Even if your organization now solely relies on virtual team members, it’s important to acknowledge loyalty and recognize those major milestones. Work anniversaries can be celebrated at any point in the careers of your remote employees. Let newer recruits know you value them by handing out anniversary gifts once they’ve given a full year of service. Keen to recognize the contributions of an old-timer who’s been with you for years? You’ll need to think bigger.
With the right work anniversary ideas, you’re letting long-serving employees feel valued and recognized. The more appreciated an employee feels, the more likely it is that they’ll continue to serve you well for years to come. They can also provide a platform for team-building activities, giving fresh recruits a deeper insight into your company culture and core values.
How to Celebrate a Work Anniversary Virtually
Not sure how to transition your reward strategy from the offline world to the virtual space? First time you’ve thought about service awards? We’ve picked out 15 virtual work anniversary celebration ideas to inspire you.
1. Online Trivia Night
Everyone can participate in a virtual team trivia session. Considering the occasion, it’s best to anchor your questions to company-specific topics. For a wave of nostalgia, you can even look back to the career highlights of the employee you’re recognising for inspiration.
2. Virtual Anniversary Party
The working life of a remote employee can seem a lonely one. If one of your team is approaching a major service milestone, use this as an opportunity to engage your employees and encourage them to socialize. You might not be able to meet in person, but you can certainly host an inspired virtual work anniversary party.
3. Create a Personalized E-Card from the Team
For many employees, a card from colleagues means far more than any work anniversary gift. You won’t be able to quietly pass a greetings card around the office if you’re working virtually, but there are alternative options. With an e-card, everyone who wants to share a message can. What’s more, your team can add high-resolution images and videos alongside personal messages.
4. Explore the World Virtually
Wish you could send an employee on a round-the-world adventure as thanks for their service? A trip like this isn’t really practical, but you can explore the wonders of the world in other ways. Find out which destinations are still on the bucket list of your beloved employee and put together an itinerary for a virtual tour. You can create playlists of travelogs and bite-sized videos, or assemble awe-inspiring photo galleries.
5. Treat Them to Some New Hardware
A remote workforce is only as good as the technology they’re using. If an employee is about to hit a major service milestone, now might be the time to provide them with an upgrade. As well as giving them something they actually want, you’ll benefit as their output soars.
6. Make Time for Nostalgia
Even a remote organization has a history. A work anniversary event is the perfect time to look back and reminisce. Delve into your camera archives for images from previous events or fish out some of the more impressive achievements from an employee’s service record.
7. Turn Words of Thanks into a Song
Worried that a long-winded speech is going to bore everyone? Make any work anniversary event more memorable by putting what you feel into lyrical form instead. A personalized song is a terrific way of letting an employee know just how much they mean to your organization.
8. Virtual Photo Booth
Anniversary events are incredibly special, bringing together new recruits, veteran team members, and former employees. Unfortunately, many people forget to think about photographs during virtual events. To encourage participants to take matters into their own hands, why not incorporate a virtual photo booth?
9. Create an Achievement Timeline
Make sure you’re putting the personal touch to work anniversary events. No matter how long an employee has been with you, they’ve probably made more than a few key contributions. Compile a list of their most significant achievements in the form of a timeline which can be shared during the celebration itself.
10. Yearly Bonus
If an employee has been with you for many years, it might be time to recognize their contributions with cash. A generous one-time bonus can make all the difference to an employee who’s quietly considering other options. By giving their bank balance an instant boost, you’re letting them know their efforts won’t go unrewarded.
11. Development Opportunities
Not in a position to offer hefty bonuses? Most employees will be just as happy with exciting development opportunities. If a team member has been itching to make the jump from their current role to another department, consider what resources you can provide to help them on their way.
12. What I Like About You
Don’t let a single speech speak for everyone. Set some time aside for everyone to come together and offer up their own opinion on what they love about the person being honored.
13. A Special Experience
All expenses paid vacations might be out of the question, but there are other ways to reward years of loyal service. What are their interests? Do they fill their private time with any passion projects? Look to these to single out a singular experience that they’ll remember forever.
14. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Turn an online scavenger hunt into a walk down memory lane by hiding digital breadcrumbs in shared files and folders. Hide embarrassing photos from past office parties, old emails with infamous typos, and other nostalgic tidbits.
15. Virtual Happy Hour
Sometimes, people just want to kick back and relax. Even if you can’t meet and rub shoulders in person, you can still host a spectacular soiree virtually. With a virtual team happy hour, everyone’s free to let their hair down and toast to the employee of the moment.
FAQ: Virtual Work Anniversaries
What are virtual work anniversaries?
Is your business entering its tenth year of operation? Is a long-serving employee a month away from a five-year service milestone? In both cases, a work anniversary event lets you celebrate the occasion, with virtual get-togethers the preferred choice for remote organizations.
How do you celebrate a virtual work anniversary?
You can bring together your entire team with video conferencing tools, keeping them entertained with interactive activities and games. If you want to make things more personal, you can even send out gift baskets ahead of the big day itself so everyone’s supplied with party essentials.
How do I host a virtual celebration?
First, you’ll need a reliable video conferencing platform. Once you’ve chosen one, you can start putting together a schedule for your event. For a work anniversary event, you’ll need a balance of nostalgic speeches, team-based games, and interactive elements to encourage everyone to embrace the party spirit.
Host Your Next Virtual Work Anniversary Celebration with Gloww
If you want to let your remote employees know that you care about their contributions, never let a major milestone pass you by. With the right platform and plenty of activities at your disposal, a virtual work anniversary event doesn’t have to feel impersonal.
With Gloww, you have all the features you need to host a memorable work anniversary event, whether you’re celebrating a loyal employee or your business itself is about to reach a big birthday. With a user-friendly interface, it’s easy to create custom events with little effort. Alternatively, you have a huge range of ready-made templates to choose from.
For more celebration ideas, check out how you can celebrate black history month, as well as women’s history month.
Is the clock ticking? You can get started with Gloww right now. Looking for more advanced video meeting and presentation features? It might be worth checking out our premium pricing tiers to see what’s in store. Still not sure whether Gloww’s got what you need? Get in touch today with any questions.
