While service awards have long been valued for their impact on employee engagement, not all service awards are created equal. Some are cobbled together. Some lack excitement. Some are simply not loved by those who receive them. And that’s an incredible lost opportunity. When well done, service awards celebrate friendships, relationships, and shared success—all the reasons people choose to stay. That’s why we reimagined and reinvented service awards with Yearbook™ to help more companies get them right.

1. If you can’t remember the last time your service
awards got a dose of cool factor, it may be time to
rethink, retool, and perhaps even replace them.
10 Ingenious Ways
to Modernize Your
Service Awards.

2. While service awards have long been
valued for their impact on employee
engagement, not all service awards
are created equal. Some are cobbled
together. Some lack excitement.
Some are simply not loved by those
who receive them. And that’s an
incredible lost opportunity.

3. When well done, service awards celebrate friendships,
relationships, and shared success—all the reasons people
choose to stay. That’s why we reimagined and reinvented
service awards to help more companies get them right.

4. For the past two years, O.C.Tanner’s Yearbook
has been sweeping the world, gaining fans, and
transforming service anniversaries into celebrations
of life at work. Here are ten Yearbook-inspired ways
to take your corporate culture to the next level:
PRESENTING

5. In many companies, service awards are
a relatively lonely, pointless experience.
Employees expect a gift each anniversary, so
companies go along. Awards are delivered by
indifferent managers, accomplishing very little.
PROBLEM #1

6. SOLUTION
Involve peers,
mentors, and friends
in the celebration.111
#
Use service anniversaries to create meaningful celebrations
among friends. Turn them into events people look forward
to because they honor a friend for their indispensable
role on the team.

7. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
By collecting personal stories, photos,
and video uploads from coworkers,
mentors, and leaders, Yearbook gets
congrats flowing in from all of an
employee’s friends at work. It’s
automated, easy, and impactful.
Click the arrows
to learn more

8. Let friends
add personal
congrats.

9. Service awards shouldn’t feel fleeting or
temporary. But in some solutions, an electronic
gift card is awarded and the anniversary fades
into oblivion. Employees are left with nothing
to remind them of their years of service.
PROBLEM #2
=
?

10. SOLUTION
Include a
keepsake of
career highlights.222
#
Consider inviting the entire team to create a personal
keepsake filled with memories, photos, and compliments.
Also add symbolic awards or trophies to the award mix in
addition to brand name awards.

11. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook delivers both a rich online
congratulatory experience and a
unique one-of-a-kind printed
keepsake to share with family and
friends. 94% of recipients say they’ll
treasure Yearbook forever.

12. Include
a printed
keepsake.

13. When celebrating years of service, some
believe it’s years they are honoring, when in
reality, it’s people. Shared challenges. Shared
victories. Shared lives. Many companies focus
too much on time and too little on talent.
PROBLEM #3

14. SOLUTION
Celebrate success—
not just sticking
around.333
#
Don’t think of service anniversaries as rewarding time
served (like a prison sentence). Instead, celebrate things like
personal growth, accomplishments, and relationships—all
the reasons people choose to stay.

15. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook messaging focuses on the
important role each recipient plays
on the team. Stories from co-workers
and leaders highlight individual
contributions and create a history of
one person’s expanding influence on
the company.

16. CONGRATS
Way to go on making it to your five
year anniversary! You have a knack
for getting involved and maintaining a
quality approach to everything you do.
– Ryan
I can’t express how much I love
having you on the team. You’re the
most generous guy (I still owe you for
those safety glasses!) and so talented
at production work. I’d be lost without
“Food Truck Friday” and the world’s
best corn-dog. So glad we’ve become
great friends, cheers to five years!
– Radhika
Mike! Yay! I’m so happy for your
5-year anniversary, but I’m even
more happy that we’re such great
pals! Remember when we went
on that pedal-hopper adventure
for my birthday? That rocked!
You rock! Congrats!
– Jeremy Martinez
Mike, Congrats on 5 years! It didn’t
take you long to become invaluable
to our team! Thanks for your constant
attention and care of all the details
involved in production. You are
a rock star.
– Jeff
It’s always so awesome knowing
you’re on the team because you think
of things—like leap year!—no one else
does. I love how you quietly save the
day every day. Here’s to five years!
– Pamela
Hi Mike, I like nice people. And
you are a nice person. You always
help me with emergencies without
complaining, even when complaining
would be justified. Besides, you have
the coolest Halloween decorations
in the office. Hooray for Dia De
Los Muertos!
– LucyTell
stories of
success

