4 Pieces of the Employee Recognition Puzzle: 1- Award Loyalty

There are typically four pieces of recognition that fully encompass a strong employee engagement program. Over the next four posts, we want to discuss those four pieces, and make the case for putting this puzzle together in your business.

The first piece of the Employee Recognition Puzzle is:

Employee Loyalty is the easiest form of engaging and recognizing employees. Due to the ease in tracking this about your employees (know their start date- know their anniversary), it's a way to recognize them, their work, and their loyalty to your company every year. Make a bigger gesture on their milestone anniversaries, 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, so on.

Employee Loyalty is something that does not have to be a thing of the past. Thirty years ago, leaving a job was nearly unthinkable. With all of the tools at everyone's fingertips now, Monster.com, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, it's almost impossible to not be in the know about outside job opportunities. When a person stays with you for a length of time, it means they are denying their outside curiosity. Hopefully, it's because you are doing a good job of showing them you appreciate them, you engage with them, and respect their work and their loyalty. Make them think twice about opening up that "LinkedIn jobs you may be interested in", because they know what they have now is more interesting, engaging, and appreciative than what else lies out there in the unknown.

Small gestures on their anniversary- Balloons, a cupcake, or even a simple card are a great and simple way to let them know you are thankful.

Take the opportunity on a milestone anniversary to give them a gift. Give them some control over their reward and they will appreciate it. Let them choose a gift that maybe they would not get for themselves otherwise; or maybe they'll even choose an every day item they need. Either way, every time they see or use your gift, they will know they have it because of your show of appreciation and their loyalty.

To read more about recognizing years of service or the importance of recognition as the economy comes out of the recession view our white papers.

Opportunities to Gift to Your Employees

It is easy to get lost in week to week routines and not take the time to acknowledge your employees and their work. Luckily, there is a calendar of days throughout the year that make it easy for you to decide when to say "Thanks" to your employees! See the below list of dates based on job type for your gifting convenience:

April 15th-19th: Library Week- say thank you to your Library Professional and Administration
April 16th- National Stress Awareness Day- give your employees a break to reduce stress- a half day off or a relaxation type gift.
April 24th- Admin Professionals Day
April 25th- Medical Laboratory Professionals Day

May 6th-10th Nurses Week
May 7th- Teacher's Day
May 21st- Waiter and Waitress Day

June 17th-21st Nursing Assistant Week

September 27th- National Thank You Day- thank everyone you work with!

October 7th-11th- Customer Service Week
October 16th- Boss's Day
October 17th- Credit Union Day

December 5th- International Volunteer Day- Reward your volunteers for their valuable time and effort.
December 25th- Christmas

Mark your calendars down and make sure you are showing your appreciation for your co-workers! A little gesture can go a long way. Send them a Bukoo Gift or give them a Koodos Gift. Order today!

Tips for Budgeting for a Years of Service Award Program

Years of Service Awards Programs are a great way to display your appreciation of the loyalty of employees for any number of years. This day and age, when loyalty in customers is hard to keep, it’s nearly as difficult to find an employee with extensive tenure in an organization. Turnover costs are high, and grow every day, so anytime you can thank and appreciate your employees for working hard to keep their jobs and who dedicate themselves to your cause, it is a great idea.

When budgeting for a program, no budget should be considered too big or too small. However, it is important to make a gift worthwhile in the eyes of the employee. Any gesture will make an impression, but making a strong impression that lasts will resonate with other employees and make the employee feel special and perhaps will work even harder to prove the gesture was well-deserved.

Our award program that we deem the most effective is the program of choice. Allowing your employees to choose their award from a slew of worthwhile gifts will leave the lasting impression you want. When they choose a gift, they will be choosing something that they want to use or will need for possibly years to come. Whenever they look at the purse, watch, home appliance, or sports item they chose from the selection you gave them, they will remember the meaning behind that gift. It also disguises the amount you spend on them, so again, no matter what your budget they are seeing a gift, and not a number.

If you would like to learn more about budgeting for a Years of Service Award Program, other forms of recognition and incentives, or would like to re-vitalize a current program you have please contact Bukoo Gifts. We can customize a program to your budget and make your program as effective as possible! 1-866-446-1064

If you are at a loss on where to begin here is a typical budget we see for years of service awards:

1 year- $25-$50.00

3 year-$25-$75

5 year-$50-100

10 year- $50-150

15 year -$100-200

20 year- $200 +

25 year-$200 +

30 year- $250 +