HAPPY WORK ANNIVERSARY TO YOU!

We celebrate many special occasions in our lives – birthdays, marriages, engagements, even pancake and pets. So why shouldn’t you celebrate your work anniversary? Work anniversaries are significant in that it is a symbol of how well you are doing in your career or in that particular company. You can celebrate the first day you started working for the company or even just the first day you started working in general.

Research has also shown companies that acknowledge and reward this milestone have better talent retention as it is a great way to support morale. You know how you would quit if you didn’t feel appreciated? Well, celebrating work anniversaries is a great way to make you feel like you are seen in the office and that your efforts are being recognised!

But you know what’s most important? That you yourself recognise this effort and milestone! Think of your work anniversaries as the achievements you’ve accomplished for your career, a way to honour your career and give you some pride about your work.

How to celebrate them? Here are some suggestions (bonus: you can also use these tips to celebrate a teammate’s work anniversary or if you have trainees and juniors working with you, try them too!)

#1 Create a list
It doesn’t have to always be all treats when it comes to anniversaries. A quick yet effective way of celebrating your work anniversary is simply by making a list of what you’ve accomplished, adding it to your resume or just writing down in a book or a piece of paper where you can easily flip to and remind yourself of how far you’ve come. You can give a colleague a card that lists these achievements if you are celebrating others.

#2 Take the day off
Why not, you’ve earned it! You’ve worked so hard to come this far so you deserve a break to celebrate you. If work’s not busy, you can also give your junior the rest of the day off.

#3 Buy yourself something nice
If you are the type to celebrate with treats, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do the same for your work anniversary. Flowers, balloons, cakes or maybe a new office accessory – whatever makes you happy to know you’re on the right track for your career.

#4 Celebrate with those at the office
Whether it is your work anniversary or a teammate’s, make it a point to celebrate the occasion. Maybe it can be a collective thing where you celebrate those who joined at the same time so it’s more fun. Have a post-work meal or a get-together to honour each other.

#5 Celebrate just the significant years
OK so you don’t want to make a big deal every year but you should at least take the time to celebrate the significant years like your first year, your fifth and who knows, maybe even your 10th. It can also be a nice way to celebrate a colleague who’s been at the office for a long time. Band together to buy a gift voucher to present to the colleague or get everyone to write something personal in a card why they love working with that colleague.

How will you celebrate work anniversaries? Share it with us on Twitter @Graduan.

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash