December 7, 2016
Earlier this fall, Terryberry honored employees that reached special milestone anniversaries with the company. The service awards event at Terryberry is an annual get together that we look forward to each year. All employees are invited, and we celebrate each other’s significant contributions with co-workers and loved ones. It’s a big part of our company culture.
Since our business is helping other organizations with employee recognition and service awards, people often ask us what we do at Terryberry. They want to know, do we practice what we preach? Here are some of the elements that we feel have added impact to our own service award program.
Sincere Appreciation
At a Terryberry service awards event, each award recipient is recognized individually. Terryberry CEO and COO call each recipient up by name to be honored. They talk specifically about what the individual brings to the company and about specific contributions he or she has made. Coming from the very top leadership of the company, it sends a message about how much they believe in the importance of recognizing the team members who have dedicated their efforts to the cause. There is applause and handshakes and lots of smiles, sometimes a few tears…like for instance, this year when Josephine received her award for 35 years of service and CEO Mike spoke about her unwavering dedication.
Every Milestone is Important
At our annual service awards event, we start by recognizing our new hires. It’s a chance to welcome them into the culture and let them know we’re glad they’re here. New recruits are invited to stand and be recognized. They receive a Welcome Aboard award presentation kit that includes a certificate and a Terryberry pin or charm.
Welcome new hires into the culture and let them know we’re glad they’re here.
The first year of an employee’s career is an important one for us at Terryberry, just like most companies. Nationally, a third of employees quit their job within the first year. At Terryberry, we’ve been able to significantly beat those odds. We believe one of the important ways we’ve done this is by recognizing our people’s contributions early in their careers.
Every year is celebrated
Every year is celebrated in a Terryberry career. We use our own internal 360 Recognition Program as a vehicle to accomplish this. Service anniversaries are posted on our online recognition wall, and co-workers share ecards and words of recognition. An anniversary video is also complied by the software that highlights recognition moments from the employee’s year. Tangible awards are also given at major milestones.
service awards event
Employees with long-term anniversaries are honored with special recognition. We’ve been fortunate at Terryberry to have many long-term employees with 20, 30, even 50 years of service! The tangible awards increase in value with each milestone, as well as the grandeur of the presentation. We want to highlight the many things that the recipient has contributed over the course of their careers dedicated to our shared mission.
Employees with long-term anniversaries are honored with special recognition.
Service Awards Reinforce Purpose
Terryberry’s core values are: Above and Beyond, Customer Service Excellence, Achieving Potential, and Innovation. As a team and as a company, our purpose is driven by these values. Service awards events are strategically aligned to reflect the core values. The words that are shared and the visual communications during the presentation reflect the core values and remind all of us why we are here. Even the table centerpieces take that mission into account. Each centerpiece is symbolic of a special project or achievement from the year.
