High employee turnover is a costly problem for any organization that should be addressed directly. Not only does it reduce the effectiveness of teams and departments, but it also means that businesses are losing out on investments they've made in recruiting and training new employees. Turnover manifests itself through direct costs in the money and resources spent searching and filling the replacement, as well as opportunity costs in lost productivity from a tenured employee that is difficult to replace. With a constricting labor market, it's more important than ever to inspire loyalty in your teams to keep them in the fold.
The importance of employee loyalty
Loyalty instills dedication and commitment to a company's mission and values, which leads employees to make decisions that help achieve organizational objectives. Loyal employees help build a culture of trust and respect among current and former coworkers. This creates a strong foundation for collaboration and innovation within an organization, making it easier for everyone to remain focused on achieving common goals. Loyalty also helps reduce turnover rates since employees who feel appreciated are more likely to continue working for the same employer. Be reminded, though, that loyalty is a two-way street, and the organization needs to put forth the effort to ensure that those employees feel they've made the right decision to work with you.
It takes effort to instill loyalty in employees, but it's a worthy investment
In 2022, the average employee tenure across all industries was right around four years. The more surprising statistic, though, was that employee tenure increases with age, as the median tenure of employees aged 55 to 64 was nearly ten years, compared to that of workers 25 to 34, who had less than three. This reveals a very targeted goal for your retention spend in that dollar for dollar, you'll likely have the best results by targeting your younger employees. This dovetails nicely into the fact that younger employees will also have more potential years with your company during which they can accumulate a wealth of organizational knowledge and experience.
In addition, employee loyalty is a strong driver of workplace performance regardless of whether those employees leave the company or not. According to Gallup, highly engaged employees have 81% less absenteeism along with higher profitability and quality of work and less employee theft. Investing in your employees' sense of allegiance is one of the best ways to drive a stronger bottom line.
Potential ways you can celebrate employee anniversaries or milestones
One of the best ways to instill loyalty is to ensure that your employees are appreciated, day in and out. One of the most direct ways is to give them something to look forward to: their work anniversary, which can be made into a celebration of everything that they've done for the company throughout their careers. There are various ways in which you can celebrate employee milestones with varying levels of spend. Some ideas are:
- Sending a personalized card to the employee on their anniversary
- Hosting an office-wide celebration with cake, snacks, and drinks
- Giving the employee a gift certificate or voucher for something special
- Offering extra time off as part of the celebration
- Having a team lunch in honor of the employee's anniversary
- Creating an award plaque recognizing their years of service
- Featuring them in your company newsletter or blog post celebrating their milestone
Of these options, creating a customized plaque is the most palpable, lasting reminder of the employee's years of service. Not only does it demonstrate that their hard work and dedication is being recognized, but it also serves as a token of appreciation they can keep for the rest of their life. Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to remain loyal to the organization, which in turn will reduce turnover costs and increase organizational efficiency over time. Customizable plaques allow companies to create unique designs that capture the spirit of the sentiment, allowing organizations to extend their recognition in a meaningful way.
Gift for employees' milestone recognition
With so many ways to customize plaques, DIY Awards offers a personalized touch to any organization. Being able to alter the shape, logos, text, and designs on each plaque ensures that no two ever look alike, even within the same organization. It's crucial that plaques speak to the individual accomplishments of the employee as well as their devotion through their many years of service. Furthermore, these plaques can be used as part of a larger incentive program to reward those who have reached certain thresholds in terms of years employed with the company. With highly customizable anniversary plaques, employers are able to create a culture of appreciation and recognition that will motivate employees throughout their entire tenure with the company. If you are considering implementing an employee retention initiative, you can reach out to us to learn about how customized anniversary plaques can fit into your overall strategy.
