12 Unique Work Anniversary Ideas

Ded­i­cat­ed employ­ees are the most impor­tant assets in any com­pa­ny. A team mem­ber cel­e­brat­ing a 10th work anniver­sary, for instance, is a rel­a­tive expert in their field who adds unde­ni­able val­ue to the organization. 

The tricky part is doing what it takes to inspire that kind of loy­al­ty. Employ­ee reten­tion is not sim­ple or easy, but it is cru­cial to the long-term suc­cess of any business.

Every year that an employ­ee stays with an orga­ni­za­tion is a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone, and the employ­ees who reach those mile­stones deserve to be cel­e­brat­ed. Here are twelve unique work anniver­sary ideas to make any team mem­ber feel respect­ed and appre­ci­at­ed by their organization.

1. Office Parties

There’s noth­ing quite as excit­ing as dec­o­rat­ing the office and tak­ing time out of the busy work­day to let loose and cel­e­brate. Whether it’s cake and ice cream, alco­holic bev­er­ages or a themed shindig, have some fun with it. Office par­ties are a great way to make a work anniver­sary feel not only spe­cial but memorable.

They also dou­ble as an oppor­tu­ni­ty for qual­i­ty team build­ing. Par­ties allow peo­ple to be them­selves and build per­son­al con­nec­tions with oth­er employ­ees, which isn’t always pos­si­ble in a for­mal work setting.

2. Cash Bonuses

Some peo­ple love a gift with a per­son­al touch. Some enjoy some­thing intri­cate and from the heart, while oth­ers are cool with an enve­lope full of cash. After all, a lit­tle extra mon­ey can go a long way. 

Cash bonus­es are an excel­lent way to reward team mem­bers for their loy­al­ty. The only poten­tial down­side to this idea is that it may feel imper­son­al, so com­pa­nies should only use this gift idea for employ­ees who are sure to like it.

3. Event Tickets

Con­certs, sport­ing events and fes­ti­vals are great big-tick­et items that employ­ees will love. Stud­ies show that expe­ri­en­tial gifts are proven to fos­ter more sig­nif­i­cant and mean­ing­ful relationships.

The rea­son? Expe­ri­ences cre­ate pos­i­tive, last­ing and emo­tion­al mem­o­ries that are intrin­si­cal­ly linked to the gift giv­er. To make an employ­ee feel appre­ci­at­ed on their work anniver­sary, give them an expe­ri­ence they’ll cher­ish for years.

4. Charitable Donations

Giv­ing is much more reward­ing than receiv­ing, and that’s espe­cial­ly true for the large per­cent­age of mod­ern employ­ees who are social­ly con­scious and aware.

Donat­ing to a char­i­ty of a team member’s choice can be incred­i­bly touch­ing. It’s also a great way to take a stance on issues that employ­ees deeply care about. Many peo­ple (espe­cial­ly mil­len­ni­als and Gen Z) love work­ing for orga­ni­za­tions that share their values.

5. Extra Vacation Days

Who wouldn’t love a lit­tle more time off to spend with their friends and fam­i­lies? Vaca­tion time has been proven to reduce stress, enhance pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and improve men­tal health.

Even the hap­pi­est and most loy­al employ­ees want, need and deserve time off. That’s why adding a few extra vaca­tion days onto their year­ly allowance is a great way to cel­e­brate a work anniversary.

6. Order Their Favorite Food

Peo­ple love food. Peo­ple espe­cial­ly love food that they don’t have to buy or pre­pare them­selves. So, it stands to rea­son that reward­ing an employ­ee with their favorite meal for free is an excel­lent way to show appreciation.

Whether it’s order­ing take-out or bring­ing them to their favorite restau­rant, treat­ing team mem­bers to a tasty meal is a great way to cel­e­brate a work anniversary. 

7. Game Night, Anyone?

Regard­less of the activ­i­ty, loca­tion or theme, game nights are a great way to cel­e­brate work anniver­saries. It also has the added ben­e­fits of being cost-effec­tive (depend­ing on the game night in ques­tion) and dou­bling as a team-build­ing event. 

