, etc). For service anniversaries we chose something from a catalog of possible items. Nothing big or lavish, but we always tried to recognize our employees in many ways.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by megf

I just passed my 10 year anniversary. My company has a website where you are able to choose a gift for significant anniversaries. Had about 20-30 choices, I picked a Le Cruseut dutch oven.
A previous leader at our particular site used to have a monthly celebration for all the service anniversaries, hand out certificates and provide cupcakes.

That's nice that they provide a wide variety of options. Congrats on 10 years! I just made 10 years at my company as well.

Originally Posted by zgood4u

Went to our President's Club trip a couple of months ago at LaCantera Resort in San Antonio. Had a 1200.00 room credit and gifts were pretty nice. Every attendee got to design their own Nike sneakers, I came away with a couple of pairs of Maui Jim sunglasses and a 4 pc Made In cookware set and the wife picked up a Kate Spade purse.

Congrats on earning President's Club! They definitely took care of you! That's pretty cool you were able to design your own Nike's. I like things that not everyone has.

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

I used to work for companies that really valued employee retention and longevity with great gifts, but as I transitioned to larger staff base corporations (250,000+) the gifts got really cheap and meaningless.

So while I may be wrong, I think the size of the company may determine the meaningfulness of a longevity gift.

With "The Great Resignation" being a thing in sucky corporate America these days, I think companies should focus more on employee retention. Half of employees change jobs so often they don't know a thing about their company product, culture, values, etc. And it shows.

My company is a 20-30 million/year with under 100 employees as this is an area they suck in. I have never really understood why it's a struggle for companies to show appreciation. I get the whole it's your job and all but I think it goes a long way when you take a few moments to show someone their hard work isn't going unnoticed.

We've been through more employees in the past 6-8 months than in the 10 years I've been here. We've had employees ask for a raise to be competitive with market rates (not asking for more) and be denied. Well, one of them you can't replace and it's shown in that department. I wish I could go and ask if it was worth the poor decision. She had also been an employee of almost 12 years.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

My employees brother works for a FORD dealer and he just passed 10 years. FORD corporate gave him a check for $2000 and the dealership gave him a check for $500.
He went and bought some crazy gun for $2600 but said the $2500 is not worth the crappy treatment he gets the rest of the year

That's impressive and actually surprises me. I'm curious if it's so bad why he doesn't leave.

[Dino GT]

My company has a website where you pick a gift from.
5 years a watch
10 years a cappuccino machine
15 years a gold necklace for the wife
20 years a $1000.00 visa gift card
25 years another watch
30 years a $1500.00 visa gift card
35 years coming up in October

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

That's impressive and actually surprises me. I'm curious if it's so bad why he doesn't leave.

Catch 22, he gets a high bonus b/c he is trained and certified for all things FORD. So in the warranty world of service departments you dont want to be the guy doing all the warranty work b/c it pays like poop. You want customer pay walk in work or people out of warranty. So he gets all the hard diagnosis vehicles, the difficult warranty claims etc etc.
Add to the fact his house is a few blocks away, his brother works for me a few blocks away and his other brother is a painter at a bodyshop around the corner from all of us. Its the comfort level and convenience factor

[MoeTE87]

My previous employer gave me a lapel pin for my 5 yr with the company. Talk about a slap in the face too be honest.

I lasted 7.5yrs there and couldn't be happier that I am out. I just found out that same company has been laying off a large amount of people to clean house. So sad.

[///d]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

My previous employer gave me a lapel pin for my 5 yr with the company. Talk about a slap in the face too be honest.

I just hit 10 yrs and got a 10 year letter. As I was being handed my letter a co-worker asks where my pin was, because he got a pin for his 10 yr. He ended up giving me his pin

[RickFLM4]

I worked for a company that gave a Movado watch with the Company logo for reaching 5 years and progressively more expensive watches every 5 years after that (but that was last century so not sure what the standard is now).

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

Does your company do anything for appreciation once you hit 5, 10, 15, 20+ years? My friend was able to pick out a Tumi work backpack. It just got me wondering what other companies offer if anything.

Hey, a thread topic that's near and dear to my heart!

For years, my employer gave out service awards at our annual holiday party for 10, 15, 20, etc, year employment anniversaries. They were nice/standard gifts, like a custom-molded pewter platter for 20 years and an engraved watch for 25 years. Many of the anniversary years were apparently purchased in bulk years before, so everyone at that level received the same award item.

Two decades ago, I chaired an employee committee. One of my accomplishments was going to HR and getting them to include a 5-year award, which wound up being a nice pen. The first year they were awarded, one of my co-workers who heard me discussing the awards went up to the podium to receive his award...opened the box in front of everyone...and used the pen to sign a pre-printed resignation letter that he promptly handed to the HR director who was announcing the names! The whole affair made me regret going to HR and pushing for the 5-year award.

We had a change in HR directors about 7 years ago, and the new person decided to go with some custom catalog scheme instead of re-stockpile the depleted collection of standard awards from years past. They apparently paid a fixed amount for each catalog depending on the years of service, and the awardee could select any one item as their award.

