Celebrating employees’ victories, milestones, and progress develops an emotional bond between employees, their teams, and the company across all generations. Just as a friend or a family member would congratulate and celebrate notable milestones in a person’s life, a connection develops when companies do the same.
Some significant employee work milestones worth celebrating include:
- new team members’ first day (mark this with the “All About Me” Exercise)
- promotions, or big wins
- work anniversaries
- degrees or certifications
- team milestones or successes
- retirement or voluntary departures
Some life milestones include:
- birthdays
- new home purchases
- weddings
- having a child
How you choose to celebrate is entirely up to you and what aligns with your culture, but some ideas to get the juices flowing are as follows: offering signed cards, sending flowers, decorating their desk, giving gifts, going out for lunch, donating to a charity on their behalf, getting stickers made, creating a video for them, offering time off, or appreciating them on an internal wiki or company meeting.