How to Pick a Retirement Award for a Seasoned Employee

How to Pick a Retirement Award for a Seasoned Employee

Retirement marks an important milestone in an employees life and these days its coming later in life. In the UK the number of people who are retiring after the age of 70 has doubled.

This means that many people are working longer and increasing their years of service. If you have an employee who is about to retire sending them off in style is more important than ever.

If you want to make a splash the right award is a must. Here are some ideas for choosing and presenting a retirement award.

 

1. Questions You Should Ask When Choosing An Award

One of the most important features of your award is the wording on the award. This is easily decided if you ask yourself five questions and write down their answers.

  • Who will get the award?
  • What name will be given to the award?
  • What is the name of the organization or company that will be giving the award?
  • When will the award be presented?
  • Why is the award being presented?

Once you have answered all of these questions you will easily be able to come up with the wording to write on the award.

 

2.  Plaques and More

Giving someone a plaque is one of the most popular retirement awards. One of the best things about giving this award is that there is a wide variety to choose from.

Your plaque's material may vary based on your budget and what you think the retiree would like. In terms of materials you can choose from:

  • glass
  • metal
  • wood
  • plastic

There are also different colours to choose from. There is your standard blue or black but if it is a case where the employee has served for 25 years you should consider giving them a silver award. If it is over 50 years of service you might want to consider giving a gold plaque.

However, while a plaque is a good choice you may want to do something different. If this is the case then you should consider giving an award clock or cup. You can even give an achievement statue instead of a plaque or in addition to a plaque.

 

3. Presenting a Retirement Award

How you present your award is just as important as the one you choose. Ideally, it should be presented at a party or at an award ceremony.

A speech that speaks to the career highlights of the retiree and wishes them a happy retirement should be given before the award is handed out.

The award can then be handed out by the CEO or a manager and then the retiree can give a speech. You should make sure you are videotaping the event, so you need to have an official videographer and photographer present. These are memories that need documentation.

 

Final Thoughts

A retirement award is an important symbol of recognition for a retiree.

This type of award is not just important for the retiree, it is important because it helps other employees to see that service is valued in your organization. This increases loyalty and by extension productivity.

If you would like to learn more about giving awards then please visit our blog.