17. Does your company celebrate five years of service
the same as twenty-five? Research shows that
each career stage brings a very distinct mind-set
for the employee. But many companies do little
more than increase the award value for each stage.
PROBLEM #4
5
10
15
20
25

18. SOLUTION
Treat 5 years
different than
25 years.444
#
Plug in to the enthusiasm of a three-year employee, the
hunger for growth of a five-year employee, or the desire
to mentor of a 25-year employee, with anniversary-specific
sentiments and year-specific custom awards.

19. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Each Yearbook has an anniversary-
specific cover, internal messaging
that reflects each career stage, and
the potential to synchronize with
O.C.Tanner’s Numerals™
trophies.
So 10 years feels like 10 years.

20. Give
awards that
count.

21. Some organizations get the “celebration among
friends” part right but leave out cultural pride and
shared values. Research shows that connecting
with a brand’s mission is as important to
employees as it is to customers.
PROBLEM #5

22. SOLUTION
Connect the
individual to
the culture.555
#
Show employees how well they fit into your company story.
Emphasize belonging. Capture your company’s heart and
soul in words, logos, symbols, and custom awards. Help
people feel a part of something bigger.

23. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook has mission-specific pages
that celebrate the culture each
recipient’s years of service has helped
to build. These pages interweave the
“me” and the “we” to create a sense
of belonging in every employee.

24. Human power is about appreciating the people
of Osko Energy. Your five-year anniversary
gives us the chance to celebrate you as an
individual. Highlight your talents. Revel in your
accomplishments. To reflect on how your great
work has contributed to our great work. Thanks
for belonging to something bigger. Something
important. Something that’s making the world,
smarter, cleaner, better. Thanks for being one of us.
human power
Celebrate
company
pride.

25. Companies with in-house solutions (or gift-card
vendors as recognition providers) offer a selection
of gift cards only. Aside from the fact that gift
cards often go unused, imagine taking first place
in the Olympics and getting a gift card. It doesn’t
quite work. Special events deserve special awards.
PROBLEM #6
?
?

26. SOLUTION
Avoid using an
everyday award
to honor an
extraordinary event.
666
#
Think of a career anniversary as a major milestone that
deserves a memorable reward. Offer a collection of
brand-name and custom awards for each career stage.
Help employees choose a gift that reminds them of their
accomplishment for years to come.

27. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook allows you to create
your company’s own collection of
achievement-worthy awards for each
career stage. A sampling of available
awards is printed in each Yearbook,
while Yearbook online offers an even
bigger collection.

28. Give
achievement-
worthy
awards.

29. How does it feel to be loved by your coworkers
but ignored by your boss? Not good. Some
companies with social recognition-centric
solutions risk cutting managers out of
celebrations all together.
PROBLEM #7

30. SOLUTION
Help leaders cheer
as loudly as peers.777
#
Involve both managers and coworkers in career celebrations.
Don’t assume including coworkers makes managers irrelevant
or visa versa. Find a partner with tools and training that
inspire leader participation in employee recognition.

31. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook automates the process of
inviting both peers and leaders to
upload stories and photos, placing the
leader’s comments front-and-center
while making it easy for the entire
team to join the celebration.

