Tenure Recognition vs Service Recognition
I get that there’s an industry that has used the term “service recognition” for a long time and that habits are hard to break… But words mean things and I think it’s time to give a long overdue retirement party for this out of date moniker. Service Recognition was birthed a looooong time ago during an era when womb-to-tomb employment with one organization was highly desirable. Business culture has changed – there’s nothing wrong with working for the same company for a long time – it’s just valued differently now.
The problem I have is that too many companies are still recognizing their employees for not dying and not getting fired… which is the primary message sent when the bulk of an employee’s corporate recognition experience is focused on “service recognition”.
Time is an important component to the human experience and we mark it in many ways and at countless occasions during our walk through life – it’s smart to acknowledge the time a person spends with an organization – but it is done best when employee tenure is simply one component of a multi-faceted recognition and reward system that regularly captures other recognition moments.
So, help me change some thinking and let’s use a different phrase – I’d suggest something unique to your organization (A car rental company uses the term, “Mile Markers”) or if you need something generic, how about “tenure recognition”? Perhaps with a change in language, we’ll start thinking differently about the application.
Comments are closed.
