Show how much you appreciate your staff member with a thoughtful employee anniversary gift. Years of service should not go by unnoticed, and anniversary gifts for employees are a gesture of thanks that take on meaning and inspire even more good years of quality service. Formal recognition of an employee's many years of quality service speaks a lot to your business ethics as an employer, and it builds mutual respect between employee and employer.

Choose gifts such as employee anniversary pins, gift baskets, logoed employee anniversary gifts, gift cards, trophies or engraved pens. You name it, it's out there. The key is to make sure that your employee anniversary gift selection is thoughtful, within your budget, sincere in its giving, and delivered and recognized appropriately. Don't just leave it on his or her desk. Give it to the person with some level of ceremony.

To find out more about employee anniversary gifts types and styles:

1. Learn about corporate / employee anniversary gift baskets and bouquets.

2. Consider employee anniversary pins to mark the big event.

3. Check out the wide array of additional anniversary gifts for employees that are available to suit your need.

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Appeal to their sweet tooth with your next anniversary gifts for employees

Go for candy or cookie baskets or bouquets with your next business anniversary gifts. Indulge their sweet tooth, but the only word of warning is make sure that your employee is not diabetic or has any dietary restrictions.

I recommend: Take a look at the corporate cookie and logoed employee anniversary gifts from All About Gifts & Baskets. Go for the corporate candy baskets from AC Bouquet. Their themed baskets like the "Treasure Gift Basket," the "You're Valued Candy Bouquet" or the "Thanks A Million Candy Bouquet" all send a message of appreciation.

Consider employee anniversary pins to mark their big day

Recognize important landmark dates with employee anniversary pins. Design an anniversary pin to match your company's logo, or find a standard anniversary pin and use it as a more general employee anniversary gift.

I recommend: Monterey Lapel Pins offers corporate service award pins that are manufactured by hand. You can add your company logo and imitation gemstones as well as enhance your presentation with custom packaging. G.Neil offers an employee anniversary award pin that you can either give out with our without custom engraving.

Check out the wide variety of employee anniversary gift ideas there are available

Find a creative employee anniversary gift for the person being honored. Instead of doing the same thing for everyone, consider keeping the same budget for everyone and finding something unique to the person that he or she would really enjoy.

I recommend: Look at the other creative anniversary gifts for employees from Gifts for Professionals. Motivators also has a large line of employee anniversary gift ideas.

Whether you choose to recognize your employees with a fancy certificate suitable for framing or with funny employee anniversary gifts, make recognizing and thanking your employees a priority and you'll see an increase in employee morale and productivity.

Evaluate your staff numbers before you implement a recognition program for your employees. Make sure the program you select provides you with opportunities to honor all of your employees either annually or at specific hallmarks like five years, ten years and twenty years of service.

1. Use corporate anniversary gift pins to celebrate anniversaries.

2. Gift employee anniversary cards so your employees can choose their award.

3. Purchase gift baskets for employee anniversary gift ideas.

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Celebrate anniversaries with employee anniversary pins

Consider giving anniversary pins as a way to celebrate your employees anniversaries. For large businesses with several employees, lapel pins make a traditional and time-honored anniversary gift. For smaller businesses, pins make a noteworthy memento in between more celebrated anniversaries such as the ten- or twenty-year mark.

I recommend: Baudville has a variety of employee anniversary pins suitable for any number of years of service. SteelBerry Awards will provide you with employee anniversary pins to honor your employees for their dedicated service.

Provide gift certificates as employee anniversary gifts

Give your employees gift certificates that allow them to choose the item they want. By opting for gift certificates, you eliminate the waste of purchasing gifts that are not suited to the recipient. Gift certificates also allow you to save time and money by simplifying the process of finding and purchasing retirement gifts.

I recommend: Corporate Rewards provides you with a gift certificate in the amount of your choice from which your employee can select business anniversary gifts that suit their tastes. Select Your Gift allows you to choose which catalog your employee is eligible to shop from based upon the amount of money you choose to gift.

Customize gift baskets as employee anniversary gifts

Opt for a gift basket that suits your individual employees. Gift baskets can be filled with any number of items for the coffee lover or the chocolate lover, allowing you to personalize a basket for each employee.

I recommend: Gift Specialists will create a custom gift basket for you to hand out for anniversary gifts for employees. The Obsession Box offers you a selection of gift baskets with a variety of products included so you can tailor your employee anniversary gift to the preferences of that employee, making the gift both more personal and more meaningful.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure that the program you adopt for honoring employee anniversaries is fair and even to all employees. Choosing an expensive employee anniversary award for a favored employee of a short number of years while gifting a long term employee with a less valuable gift will cause hurt feelings and damage company morale.

