A Totally Rad Total Rewards Glossary

Glossary of Employee Recognition, Total Rewards, and Company Culture Terms

Back to Glossary

Service Awards

Service awards are a type of employee recognition that acknowledges and celebrates employees for their dedicated years of service to a company. These awards are typically given on milestone anniversaries, such as one, five, ten, or twenty years of service, and can include gifts, plaques, or certificates.

Enhance Your Total Rewards

Total rewards can be intimidating—but Awardco makes it easy to build culture, drive behavior, and recognize the good around you. Learn more about how we help enhance your total rewards today.

Get a Demo

What is the impact of service awards?

After a full year (or years!) of work at a company, employees need to be recognized with a years of service award. By recognizing and celebrating employees for their years of service, companies can demonstrate their appreciation and commitment to their employees. This, in turn, can boost employee morale, satisfaction, and loyalty, leading to increased retention rates and a more positive company culture.

How do service awards drive employee engagement and motivation?

Service awards for employees show appreciation for an employee’s hard work and dedication. This helps them feel valued and cared for, which increases motivation and engagement. Additionally, really awesome service awards can get people excited, motivating them to stay with the company and reach the next milestone anniversary.

How often should you give years of service awards?

Determining the right frequency for service awards for employees is important to keep employees engaged and appreciated. Most companies recognize employees at major milestone anniversaries, such as 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years of service. However, some organizations give employee service awards more frequently, offering smaller awards for every year or even every six months to show ongoing appreciation.

What are some best practices for giving service awards?

Make service awards for employees meaningful and impactful by:

  • Making the awards meaningful and personalized to the employee.
  • Celebrating milestone anniversaries in a timely manner.
  • Celebrating in a way that’s comfortable for each employee (public/private). 
  • Using the awards as an opportunity to reinforce company values and culture.
  • Incorporating employee service awards into a broader employee recognition program to recognize and motivate throughout the year.

What are examples of service award ideas?

Service awards can vary widely and be tailored to fit a company’s culture and budget. Common service award examples include:

  • Personalized plaques
  • Trophies
  • Certificates commemorating milestone anniversaries
  • Monetary bonuses
  • Extra vacation days
  • Gifts such as watches, jewelry, or electronics
  • Travel vouchers
  • Paid sabbaticals

Regardless of the specific service award ideas, the key is to make it meaningful and reflective of the employee's contributions and years of service, ensuring it resonates with the employee and shows genuine appreciation.

Awardco Simplifies Employee Service Awards

Awardco’s user-friendly platform allows employers to personalize service awards, send timely reminders for milestone anniversaries, and publicly recognize employees in a variety of ways. Click here to request a live demo of our rewards & recognition platform.