Are Your Years of Service or Recognition Awards Obsolete

A Historical Perspective

Service award programs had their advent during the depression years. They were designed by companies as alternative ways to sell their products during this difficult time. They initially included groupings of watches and jewelry because those items carried the highest profit margins and because those companies had a very difficult time selling them during those harsh economic times, (kind of like today)!

In the beginning years, they were used as rewards in universities for students to mark their graduation and in industry to celebrate the number of years on the job. They stayed virtually unchanged until the 60's, when competition and employee surveys started to demand more choice in awards.

Today, it is not unusual to hear "I worked for this company for over thirty years and all I got for it was this watch, and I don't need another watch!"

The leading service award vendors have tended to hold their award offerings constant over the years using mainly jewelry, clocks/watches and silver/crystal/porcelain giftware as the staple items. The question often debated is "are these the only items that should be used?"

The "chicken and the egg" question is often asked. How were these original items chosen, out of necessity to sell them during poor economic times, because of their consistently high profit margins, or because it was what employees actually wanted?

Bob Nelson, author of "1001 Ways to Reward Your Employees" in an article on service award programs several years ago stated:

"The vast majority of recognition programs are obsolete according to a ten year study, from the Independent National Study of Recognition Policies and Practices, by Perspectives Resources Inc. In fact, many of them demotivate rather than motivate employees because they are based on concepts designed in the '60's and '70's and no longer meet either corporate objectives or employee needs.”

Over the years I have had many clients asking for ways to include other award options into their recognition and service award programs. I have conducted detailed research on the pricing of awards in traditional merchandise recognition and service award companies and have found that pricing can easily be 50% higher than retail, and often 150% to 200% more!

You would think that when the economy is in such turmoil, corporations would owe it to their employees to provide them with the best possible selection of recognition and service awards at the best possible value?

Can you believe that Generation X'rs have already started to turn 40??? Do you think that the traditional service and recognition awards that may have worked for their parents or grandparents will work for them??

We have conducted extensive research on pricing of recognition and years of service awards and would be happy to share it with those who have an interest. You can reply to this blog or my email address can be found in my profile.

Thanks for reading.

Be well, be happy and hug someone!