Taken all our advice and now think your business is the bee’s knees when it comes to employee engagement? Then prove it by entering one of the prestigious industry awards over the coming months!
There are plenty of great employee engagement award ceremonies taking place in the near future, and this guide will tell you which ones are worth your time along with what you should do to give your chances a boost.
Before delving into those topics, though…
What’s the point in entering?
Good question. After all, there’s little point in spending time and money on an activity that offers very little to the business. In truth, though, employee engagement awards are far more than a vanity project. Winning this type of honour can aid the business in three main ways:
- It’ll help attract top talent as people will want to work in a place where employees are clearly valued.
- It’ll create a better first impression during interactions with B2B and B2C clients.
- It confirms that your company handles this aspect in the right way, giving you peace of mind.
The award won’t suddenly catapult your business to the next level, but it certainly gives you a push in the right direction while opening the door to a host of new opportunities. To borrow a phrase from the lottery, though, you’ve gotta be in it to win it. Here are three awards that should be at the top of your agenda.
The EE Engagement Awards
The EE Engagement Awards (and Conference) attracts attention from some of the biggest companies on the planet including the likes of Visa, Ford, McDonald’s, Virgin, Cisco, Adobe, and Coca-Cola. Naturally, then, gaining recognition amongst these industry giants is something that’s certainly worth shouting about.
Gaining success in these awards shows that your company invests in its people, is a leader in the sector, and it’ll provide great PR opportunities. In fact, simply attending the event provides a wonderful opportunity for networking and learning.
Celebrating champions in employee engagement across the globe, the awards’ UK and Europe event for 2019 opened its entry process on July 4th and will be open until October 9th. Entries can be made here and finalists will be notified in November ahead of the awards ceremony which will take place next January. The awards are judged by a team of experienced experts led by Douglas Lamont, CEO at Innocent Drinks.
All entries should be 1500-2000 words long, relate to works completed between 2015 and 2019, and focus on projects completed in the UK and/or Europe.
But which category should you enter? Of the list below, be sure to pick the one closest to your employee engagement objectives and for which you have evidence of significant improvement. The judges are looking for engaging jargon-free stories supported by testimonials, images, and other materials that show tangible results.
- Company of the Year Award.
- Culture and Purpose Award.
- The Experience Award.
- Best Use of Technology Award.
- Wellbeing Award
- Employer Brand Award.
- Diversity & Inclusion Award.
- Innovation In Engagement Award.
- Internal Communications Award.
- Employee Benefits Award.
- Social Responsibility Award.
- Consultancy of the Year Award.
- Vendor of the Year Award.
The BQF Excellence in Employee Engagement Award 2020
The British Quality Foundation Awards offers several awards in a range of categories, all of which are highly sought-after gongs that showcase a company’s commitment to business excellence. The various awards on offer cover everything from excellence in customer experience to business improvement and transformation. The key award for us, however, is for Excellence in Employee Engagement.
The 2019 event has already been, but entries for next year’s event are likely to open in November with judging occurring in February 2020 and shortlists being announced in March ahead of a ceremony night in May.
Applicants will be encouraged to show how they “harness the talents and creativity of their people” to create a more productive workplace while underlining this with projects and initiatives that gained quantifiable results.
As with the EE Engagement Awards, early preparations and planning ahead will ensure you have a compelling case and plenty of evidence that your company is worthy of the top prize.
The Reward Gateway Engagement Excellence Awards 2019
The Reward Gateway Engagement Excellence Awards are another great solution for businesses that want to prove their commitment to employee engagement.
Reward Gateway has dedicated its business to one of the service areas StaffCircle focuses on – employee engagement – so it’s fitting that it has set up Awards on the subject.
The 2019 application process has closed, with the ceremony taking place in November, but it will be back next year. Now is the time to start thinking about how your company’s recent projects can be used for the 2020 application process.
Awards are separated into categories, with entrants being able to apply for three awards across all categories (either all in one section or across them all) as well as the main Grand Prix award. The available categories are as follows:
Section A
Most effective employee engagement communications strategy
Best use of employee engagement platform to drive business strategy
Most creative employee engagement platform branding
Best approach to engagement surveys
Section B
Best benefits strategy
Best benefits launch/relaunch
Best wellbeing strategy
Most innovative benefits programme
Section C
Best recognition strategy
Best recognition launch / relaunch
Most innovative recognition programme(s)
Section D
Engagement leader of the year
Engagement team of the year
Rising star of the year
While each award has its own criteria, judges look for details on the clear objectives and challenges faced as well as analysis of the approach that was taken and the results gained from the project. Entrants that do this in a compelling fashion have a great chance of receiving good scores and reaching the final stages of the awards.
So, is your employee engagement approach award-winning?
Employee engagement is naturally one of the most important features in any modern business strategy, and gaining recognition for excellence in this field can only have a positive impact. Whether you’re planning to enter an award right away or start preparing your case for the 2020 awards, there’s no question that it has the potential to unlock some genuinely incredible outcomes.
If you’re in it to win it and you’re after a little help, why not give StaffCircle a try today?
