The Employer of the Year Award
Competition to find and keep the best talent has intensified to meet the expectations of more global and tech-enabled clients. Employers of all sizes need the right blend of training, incentives and career pathways to attract, retain and develop a multi-generational workforce.
Employee expectations about where, how and why they work have changed, with wellbeing, personal & professional development, and flexibility as important as salary and other incentives. Being recognised as an employer of choice is vital to attract those with the most in-demand skills and retain the best people to offer customers the consistency of service they expect.
This award celebrates the organisations that go the extra mile through all stages of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to career progression.
Judges will look for evidence of how employers are investing in people and their development, how employees are engaged in company values and purpose, and the impact this has had on commercial performance.
Open to any business, this award will recognise organisations that can demonstrate excellence in the following key areas:
• Employee recruitment, retention & development
• Employee communication & feedback
• Leadership and management
• Innovation and operational excellence
• Diversity and inclusion
• Creative and collaborative customer service
• An embedded ethical culture
ª Support & impact in the local community
SCORING
In this category judges will compare the extent to which each candidate has demonstrated excellence in the following areas:
Employee & Customer Engagement 30%
- Provide evidence of processes or programmes to develop staff and brief case study examples to demonstrate their impact in terms of retention, development and career progression.
- Explain how the organisation’s employment strategy identifies and develops the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure your customer service strategy is effectively delivered. How has this led to an increase in your customer base, or engagement from existing customers, over the last 18 months? What impact has this had on your financial performance?
- Highlight any incentives or policies that differentiate you as an employer of choice in your industry or market sector.
Leadership & Innovation 25%
- Outline key examples of how effective leadership and management has enabled you to get the best out of your talent over the last 18 months.
- Explain who is responsible for the ongoing improvement, development and implementation of your human resources strategy, their profile within the organisation, and key impacts.
- How innovative is your people strategy or how has your investment in people enabled innovation within the organisation over the past 18 months? How has this improved engagement, productivity and commercial success?
Financial Performance & Growth 25%
- Provide a brief case study example of how your organisation’s human resources policy, processes or programmes have improved staff engagement to successfully deliver your commercial objectives or improve efficiency.
- What has been the financial return on investment in your people such as increased market share, improved financial performance or attracting / retaining clients?
- How has your human resources policy aligned with or supported your growth strategy? How is growth defined in this strategy (i.e. revenue/profit, staff, client-base, regional/international expansion, market share, etc)
- How do you benchmark against your peers in terms of profitability, sales growth or market share?
Purpose Beyond Profit 20%
- Include a talent-related example of how putting purpose before profit has contributed to your organisation’s success.
- What is your company doing to improve environmental, social or governance (ESG) impacts and how are these initiatives aligned with your talent strategy?
- How has your approach to diversity and inclusion improved talent retention and performance?
- How has your approach to ESG or DE&I differentiated your business as an employer of choice
