Today, September 6th, marks my 20th wedding anniversary. My husband Randy and I celebrated the milestone last weekend by going to the restaurants where we dated. It was an epic way to celebrate!
But 10 years ago, we woke up on the morning of September 7th – a day late – both realizing at the same time that we had forgotten our anniversary… our 10-year wedding anniversary! Holy moly! Though it turned out to be a funny story that we can look back on and laugh about, we also realized how close we came to that funny story being a painful memory: How would we each have felt had I forgotten our anniversary but Randy didn’t… or vice versa?
For the past several weeks, I have asked employees of various companies how long they have been in their current position and when they started. Do you know that most of the people I surveyed can tell me the exact date that they started at their current position? However, when I ask their supervisors to tell me when their valued employees started at their job, most can’t give the correct answer.
Remembering someone else’s work anniversary might not seem like a big deal to you, but it might be a big deal to them. At the very least, it’s a missed opportunity to recognize a milestone and boost the morale of one of the people who make your organization what it is. What’s more, it as easy as setting a reminder in your calendar, and the recognition can be as simple as a card, a gift certificate for a coffee shop or a box of donuts. This is an easy and inexpensive way to let your employee know how much you value them, and a little recognition goes a long way.
And, if you forgot an anniversary like Randy and I did, make sure that the next one has an EPIC celebration attached to it.
Happy Anniversary, Randy!