Employee recognition is vital to maintaining a culture of motivation and loyalty. When your company has a reputation for retaining employees beyond ten years, it’s essential to recognize those milestones by honoring your long-serving team members.

Current trends suggest the average amount of time a person spends at a company in the US is about four years. That’s not a long time. When there are loyal employees on your team, they rightfully need to be honored.

To celebrate your long-serving employees, we’ve put together a list of some ideas on how you can show your appreciation for a 30 year work anniversary.

Ten Ideas to Celebrate a 30 Year Work Anniversary

1. Host a Company-wide Event

Everyone loves a party, especially when they’re the guest of honor. Your employee will feel appreciated if an event is hosted to celebrate achieving the milestone of a 30-year work anniversary.

It’s also a wonderful idea to think about incorporating other long-service work anniversaries into events like these, as it will promote a culture of appreciation and recognition among your other employees.

Boosting morale and motivation is paramount to the success of your company. And going beyond merely acknowledging people’s hard work shows just how much you care and value your employees as people.

2. Honor Them Through Service Awards

Presenting your long-serving staff with service or achievement awards in the form of a trophy is a traditional and everlasting way of showing them how much you appreciate their contribution to your company. 

It is also a wonderful initiative that can be presented at events honoring employees celebrating long-service milestones, like a 30 year work anniversary.

One important thing to note here is to personalize the trophy as much as possible. Include the employee’s name, job title, and the number of years they’ve worked at the business. Presenting them with a blank trophy simply won’t cut it. On the other hand, personalizing it will make them feel valued and appreciated, giving them something to look back on in pride for years to come.

3. Arrange a Fancy Dinner for their Family

Your staff, particularly those that stick around for a long time, may spend a lot of time at the office. If an employee has worked for you for 30 years and genuinely put in the extra time and effort, they likely sacrificed some family time along the way to help your business grow. 

A wonderful way to honor them, as well as their families, is to organize a fancy dinner out.

4. Offer a Paid Vacation

Everybody loves a vacation, especially when it’s not to their expense. Offering up a paid vacation to a specific destination is an excellent way to celebrate a 30 year work anniversary.

A gift like this is a special treat reserved for only the team members willing to commit long-term to your company. Therefore, it also serves as a motivating factor for your younger team members. 

The location of the trip is something that can be totally flexible to your company and budget. For example, if you’re a small to medium-sized business, the trip could be in the form of a weekend away to a stunning local resort. Or, if your company’s finances allow, it could be a more extravagant getaway, say to the Bahamas!

5. Host a Dinner Party

Another perfect way to honor your loyal employees is to treat them to a formal dinner party. 

Include some of your honoree’s team members at the dinner as well as some of the upper-level management personnel. Doing so enables everyone to celebrate your employee’s milestone together and is a great way to encourage team bonding. 

You could also invite the person’s partner or spouse to join in the celebration. Your employee will certainly appreciate a loved one being there to enjoy this occasion with them. 

17 Thoughtful Work Anniversary Gifts For All Employee Milestones

6. Pay for a Bucket List Experience

Whether you have highly adventurous staff who enjoy things like skydiving or diving, or employees who enjoy more subdued activities like sightseeing or spa trips, offering to pay for a bucket list experience is ideal for celebrating an employee’s 30-year work anniversary. 

There are many ways to arrange this, one being to offer a voucher of a specific value for an adventure. Your employee can then choose an activity that they will enjoy themselves. 

Alternatively, you could present a list of activities they could choose from, ranging from very adventurous to relaxing. 

Either way, they can choose something that they want to do. Paying for an experience helps to give your loyal employee a break from the mundane and gives them memories that they can treasure forever. 

7. Offer Stock Options

If you have staff members celebrating a 30 year work anniversary, chances are they’re a bit further on in their career and are looking at their finances for retirement. 

Offering stock options or a stake in the company is the perfect way to secure the financial future of your long-serving employees and serve as a motivating factor for younger staff members.

It’s an excellent way to increase the long-serving staff member’s salary package, making their remaining time at the company more valuable to them and ultimately to you.

8. Pay a Nice Bonus 

Everyone loves money. Offering a substantial bonus to your employee on their 30 year work anniversary is the perfect way to say thank you for all their hard work and loyalty over the years.

Some might say it can be impersonal, but if you consider the life stage of employees celebrating 30 years at a company, they’re generally thinking of ways they could be boosting their retirement funds or planning to take an extended vacation.

Offering a large bonus around the time of their work anniversary is a great way to celebrate that milestone and will definitely be well-received.

9. Contribute Towards a Retirement Bonus

Now, as we’ve mentioned before, employees celebrating a 30 year anniversary are at a particular stage in their lives. That likely means planning ahead for retirement. 

It’s not to say that these employees are necessarily ready to retire. However, they may be close to it. As such, offering a retirement fund bonus will boost their financial wellness. A gesture like this will go a long way, and although they may leave your company in a few years’ time, it’s a giant thank you.

10. A Gift Hamper 

Not sure what gifts to get? How about giving an exclusive gift hamper? 

You can curate a couple of different items that you know the person will appreciate. The gift hamper could be themed, or it can simply be a collection of things that made you think of your employee. 

Some great ideas to include in gift hampers are:

• Travel accessories: a leather passport holder, travel pillow, smart luggage tag, new luggage bags, or books on places your employee wants to visit.

• Luxury accessories: a nice watch or cufflinks, a leather laptop bag, a wallet, or a purse personalized with your employees’ initials. 

• Technology: a tablet, Bluetooth keyboard or speakers, a Tile Mate, or headphones.  

• Food and drink: expensive wine or whiskey with a food pairing, a set of crystal wine glasses or tumblers, luxury chocolates, exotic coffee, etc.

Final Thoughts

Employee recognition is more than just a pat on the back or a ‘well done, champ’, particularly when a staff member has been with your company for three decades!

Here at PerkUp, we’re always eager to help companies align their long-term staffing objectives with employee satisfaction and motivation. Instituting employee rewards programs that align business goals with employee morale is one of our strong suits, and we’re here to help you.