The Employer of the Year Award
CRITERIA
As the talent landscape continues to evolve, employers of all sizes need the right blend of skills, experience and capability from a multi-generational workforce to be productive, innovative and effective. Being recognised as a an employer of choice is vital to attract those with the most sought-after skills and retain the best people.
Employee and candidate expectations about where, how and why they work have changed, with wellbeing, personal & professional development, and flexibility as important as salary and other financial incentives.
This award celebrates organisations that go the extra mile through all stages of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to inclusion and career progression.
Judges will look for evidence of how employees are engaged in company values and purpose, how human and supporting resources have been optimised, and how this has made you an employer of choice in your industry.
They will also look at investment in people and their development, initiatives to create a more collaborative culture, and the impact this has had on commercial performance.
Open to any business, this award will recognise the enterprise 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
- Support & impact in the local community
SCORING AND WEIGHTING
In this category judges will compare the extent to which each candidate has demonstrated excellence in the following areas:
- Employee & Customer Engagement
- Leadership & Innovation
- Organisational Ethics & Policies
- Financial Performance & Growth
PROPORTION OF OVERALL SCORING
30% Employee, 20% Leadership, 30% Organisational, 20% Financial
ENTRY STATEMENT
In a summary of no more than 350 words, please describe what your business does, the market in which it operates and what differentiates you from your competitors. Please include your key business achievements that are significant for your market sector or industry. (Please note that should you become a finalist the answer to this question will be used in external PR & Communications to explain who you are)
In no more than 1200 words, explain why you should win this award using the bullet points below as a guide:
- Employee & Customer Engagement 30%
- Provide evidence of processes or programmes to develop staff (i.e. internal / external training, coaching / mentoring, etc). Use 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 20%
- 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?
- Organisational Ethics & Policies 30%
- What is your company doing to improve environmental, social or governance (ESG) impacts and how are these initiatives aligned with your commercial objectives and operations?
- What impact has your approach to diversity, equity and inclusion had in your organisation?
- How does your approach to ESG or DE&I differentiate you as an employer of choice?
- Financial Performance & Growth 20%
- 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?