Coop­er­a­tive expe­ri­ences, like escape rooms or sim­i­lar mind-teasers, are a great way to get every­one work­ing togeth­er and hav­ing fun. Of course, it may be bet­ter to just split every­one into teams and unleash their com­pet­i­tive sides. No mat­ter the type of game night, super­vi­sors should remain dili­gent in ensur­ing the cel­e­brat­ed employ­ee feels special.

8. Personalized Gifts

Gifts and gift-giv­ing are a com­mon theme with work anniver­saries. A per­son­al­ized gift is a per­fect way to express appre­ci­a­tion for an employ­ee who’s worked tire­less­ly for an organization.

Some super­vi­sors may opt for com­mem­o­ra­tive watch­es, mono­grammed mon­ey clips or water bot­tles with inspir­ing mes­sages print­ed on them that seem to say, ​“My boss gave me this because they val­ue my work.” Oth­ers may opt for event tick­ets, gift cards or oth­er out-of-the-box ideas. What­ev­er it is, it should direct­ly reflect the per­son­al­i­ty and char­ac­ter of the cel­e­brat­ed team member.

9. Subscriptions and Memberships

For the mod­ern employ­ee, it’s often wise to think out­side of the box. Sub­scrip­tions and mem­ber­ships are excel­lent gifts because they direct­ly impact an employee’s life. 

Employ­ees may want a month­ly gym mem­ber­ship or a sub­scrip­tion for any of the hun­dreds of stream­ing ser­vices that are avail­able right now. Or team mem­bers might pre­fer month­ly sub­scrip­tion box­es like Fab­Fit­Fun, Bespoke Post or Rocksbox.

What­ev­er the sub­scrip­tion or mem­ber­ship, it should be tai­lored to the employ­ee. That’s the best way to con­vey trust, appre­ci­a­tion and value. 

10. Recognize Them (in Public or in Private)

Doing shoutouts on social media, the com­pa­ny web­site or right in the mid­dle of the office is a great way to make an employ­ee feel val­ued. Being show­ered with praise in a pub­lic forum can be a per­fect way to show appre­ci­a­tion for the right team member.

How­ev­er, not every employ­ee wants to be in the spot­light. Some­times, a pri­vate meet­ing or even a con­grat­u­la­to­ry email is enough to have a sig­nif­i­cant impact.

11. Career Advancement Opportunities

Every year should pro­vide new oppor­tu­ni­ties. Whether that involves edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties, pay rais­es or the pos­si­bil­i­ty for advance­ment, employ­ees love to know that they work for an orga­ni­za­tion that will grow with them.

It also allows super­vi­sors to have one-on-one meet­ings with employ­ees to dis­cuss their life, goals and per­for­mance. This is an excel­lent ben­e­fit since so many employ­ees val­ue feed­back and open communication.

12. Let Them Choose

The only way to tru­ly show an employ­ee appre­ci­a­tion for all their hard work is by know­ing and under­stand­ing who they are and cel­e­brat­ing them in a way that’s both impact­ful and meaningful.

Per­son­al­iza­tion is the key to show­ing employ­ees that they are appre­ci­at­ed and val­ued. The work anniver­sary ideas dis­cussed above require know­ing a team member’s spe­cif­ic wants, desires and tastes, which starts with open and hon­est communication.

If employ­ees feel val­ued, they tend to stay with the same com­pa­ny. Every work anniver­sary is impor­tant, but it’s not enough to make it to the one-year mark; the goal should be decades.

Cus­tomiz­able lifestyle ben­e­fits are a rev­o­lu­tion­ary way to pro­vide ben­e­fit options for employ­ees on an indi­vid­ual lev­el. Fringe has a per­son­al­ized, lifestyle ben­e­fits plat­form that lets team mem­bers choose the ben­e­fit options that are right for them. 

When a work anniver­sary rolls around, it’s sim­ple to assign addi­tion­al points to a team member’s account, allow­ing them to choose from over a hun­dred dif­fer­ent and unique lifestyle ben­e­fits. Com­pa­nies are rev­o­lu­tion­iz­ing their work anniver­saries with Fringe. Con­tact us today to sched­ule a demo.