Three great things to aim for when designing a work anniversary program
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by Rick Joi Rick Joi is the founder of The Workiversary Group and author of the award‑winning book, Inspiring Work Anniversaries. |
Work anniversaries get a bad rap. This is because they’re typically done so poorly, not because they aren’t valuable when done well.
And they’re typically done poorly because there’s not a lot of intentionality about the desired outcome. Too often, work anniversaries are celebrated just because that’s better than doing nothing. It is extraordinarily rare for a work anniversary programs to be set up with the intention to achieve anything specific for either the employee or the organization.
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Work anniversary programs can powerfully enhance an organization’s workplace culture.
How? Work anniversaries are intertwined with a number of core needs and emotional triggers that have been wired into humans, and other primates, for tens of thousands of years.
Work anniversaries are a deceptively powerful and quietly dangerous combination of these three human motivations:
Psychological safety - Do they want to keep me, or might I be laid off? Is it safe to share a half-baked idea or will people judge me for it?
Belonging - Does the group value me? Will the team support me or backstab me?
Purpose - Am I making a difference? Is my work meaningful?
Each of these three drivers have been scientifically shown to have a big impact on group performance. Getting them wrong can do a lot of quiet damage to your organization’s culture. Getting them right can unlock a lot of value.
The key to creating a great work anniversary program is to understand these three drivers and to craft your work anniversary choices around enhancing them.
Then, when someone asks you why you celebrate work anniversaries, you can answer simply: to increase psychological safety, belonging, and purpose, all of which have been scientifically shown to improve team effectiveness.
If someone makes a suggestion on how to improve your work anniversary program, you can decide if it makes sense by considering what impact it would have on psychological safety, belonging, and/or purpose.
If you’re ready to learn more about how each of these three motivations play a role in work anniversaries, then check out any or all of these recent blog posts:
Good luck designing your work anniversary program intentionally with these three drivers in mind!