Our office is having a combined holiday/30 years of being in business celebration. Another woman who works here approached me with the suggestion that maybe we should do something for the owners but neither of us has a good idea. The best we could think of was a plaque for the reception area. She has been here 29 years and I’ve been here since the start. This anniversary is taking me down memory lane and that isn’t always a good place to go, but this job has worked out for me so I suppose it should be celebrated.
Have any of you celebrated something like this and if so, what have you done? I’m sure they aren’t expecting anything from us, but it would be a nice gesture.
When my husband’s one company had a milestone event…the company threw a small party to commemorate the event. The company thanked the employees!
At another company, the boss published the date. It was a Saturday and he said he would pay for dinner at ANY restaurant that day or evening. All you needed was a picture and a receipt. Then he also had a small reception at the office. Again…company thanking the employees.
I’m not sure the employees need to do anything. But if you do, I like the $30 donations idea.
Is this company planning anything to celebrate this 30 year milestone?
While $30 might not seem like a lot, to small non-profits anything is appreciated and makes a difference. $30 can buy pet food, books for a literacy program, board games for a senior center, etc.
I think heartfelt "thank you"s and speeches from long time employees could be touching. If you are in a smaller town or if the company has made a difference in the community, you could seek a proclamation from the mayor, county, state, etc. 30 years with the owners still present is worth celebrating.
I suspect some employees might not be keen on donating. Either they haven’t worked there very long, or wish they didn’t have to or don’t feel they are compensated enough. I’m unclear from your first post — are the owners already planning something, and you want to add to that? If not, I’d suggest one of you should approach the owners and ask if the company plans to commemorate it in some way. Then I like TQ’s suggestion of a proclamation or something like that.
Ok…I’ve had my morning coffee now…and saw this in the OP.
That being the case, I don’t think a monetary donation is needed at all. But notes to the owners would be nice. Don’t get a plaque. For all you know, the owners already have one ordered.
As a business owner, I’m really not comfortable with employees doing anything for me. We hit our 20 year anniversary this upcoming year. We’re going to add something like - celebrating 20 years - on our website and letterhead - not that we use all that much letterhead and on our statements.
What may be nice is giving them a bottle of nice champagne to celebrate the achievement.
Our county commissioners would be the ones to contact for something. If you’re in a small enough area the local newspaper could do a story.
Thank you all for your suggestions. We are a small office (25 people) and long ago they established a policy of not giving gifts to the owners - makes the holidays much easier! My thoughts are to let it go. Let them have the holiday/anniversary party and we each just say thank you to them when it is over. This woman got inside my head with her idea to do something - it would be nice, but I can’t think of anything appropriate.
^^ I think that is a good decision especially if that is the company policy. Words of thanks and support really can be priceless for those who would like to do that for the owners.
How about putting together a powerpoint slide show of company related stuff from the past 30 years - if you have photos that would be great - or old ads from the business, etc. Then you can show it at the party.
I’d check to see if your employer is already putting together a power point. That might already be happening. At both of the special events for my husband, the owners did just that…and highlighted all the things they wanted to highlight over the years.