Loyal employees don’t come very often. Many employees are only working for you because they want to climb up their chosen career ladders, or pay their bills. Some of the most talented members you’ll hire will eventually leave after a year or even less because they feel like their skills can be used elsewhere. While it’s important not to hinder talent or coerce them into staying with you, it’s also sad to see them go because it can ultimately slow your business down—especially if they were a core team member that helped with your success.
While it’s sad to see talent go, you also can’t neglect the loyal team members that have been staying with you for a long time. This article by thebalance.com suggests that the average time someone is with their employer is roughly 4.6 years. While this seems like a lot, in terms of business it really isn’t. With this number in mind, it’s safe to assume that anyone that stays with you for over 5 to 7 years is probably in it for the long run, and you can probably safely call them a loyal employee that is working for your company’s sake and not their personal interests.
So how can you go about rewarding these loyal employees? Here are a couple of examples.
Celebrating Long Service
Many companies give their employees benefits the longer they stay in their employment. For instance, they could receive increasing discounts, they could receive memorabilia from the company such as medals or they could even get increased pay. A pay rise is fairly common, but things like certificates and unique promotional materials aren’t as common. Take a look at services such as thepinfactory.com.au/medals to find out more about custom decorations that can be used in your company. These act as fantastic alternatives to certificates and they’re great to reward your staff with. These types of gifts serve as a reminder to your loyal staff that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s a great motivational boost assuming the gift is sentimental and meaningful, not just a cheap gift you bought on the internet.
Give Them a Career, Not a Job
the ultimate reward for anyone who has worked for a long time at a company is a career, not just a job. Many people join a company and work for a couple of years just because of the money. Their aspirations are their own and their work rarely helps them reach their life goals. However, there’s the occasional time when a new employee shows so much promise that you can visualise them as a manager in the future, or even making them a project manager for a new location in the future. Rewarding loyal staff with more opportunities in the future is a fantastic way to bolster their morale and show your appreciation for them. However, it’s worth noting that not everyone is cut for management roles, especially if your only reason for considering it is because they’ve worked at your company for a decade.