Sounds like a great idea on the surface, but there were only two items that I would have selected from the 30-year anniversary catalog when I received it. One was an office popcorn maker, and the other was a fancy pen/pencil desk set that was sort of in line with previous standard gifts. I obviously took the pen/pencil desk set, and need to note that it came with a blank brass plaque that *I* had to arrange/pay for the engraving on! (I was chairing two regional motorsports programs at the time, so I had trophy shop contacts on speed dial to do the engraving.) I could go on about the junk in those catalogs and how a groundskeeper was offered a cheap home-grade weed whacker in his 15-year catalog, but I'll stop here.

Long story short, I wound up chairing another employee committee, and one of my accomplishments during that reign was working with HR to go back to some semblance of standard awards. To add a personal touch, I also pushed for a signed/framed thank-you letter from the President with each award. We came up with some nice stuff, including customized throw blankets for newer employees and some really $$$ leather briefcases for the few geezers who are still ahead of me in employment length of service. They kept the 35-year award secret from me, since I was due to receive it.

In case you are wondering, it is a nice hardwood jewelry/desktop box, with a vintage color lithograph reproduction of our original building embedded into a ceramic tile on the lid and a sentence that it was for 35 years of service. The per-item budget was sort of hush-hush when we were coming up with the new standard items, but I know that some of them were $300+ for the longest-service years.

Note that several employees asked why they couldn't give out gift cards in lieu of the awards, and the answer was that they would have to be reported as taxable income and it would be an HR/payroll/accounting headache.

TL;DR - I used to have a shelf in my office with all of my anniversary service awards displayed on it before COVID-geddon. They sold the building where my office was located last year, so I'm one of a handful of employees still working from home with my office stuff packed in storage boxes.

The one that they really keep hush-hush is the gift they give for retirees with 25+ years of service. It is a hand-made custom wooden rocking chair, with a service recognition engraved brass plaque on the back. They hand them out after a person's retirement party and last day of work, and I have honestly never seen one.....

[RickFLM4]

I expect most people would prefer extra time off or cash to an award in most cases. You can still honor them and say nice things about them without presenting them something they might wish were something else.

[UncleWede]

At significant milestones, now staff get recognized in public at a Council meeting.

I am the last of the breed that receives longevity pay each year. 2% @ 10. 2.5% @ 15. I think next year I will max out at 3%. All paid first payroll in December, so SOMEBODY has a nice Christmas.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

My previous employer gave me a lapel pin for my 5 yr with the company. Talk about a slap in the face too be honest.

I lasted 7.5yrs there and couldn't be happier that I am out. I just found out that same company has been laying off a large amount of people to clean house. So sad.

Isn't it nice when you can foresee things aren't going well and make it out before the bottom drops? I don't even think I got an e-mail for 5 years.

Originally Posted by ///d

I just hit 10 yrs and got a 10 year letter. As I was being handed my letter a co-worker asks where my pin was, because he got a pin for his 10 yr. He ended up giving me his pin

I say you should gift the pin to the next person who hits 10 years Congrats on 10 years!!

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Two decades ago, I chaired an employee committee. One of my accomplishments was going to HR and getting them to include a 5-year award, which wound up being a nice pen. The first year they were awarded, one of my co-workers who heard me discussing the awards went up to the podium to receive his award...opened the box in front of everyone...and used the pen to sign a pre-printed resignation letter that he promptly handed to the HR director who was announcing the names! The whole affair made me regret going to HR and pushing for the 5-year award.


One was an office popcorn maker, and the other was a fancy pen/pencil desk set that was sort of in line with previous standard gifts. I obviously took the pen/pencil desk set, and need to note that it came with a blank brass plaque that *I* had to arrange/pay for the engraving on! (I was chairing two regional motorsports programs at the time, so I had trophy shop contacts on speed dial to do the engraving.) I could go on about the junk in those catalogs and how a groundskeeper was offered a cheap home-grade weed whacker in his 15-year catalog, but I'll stop here.

Oh, that was an intense burn on the employees part and very ballsy.

An office popcorn maker is about the most random gift. The people who select these gifts, either give zero fucks or have their head in the sand and probably give their spouses equally horrid gifts. Reading your entire post did give me a few laughs.

It really isn't a difficult concept to come up with something that isn't cheap and thoughtless.

Very interesting responses thus far.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I expect most people would prefer extra time off or cash to an award in most cases. You can still honor them and say nice things about them without presenting them something they might wish were something else.

I used to think cash was the best reward/recognition, but I learned that people value stuff more than the exact amount of money to buy it. For example, people value a day off as if it is worth thousands of dollars, but it is just a $200 or so for most. A flat screen tv is always a big draw if there is an employee drawing or raffle, even though they are $500ish. You’d think they were $2000.

Like the lamp in A Christmas Story, stuff seems to carry something beyond its cash value.

[ToddBlack88]

Before our family owned company was sold to a publicly traded company, we would get additional pay increases for years of service. They applied to 5-10-15-20-25 years of service.

Now, corporate wants to take them back.

[dreamingat30fps]

I never got shit, then again the longest I was at any company was like 6 years. One company would give decent raises each year. At the one I was at for 6 years I got one raise and got to work from home 1 or 2 days a week don't remember.

Now I'm self employed and I ain't giving this asshole anything.