Years of Service Award Leads to $30,000 Fine
You may or may not know that the #1 reason employees are recognized is for their length of service with their organization. Individuals routinely receive recognition and some tangible reward (a certificate, a watch, bonus check) for being employed for 1 year, 5 years, etc. [By the way, I use the term “being employed” deliberately, as opposed to “working” for reasons to become evident.]
Recently, an employee was found to be receiving his annual salary even though he had not shown up to work for at least six years! Ironically, he may have gone undetected for longer 
except that his “work” pattern was discovered when the company attempted to contact him about his award for 20 years of service! (I’m glad I was not his supervisor!)
This is obviously an extreme example of what can happen when an organization continues to give awards for years of service with no actual oversight or management of the employee.
Yet, how many millions of workers are there, receiving little to no interaction (positive or negative) from those around them? We cannot expect individuals to be successful without encouragement. And appreciation shouldn’t come solely in the form of an awards ceremony. Appreciation should be given regularly, in the language that makes sense to them, and be authentic. Otherwise, everyone might just decide to stay home one day.
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Categories 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, Authenticity, Burnout