Business owners should consider employee anniversary gifts a worthwhile investment. Create good will and maintain employee morale when you show your staff that you appreciate their hard work, dedication and loyalty to your company. If you're under the impression that anniversary gifts for employees means you'll have to stretch your budget more than you should, think again. There are quality employee anniversary awards at prices that almost any business owner can afford.

You can decide what to purchase based upon employment level, such as supervisory and staff positions, and number of years with the company. Find a great selection of employee anniversary gifts pricing and costs at the following locations:

1. Choose from a large selection of low and moderately priced business anniversary gift ideas.

2. Invest a little more when you shop for business anniversary gifts for senior level management.

3. Save money on recognition awards like employee anniversary pins to acknowledge special achievement.

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Save on lower priced employee anniversary gifts for non-supervisory staff

The most affordable anniversary gifts range in price from $2 to $30. They're perfect for employees celebrating anniversaries of five years or under. Get key chains, key holders, desk clocks and ballpoint pens.

I recommend: Motivators has key chains starting at $2, inspirational cubes for about $8 and business card wallets costing about $10. Calculators at Gifts for Professionals cost between $7, for a Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Calculator, to about $63, for a Roswell Calculator with Wood Base. Desk clocks at Things Remembered start at $15 and go up to $30.

Budget more for employee anniversary gifts for supervisory and executive staff

Though slightly higher in price, business gift sets are both functional and decorative. Desk organizers with photo frames and clocks are at the lower end of the moderately priced gift sets. At the higher end, you can expect to pay up to $200 and $300 for office globes, personalized pen sets, wallets and even luggage.

I recommend: At Find Gift, not only can you choose between a multi-function desk organizer that costs about $36 and an executive desk set that costs about $100, but you can also save money on bulk purchases and even get free engraving. Sterling silver pen sets at Pianki cost between $200 and $300 while luggage, cuff links and leather briefcases range in price from $200 to $400.

Find prices on corporate anniversary gifts recognizing special achievements

Opt for logoed employee anniversary gifts made of pure crystal or even personalized pens that tell your staff their extra efforts have not gone unnoticed.

I recommend: Exquisite crystal awards from Wealthwood Gifts include vases, bowls and time pieces. They range in price from $230 to $420. Get free shipping on orders over $50. Recognition pens at Dinn Trophy start at $2, while plaques cost about $15 each and recognition placards are $16. Plain recognition pins at G Neil cost $10, for purchases of 25 or more, and $12, when you purchase up to 12 items. The company does not charge extra for engraving.

Today's HR departments are scrambling for new ideas on when to give employee anniversary gifts. They're breaking away from the long-standing tradition in which employees' anniversaries were recognized only at five-year increments. Some employers today are even using anniversaries as a reason to recognize excellent service or loyalty to the company. Others are using it as an employee motivation strategy that sends the right message to the entire staff. Whatever your reason, knowing some key terms can help you design a special employee anniversary gifts program.

Action Steps
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Years of service awards

Years of service awards are the most traditional and cost effective awards to consider for giving employee anniversary gifts. They award employees for having successfully completed a certain number of years with the company.

I recommend: C.A. Short explains why years of service awards remain cost effective in today's business environment. You'll also get suggestions on how to change your years of service awards programs, such as why you should base it on individualization which includes making a demographic fit to the employee's circumstances rather than to the company's circumstances.

Company morale

One of the main reasons that businesses honor employee anniversaries is to improve company morale, the general attitude of most employees toward the organization and toward management.

I recommend: Visit GNeil.com to learn ways to boost company morale with employee anniversary cards.

Recognition packet

The term recognition packet refers to an individualized package of materials given to employees who have reached a milestone anniversary. These packets usually contain a letter of congratulations and perhaps a gift certificate.

I recommend: Find out why Spelman College's HR department hands out recognition packets as employee anniversary gifts and get some suggestions for what to include in these packets.

Employee engagement

HR professionals consider employee anniversary gifts a key part of their employee engagement strategy. Effort is made to involve employees in company events so that they'll feel connected to the organization.

I recommend: Consider why The Corporate Responsibility Officer CRO suggests anniversary gifts are essential when it comes to connecting with employees. The site also explains how successful employee engagement today is much more than just recognizing milestone anniversaries.

Employee anniversary letter

An employee anniversary gift can be as simple as sending an employee anniversary letter, congratulating employees either for every year they spend at the company, or for having achieved a milestone anniversary.

I recommend: Job Bank USA offers an example on how to write an employee anniversary letter. Find out how to make the letter personal by noting specific contributions.

Service appreciation awards

Some businesses give service appreciation awards as employee anniversary gifts. These honor employees for having performed exceptional service, such as in sales, marketing or human resources.

I recommend: The University of North Carolina offers suggestions on how to calculate an employee's total service and how to distribute service appreciation awards.