I joined the team at Willow Creek in early 2020, and later that year three employees passed their 40-year anniversary on staff. Forty freaking years! And guess what we did to celebrate? Nothing. We didn't even mention it in a staff meeting.

There were a number of reasons for this -- Covid definitely being a factor. But as I asked around, our church never had a history of honoring longevity. The average employee tenure in America is 4.3 years, and yet we had scores of staff members who had been with us through the highs and the lows for decades. As we went to work on improving our organizational health and staff culture, one of the most important things we did was to begin to intentionally say thanks to those who chose to stay on the team year-after-year.

Consider these facts...

• Employees who feel recognized are 48% more likely to stay with their current organization.

• Organizations with a strong recognition culture have 31% lower voluntary turnover rates.

• Employees who receive regular recognition are 2x more likely to be engaged at work.

Early this year O.C. Tanner released a report titled 5 Culture Trends for 2023. One of the trends spoke to the importance of "symbolic awards." Saying thanks is awesome, but if you can connect it to a symbolic award, it will be remembered and cherished for years. The report stated:

As employees feel a loss of connection with their workplace and are eager for belonging, organizations have an opportunity to amplify appreciation and build community with tools like symbolic awards.

Symbolic awards, when done well, help strengthen an employee’s connection with their team, leader, and the organization.

After more than a year of research and learning what other organizations do in this regard, we implemented a system where every person on staff gets recognized every year on their work anniversary. It starts simple with a note from leadership with a $10 coupon for the cafe every year. We have additional special things we do at 1-year and 3-years, but at 5-years it starts to get fun!

We now take a portion of our staff meeting each quarter at Willow for a "Mile Marker Celebration." This takes a little bit of money and time, a few systems (you don’t want to miss anyone), and a whole lot of intentionality. Each person is called to the stage while Life is a Highway plays loudly in the background and the place erupts in applause. We say nice things and hand each person their Willow-branded mile marker with the “mile” corresponding to the number of years you have been on staff.

Beginning at 10-years, you get three extra weeks of paid time off. And if you stay until your 20th, 30th, or 40th anniversary — this perk repeats every ten years.

I can’t begin to explain how significant this has been for our staff culture. When we implemented this in November 2022 there was an immediate palpable increase in the trust and health of our team. If you aren’t already recognizing your staff with a symbolic award, steal this idea and run with it!

H/T CCV in Phoenix for the Mile Marker idea

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