Comment retenir et engager vos employés de longue date et de valeur

In every organization, there are those who’ve stayed through the highs and lows—individuals who’ve built deep institutional knowledge, mentored peers, and helped shape the company culture. These are your tenured employees, and their presence is a sign of trust, loyalty, and stability. But while they may be long-standing, keeping tenured employees engaged remains a unique challenge.

Surprisingly, studies show that long-tenured employees are often at a greater risk of disengagement than their newer counterparts. Over time, their contributions may become expected, their voices less heard, and their motivation harder to sustain. That’s why organizations must take proactive steps to celebrate, develop, and retain them—not just through compensation, but through meaningful recognition, growth opportunities, and a renewed sense of purpose.

In this blog, we’ll explore why tenured employees are vital to your business success and share actionable strategies for ensuring they remain enthusiastic, valued, and committed for years to come.

Who are long tenured employees?

Un employé permanent est un employé qui travaille pour une entreprise ou une organisation depuis un certain temps. Parmi ceux-ci, les employés de longue durée sont ceux qui travaillent pour une entreprise depuis plus de cinq ans, tandis que les employés de courte durée travaillent pour l'organisation depuis moins de cinq ans.

The need to retaining your long tenured employees

La fidélisation des employés est importante pour les organisations car le remplacement des talents, en particulier des plus productifs, coûte de l'argent et du temps. Le besoin du capital intellectuel et de la sagesse des employés de longue date devient évident lors des périodes de changement au sein de l'entreprise, comme les acquisitions et les fusions.

Les employés de longue date qui connaissent tous les détails de l'organisation font office de tampon contre le choc du changement, ce qui le rend plus homogène. Ils peuvent maintenir le flux de travail et la cohérence totale de la production de l'organisation, ce que les nouveaux employés auront du mal à faire. En tant qu'atouts essentiels pour toute organisation, les employés de longue date offrent les avantages suivants :

• Ils fournissent une solide base de connaissances sur la culture, les produits et les services de l'organisation.
• Ils constituent un système de soutien indispensable pour les nouveaux employés.
• Leur présence est un signe de stabilité dans l'organisation, ce qui renforce la proposition de valeur pour les employés.
• Il est plus rentable de conserver des employés de valeur que d'en recruter de nouveaux.

What does it mean to engage tenured employees?

L'engagement des employés est l'enthousiasme et l'engagement des employés envers leur travail et leur lieu de travail. Par conséquent, par définition, un employé permanent et très apprécié devrait également être très engagé pour arriver à ce stade. Cependant, la réalité est assez contre-intuitive.

D'après une enquête de Gallup, les employés ayant la plus longue ancienneté sont généralement les moins engagés. L'étude a également révélé que plus l'ancienneté est longue, plus les employés sont susceptibles d'être activement désengagés. Du côté positif, les données de Gallup suggèrent également que les employés les plus performants ont trois choses en commun :

• Leur mandat a duré plus d'une décennie.
• Ils étaient très engagés dans leur rôle.
• Leurs rôles et leurs talents naturels étaient en harmonie.

Role of appreciation in tenured employee engagement and retention

Over time, even the most loyal and high-performing employees can start to feel overlooked. Their consistent output, reliability, and depth of experience may begin to fade into the background, especially as newer team members demand more visible onboarding attention. That’s why appreciation is not just a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic necessity for retaining tenured talent.

Appreciation goes beyond annual performance reviews and compensation hikes. For long-tenured employees, it’s about being recognized for the legacy they’ve built, the mentorship they’ve offered, and the resilience they've shown through the organization's ups and downs.

This is where Empuls becomes a game-changer.

Empuls offers a dedicated rewards & recognition platform that ensures your long-standing employees feel seen, celebrated, and valued—consistently.

7 Effective tips for keeping tenured employees engaged and retained

Si les nouveaux employés sont satisfaits des récompenses et de la reconnaissance qu'ils reçoivent, la question se pose de savoir comment reconnaître les employés pour leurs années de service. La reconnaissance et les récompenses ne fonctionnent pas selon un modèle unique. Les employés de longue date ont besoin de reconnaissance pour leurs longues années de service afin de distinguer leurs contributions. Voici quelques suggestions :

1. Offrir un salaire très compétitif

Offering above-average pay with great benefits is one of the most obvious ways to retain a long-standing valued employee. The pay and benefits alone can help lock your best employees in and incentivize them to stick around.

Additional benefits such as retention bonuses are extra incentives to keep them happy and performing well. Benefits such as health insurance, vision, and dental coverage, paid time off, and even a retirement plan can be essential.

2. Partager la réussite financière

While competitive pay is a strong motivator by itself, sharing financial success with your top performers could be all the motivation they need to stay put and do their best.

Since their contribution matters significantly to the organization’s success, it is only a fair deal to allow them to reap some of the financial rewards. You can offer them stock options along with annual raises with similar rewards.

3. Offrez de la flexibilité et des avantages irrésistibles

Hybrid work and flexibility are no longer just nice-to-haves—they're a baseline expectation for most employees, especially those who have invested years into your organization. Long-tenured employees often value autonomy, work-life balance, and the ability to tailor their work environment to suit their evolving needs.

To keep top performers engaged, it’s crucial to pair flexibility with meaningful perks that demonstrate appreciation beyond just salary. Think beyond the basics: offer wellness programs, learning allowances, lifestyle benefits, and personalized rewards that align with what your employees actually value.

This is where Empuls plays a vital role.

