Over the course of an employee’s time at a company, they’re bound to experience major professional and personal life events. These milestones provide an opportunity to pause, reflect, and celebrate one’s growth and accomplishments. By celebrating employee milestones, companies demonstrate their care for the employee, create a culture of recognition, and increase employee engagement.
Professional Milestones
Work Anniversary
The most common corporately recognized milestone is years-of-service. Anniversaries are easy to track and plan awards for. They’re a great way to show appreciation for an employee’s dedication, and reflect on their accomplishments over the years. Usually awarded in 5 year increments, these awards are infrequent, prompting some businesses to award their employees for each year of service instead.
Stellar Performance
Businesses should never miss an opportunity to celebrate an employee achieving a major performance goal. This could be a significant sales goal, a lofty safety target, an important customer satisfaction rating, or any performance objective. Celebrating a job well done is a great way to boost morale and encourage everyone to achieve their goals.
Promotion
A promotion is a major step in one’s career development, and definitely one worth celebrating. When a company celebrates promotions, it underscores its dedication to acknowledging talent and offering avenues for progress. This not only rewards and motivates the employee being promoted, but also encourages others to strive for comparable accomplishments.
Onboarding
People shouldn’t have to wait to feel valued by their employer, they should know from the very start. By celebrating newest members of the team, the company is setting the tone for a positive and welcoming work experience. Here at Dion, every new employee receives our signature custom “new hire” pin as part of their onboarding experience. It’s a way of demonstrating that we’re proud of both our products and our people.
Training Completion
Employees who take time to develop their skills and complete certification courses definitely deserve a nod. Not only are they bettering themselves, but they’re gaining skills and knowledge to help the company excel.
Retirement
One of the most significant moments in a person’s career is their retirement. It marks a huge shift in the person’s life and is a bittersweet moment for many. Companies should take the time to thoughtfully honor the hard work and contributions of their retiring employees.
Personal Milestones
Birthday
Celebrating employee birthdays is an easy way to express that the person is valued for more than their job performance. Birthdays are easy to track and schedule lunches, gifts, or the delivery of a hand-written note. Here at Dion, we have a tradition of bringing in pastries on the last day of the month in honor of that month’s birthdays. Each employee also receives a birthday card from our President as well.
Parenthood
Every parent knows: becoming a parent changed them forever. It’s an exciting, joyous, and slightly nerve-wracking time. Companies can offer their support and congratulations by hosting a mini baby shower or sending a thoughtful gift. If possible, companies should also offer new parents ways to ease their work-life balance. This could be through flexible hours, remote work, and parental leave. These helpful accommodations demonstrate the company’s commitment to their employees’ wellbeing.
Engagement or Marriage
Another exciting personal milestone is marriage. Companies can celebrate their employee’s nuptials by sending flowers, a gift, a card, or even organizing a mini bridal shower. During this celebratory time, the couple receives lots of love from their family and friends. This is a great opportunity for their “work family” to show some love too.
School Acceptance or Graduation
Although it may signal their departure from the company, being supportive of employees who get accepted into, or graduate from, major scholastic programs is another way to show support. It’s a significant moment, setting them on the path to professional success and fulfillment. A thoughtful note expressing well wishes can be enough in this case.
As employees hit their milestone moments, it’s important to celebrate both their professional and personal landmarks. Employees want to feel valued as people, not just assets to the company. By celebrating their employees’ milestones, companies can create a positive work culture with an emphasis on recognition. This leads to happier, more engaged, and more productive employees.
Celebrating any milestone is easy with E.A. Dion. We’ve been creating high quality custom award jewelry for over 50 years - and we’d love to create yours! Get inspired by browsing our gallery of past products, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. give us a call, or message us to get started!
