Saying goodbye to traditional years of service awards

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Saying goodbye to traditional years of service awards

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

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Traditional Years of Service Awards, 1900-2009

Traditional years of service awards expired this century, after decades of offering employers a way to reward employees for loyal years of service.

Born in the industrial era, traditional years of service awards marked the beginning of employee rewards and recognition programs, and helped create an entire employee rewards industry. Traditional years of service awards are credited for proving the value of employee recognition in the workplace.

Traditional years of service awards are survived by their successor, Recognition Milestones – a recognition-based years of service program that is designed to meet the needs of today’s workplace and workforce.

Evolving Years of Service Awards

Traditional years of service awards were invented in the early 1900’s to meet the business needs of the industrialized era. The workplace during this time was very different to the one we work in now. Here’s a snapshot of the industrial age workplace:

It was common for families to work 72 hours a week in exchange for living arrangements, and for children as young as six to work up to 19 hours a day.
Before the Cotton Factories Regulation Act of 1819, there was no minimum working age or set hours of work. This meant that children as young as six could work up to 19 hours a day for little or no pay.
Turnover of assembly line employees was extremely high due to monotonous work and poor workplace conditions. At the Ford Motor Company, 71% of new hires quit after less than five days on the line.

Many of these practices that were common place in the 1900’s would be considered deplorable today! Our economy and workplace has evolved since then, so why haven’t years of service awards?

Tell us your story on the service awards you have loved and loathed. What is meaningful to you?

Post your story below and learn our stance on the evolution of service awards in our latest white paper ‘Long Live Recognition Milestones’. Learn best practices and takeaways you can apply to your organization. To read the white paper, please go to – Celebrate Years of Service.