With its perks & benefits module, Empuls enables organizations to provide long-standing employees with access to:

• 6,000+ brand discounts across categories like travel, wellness, fitness, and lifestyle
• Early access to earned wages, helping employees navigate financial stress with ease
• Tax-saving benefits tied to meals, fuel, books, and more through Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs)
• Flexible fringe benefits for remote work support, upskilling, family care, and wellness initiatives

Empuls makes it easy for HR teams to customize these offerings based on tenure, location, or team, ensuring that long-tenured employees feel seen, supported, and valued. Even during lean times, offering such high-impact, low-cost perks can go a long way in boosting morale and loyalty.

In short, combining flexibility with perks through a platform like Empuls not only strengthens your employer brand but also creates a workplace experience that tenured employees are proud to be part of.

4. Investir dans le développement et la croissance des compétences

Staying with the same organization for years can also mean some degree of stagnation for the long haulers. Employees often jump when they feel their skills start growing blunt.

To overcome this issue, you can promote your valued employees for higher compensation and responsibility. Investing in your employees' education and career development is the other way to ensure they stay sharp and stick around for the continued benefits. Since the need for new skills, especially in the IT industry, is a must, investment in their up-skilling benefits both.

5. Faire correspondre les rôles aux talents naturels

Comme le montre l'étude Gallup ci-dessus, les employés les plus performants sont toujours bien adaptés à leur rôle. Leurs talents naturels leur permettent de relever des défis significatifs et d'apporter de la valeur de manière constante. Au fil du temps, ils évoluent pour relever des défis plus importants et assumer des responsabilités qui les maintiennent fortement engagés.

6. Récompenser et reconnaître fréquemment

Rewards and recognition are tangible expressions of employee appreciation—and for long-tenured employees, they carry even more significance. Over time, it’s easy for seasoned team members to blend into the background, with their consistent contributions being taken for granted. That’s why it’s important to celebrate not just their tenure milestones but also their ongoing impact.

While recognition can take many forms—team celebrations, monetary bonuses, wellness gifts, or shout-outs—what truly matters is consistency, personalization, and visibility. This is where a platform like Empuls becomes invaluable.

Empuls offers a comprehensive Rewards & Recognition (R&R) suite that helps companies move beyond the occasional “thank you.” With automated long-service awards, peer-to-peer recognition, and AI-powered nudges that prompt managers to recognize achievements in real time, Empuls helps create a culture where appreciation becomes part of the daily workflow.

Additionally, Empuls lets you:

• Customize awards for tenure milestones (5, 10, 15+ years)
• Offer employees a global rewards catalog featuring gift cards, experiences, merchandise, wellness kits, and more
• Set up recognition campaigns tied to core values, projects, or performance goals
• Display recognition on a public wall of fame, increasing visibility and team morale

For long-tenured employees especially, personalized recognition validates their journey, honors their loyalty, and strengthens their emotional connection to the company. When recognition is done right—and done often—it becomes one of the most powerful tools for retention and engagement.

7. Apprécier leur expertise à travers des programmes de mentorat

L'une des meilleures façons de montrer à vos employés permanents que leurs compétences sont appréciées est de les inscrire à des programmes de mentorat. Ces programmes permettent de jumeler des employés expérimentés avec des juniors afin de transférer des connaissances pendant que les juniors apprennent encore les ficelles du métier. Les programmes de mentorat stimulent l'engagement des employés en validant leurs compétences et en améliorant leur satisfaction au travail.

Below is a full communication plan that leverages Empuls features—like surveys, social recognition, rewards, and intranet—to drive awareness and engagement across your organization.

🎯 Reignite engagement among long-tenured employees

Use Empuls to celebrate, listen to, and reward employees who have been with the organization 5+ years—improving retention, morale, and loyalty.

🗓️ Campaign Duration: 4 weeks (ideal for an internal theme like "Celebrating Loyalty Month" or "Legacy Leaders Appreciation Drive")

📢 It's time your run long service award campaigns using Empuls.

1. Kickoff Announcement (Week 1)

Where: Social intranet feed + email
Content:

• Celebrate all long-tenured employees (5+ years)
• Share why they matter: stability, knowledge, mentorship
• Set the tone: “We see you, we appreciate you, and we’re investing in your continued journey”

2. Automated Milestone Celebrations (Week 2)

Where: Social feed + recognition dashboard
Action:

• Use Empuls to trigger automated service awards (5, 10, 15, 20+ years)
• Include peer shout-outs and manager notes
• Include links to redeem rewards (gift cards, experiences, etc.)

3. Pulse Survey: "How Are We Supporting You?" (Week 2)

Where: Surveys module
Action:

• Run a short, focused pulse survey for tenured employees:
  • Do you feel recognized?
  • Do you have growth opportunities?
  • What support would help you thrive?

4. Perks & Benefits Activation (Week 3)

Where: Internal comms + Empuls Perks Store
Action:

• Showcase perks long-tenured employees can access:
  • Tax-saving benefits
  • Wellness & remote work allowances
  • Discounts from 6,000+ brands
• Spotlight testimonials from current employees using perks

🛠 Empuls Feature: Perks & Benefits module + Perks email template

5. Mentor Moments Recognition Wall (Week 4)

Where: Social feed
Action:

• Invite junior employees to post appreciation messages for long-tenured mentors
• Use custom core value badges for "Mentorship", "Consistency", "Legacy Builder"

Réflexions finales

Les employés de longue date sont parmi les personnes les plus influentes d'une organisation, car ils apportent à leur rôle une richesse de connaissances, de compétences, d'expérience et de sagesse. Il est possible, même pour le plus chevronné des employés de longue date, de perdre sa motivation et son engagement avec le temps. Il est donc important d'apprécier les employés de valeur par des récompenses et une reconnaissance régulières et de stimuler leur engagement.