Don’t Forget To Celebrate Your Company’s Anniversary [VIDEO]

Every year in the US, we don our American Flags (either on our houses, shirts or even desks at work), fire up the grill, gather with friends or family and watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. We do this because we feel pride living in a great country. It’s the day we can celebrate our freedom and honor those who have sacrificed so much so we can have that freedom.  It makes you stop and think hard about where you’ve been so you can truly appreciate it. Of course, other countries do it too, just on different days.

So, in honor of the Fourth of July, here are 4 reasons why you should take a similar approach and celebrate the anniversary of your company’s founding:

1. Telling your company’s story gets people invested. Our histories are what make us who we are and helps others relate to us. Your company has a story too. Share it. If you have any employees who don’t know about how your company came to be, then tell them. Have your founders be a big part of it. Use visuals—like photos from the good ole days, or have employees share memorable stories that happened along the way. Everyone loves storytime! And even better, the more employees hear these stories, the more they’ll internalize your company’s story and make it part of them!

2. Showing how far you’ve come motivates them to go even farther. It’s fun to see logos or products that have changed over the years. You can also show milestones, like remember when you were excited to have X new clients in a week? Or XX in revenue? Show the progression. This will motivate your people to keep moving forward and make them feel proud to be part of such a forward-moving company that reaches goals, then makes them the standard!

3. Thanking your people encourages great work. We couldn’t have done it without every one of the employees. Anniversaries are a great time to reflect on the great work they’re doing every single day. What better time to celebrate our people and what they’ve helped build than on an important anniversary day when we’re celebrating milestones? Everyone wants to make a difference, and they want you to recognize them for doing it. Use this opportunity to give them the recognition they deserve so they’ll continue doing it!

4. Inspiring them keeps them shooting for the stars. Now that you have everyone gathered around and you have their attention, inspire them. Inspire and motivate them to keep doing their best work. You all want to be celebrating even harder next year, right? Just imagine all the great things you can accomplish by then. One great way to inspire your people is to feature a video of epic proportions they can’t help but be inspired by. That’s what we did at our big five-year anniversary.

Now doesn’t that make you feel like celebrating your company’s founding?