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Employee loyalty rewards: Cash is king

A survey conducted by XpertHR has highlighted a shift in the way employers recognise long-serving staff, with firms increasingly offering monetary rewards rather than carriage clocks or lunch with the CEO.

Staff now typically remain with an employer for significantly less time than was previously the case. According to the latest OECD figures, UK employees spend an average of 8.6 years in a role, while ONS data shows under 35s were the most likely to change role between 2000 and 2018.

XpertHR’s research, however, shows firms are still keen to recognise and reward loyalty with two-thirds of organisations offering long-service awards. Five years was the most popular timeframe for recognising loyal employees with just over four in ten organisations acknowledging this milestone, while three out of ten employers said they wait for ten years’ service and one in eight requires 25 years.

The survey also found that gift vouchers, worth an average of £100 for five years’ service, are now the most popular method of reward. There was, however, a great deal of variation in the size of awards across organisations, with £5,000 after a decade of service the most generous payment given by any of the surveyed employers.