32. “Here at O.C.
Tanner, creating
beauty is a way
of life.”
Obert C.Tanner
FOUNDER
Mark, Has it really been 5 years? Wow. All I
know is that our team wouldn’t be the same
without you. Thanks for being so talented,
flexible, and fun. Your technical capabilities (not
to mention your beard) are an awesome addition
to our team. Every day it seems there is some
urgent task that only you can do. We’re lucky to
have you. Keep up the great work!
Steve
Appreciate
leader influence
on the team.

33. Many organizations do service awards the hard
way. Some do all the work of maintaining programs
in-house. Others have recognition partners who
make even more work for HR administrators.
Neither situation is necessary.
PROBLEM #8

34. SOLUTION
Let technology
do the work
for you.888
#
Consider tapping into the latest SaaS and Cloud-based
software for managing your service awards. That way,
you can improve the employee recognition experience
dramatically and make your life easier at the same time.

35. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
While delivering a totally unique and
personal experience for every
recipient, Yearbook technology does
all the work. Once Yearbook is up and
running, you just sit back and collect
accolades for launching a program
people love.

36. Dear Mark,
It’s been a pleasure working
with you these past ten
years. You bring such talent
and knowledge to our team. I
don’t know how we would have
launched Opus without you!
Thanks for helping us grow.
– Nigel
Tap into
tech.
CONGRATS
MARK
Enter

37. Some recognition partners force you to “have it
their way.” Others will work with you and your
ideas. You can build a program that reflects
your unique brand, culture, and goals, as long
as your partner is not a one-trick pony.
PROBLEM #9

38. SOLUTION
Seek a flexible
partner.999
#
A good recognition partner should have a variety of
products, solutions, and tools to meet you where you are,
whatever your needs may be. If a partner responds to every
request with “our way is the only way,” keep on looking.

39. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook gives you maximum
flexibility, from basic designs that get
you up and running in a hurry, to more
customized versions that capture
your culture. Our award collections,
symbolic awards, and messaging
were all made to adapt to you.

40. QUINDICI ANNI
THREE YEARS
ONEYEAR
FIVEYEARS
FORTYYEARS
THREEYEARS
5
bravo
gracias | congratulations | celebrate
celebración | brilliant | fabuloso
magnifique |
| appreciate
Make it
yours.

41. Many companies go through all the effort to
select and instigate a new program and then
launch with a whisper. Consequently, a
program they hoped would make waves in
their organization barely makes a ripple.
PROBLEM #10

42. SOLUTION
When you
go new, go big.
Always launch like a program depends on it. Because it does.
It’s worth a tiny bit of effort up front to create a kick-off
worthy of your hard work. You get one shot to tell everyone
there’s a new reason to love where they work. Don’t blow it.
#

43. HOW YEARBOOK™
HELPS:
Yearbook comes from O.C.Tanner.
And we get the important link
between communication and
appreciation. That’s why we offer
Yearbook launch materials that
introduce your program with the
enthusiasm it deserves.

44. Make some
noise.

45. Our innovative Yearbook has revolutionized service
awards in hundreds of companies and touched the lives
of hundreds of thousands of employees.
Yearbook has earned
the right to be called
a game-changer.

46. Give Yearbook a try. Our technology
and expertise make creating a
personal, memorable experience for
each and every employee a light
touch for HR administrators. Talk to
us today about how Yearbook can
help your organization celebrate life
at work.

47. Thanks.
Experience Yearbook in
person and see the future
of service awards.
Learn more at octanner.com/yearbook
Request a free demo at
octanner.com/contact us

48. © O.C. TANNER COMPANY
O.C.Tanner, number 40 on the 2015 FORTUNE 100 Best Places To Work For® list, helps organizations
create great work environments by inspiring and appreciating great work. Thousands of clients
globally use the company’s cloud-based technology, tools, awards, and education services to engage
talent, increase performance, drive goals, and create experiences that fuel the human spirit.
Learn more at http://www.octanner.com.