DESCRIPTION OF SPEECH: This speech provides a basic framework for a speech honoring years of
service for an employee.
WHOM SPEECH IS SUITABLE FOR: Company CEO, President, Sales Manager, Direct Boss, etc.
Marking the passing of years is usually a quiet affair. One year follows another with performance reviews and evaluations usually being the only things that distinguish the ending of one year's employment from the beginning of another. We all work together, and as the time passes we run the risk of taking one another for granted. Old' So-and-So has been here forever, and will always be here, we start thinking to ourselves. Pretty soon, our co-workers can become as unnoticed as furniture. I have seen this sort of thing go on at other companies, and it is not good. And so we are here today to make sure our company does not travel that same path. We are here to honor [name of employee] for his/her [XX] years of service to this company and to his/her co-workers.
When [employee name] first came here, this was a very different company. Back in [year employee joined company], we [provide examples of things back then that are recognizably different now. For example, has the company changed locations? Doubled its product line? Changed names?] Since then, of course, things have changed both here in this company and in the industry as a whole. Today we face challenges unimaginable years ago, and we see opportunities in places we never would have thought of looking. Through it all, [employee name] has been both a part of the changes and one of the engines of the changes. While others who came here saw change and feared it, [employee name] saw change and embraced it. Sometimes, he/she saw the need for change and pursued it. For example, [cite example of a change the employee helped bring about that benefited the company].