In 2020, coronavirus has created an unprecedented situation of such magnitude as to impact on every aspect of our lives. Economic markets have suffered historic falls and our lives at work have changed beyond recognition, at least for the time-being. The majority of the workforce has faced losing colleagues and teams to furloughing and grappled with the challenges of remote working using new tools and technologies. At the toughest of times issues of trust, fairness, innovation, agility, inclusivity and collaboration – key facets of our organisational culture – have come to the fore more strongly than ever. This award will recognise organisations whose culture has been an absolute strength; enabling leaders to make and communicate difficult decisions with honesty and humility in the face of a rapidly-changing commercial landscape.

This award recognises organisations that have advanced employee health and wellbeing, increasing engagement and strengthening business culture as a result. The judges will look to understand how wellbeing initiatives have been developed and advanced, and the impact this has had. Evidence should be provided of the benefits it has brought to the organisation; for example, the impact on the attraction, retention and engagement of staff. Finally, entrants should clearly demonstrate the initiative’s journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Technology has the capacity to transform how things get done day-to-day in businesses large and small. This award is open to organisations who can demonstrate a people-first approach to using technology effectively, rather than a technology-first approach. The judges will be keen to grasp how organisations have enacted this focus on technology; what the cultural impact has been; and how this has enhanced the confidence of stakeholders. Entrants will show how their organisations have progressed technology at a cultural level, not an operational one, and what business benefits have arisen as a result. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This category is designed to recognise the power of teams in championing and influencing outstanding Business Culture. Their achievement will have been defining because of their passion and commitment to creating a unique workplace that has the confidence of its stakeholders. Judges will be looking for examples of innovative approaches to addressing organisational culture. This could include evidence of effective working across boundaries; a quantifiable contribution to organisational achievements; underpinning project work; operational excellence in execution; and measurement of the direct benefits of these aspects. Submissions will include insight into the team’s values and approach, with the reasons why they have been so influential. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

In this category, we’ll be looking for professionals who have created or advanced an exceptional Business Culture, and have demonstrated both passion and commitment to creating the type of workplace which has the confidence of staff and other stakeholders. Judges will be looking for evidence of business culture impact, and how this individual in particular contributed. They will need to understand the person’s approach and values, and the reasons why they have been so influential. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, and the individual’s role in this transformation, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award is open to organisations that have achieved a transformation or turnaround in their Business Culture and can demonstrate outstanding results. Entrants will show how their organisations have transformed culturally, the reasons for this transformation, and the positive impact this has had on the business. Judges will be looking for how these organisations have enacted the change, and how and why the transformed culture has advanced the confidence of stakeholders. This may include achievements in strategic (re)alignment, stakeholder management, organisational design, and development, change management, and process modification, and how these aspects relate to culture. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, submissions should fully outline the transformation journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Coaching, mentoring and developing individuals through ongoing, targeted and specific one-to-one conversations can have wide-reaching benefits for the organisation and for individuals. It can develop and retain your critical talent; provide a stabilising factor during change; facilitate knowledge-sharing and skill-transfer; as well as boosting people’s performance and motivation and supporting their career transition. Judges will be looking to understand how your coaching, mentoring and personal development/performance management initiative and conversations have supported the organisation’s performance and success and how far-reaching the impact has been in terms of developing a coaching culture or more effective performance management. You will need to outline all steps of the project, including planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps. You will also need to outline clearly who has been involved (and include a rationale as to why these people were selected in the case of coaches and coachees).

In this category, we’ll be looking for organisations who have put diversity and inclusion at the heart of their Business Culture with outstanding results. Submissions will show how diversity and inclusion have been progressed at a cultural level, rather than a procedural one. Judges will be looking to understand how this focus on diversity and inclusion has been enacted, and how it has resulted in a reinvigorated organisational culture that has the renewed confidence of employees and other stakeholders. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Effective learning has the capacity to inspire individuals to do their best work and can have a transformative effect on the organisation as a whole. Entrants in this category will be able to show how their organisations have progressed learning at a cultural level, not a procedural one, and the business benefits that have arisen as a direct result. Judges will be looking to understand how this focus on learning has been enacted, resulting in a reinvigorated organisational culture that has the renewed confidence of employees and other stakeholders. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Corporate Social Responsibility has the power to capture the hearts and minds of employees and other stakeholders, by giving even greater meaning and purpose to their efforts. This category is open to companies who have put CSR at the heart of their Business Culture and seen outstanding results. The judges are keen to grasp how organisations have enacted this focus on corporate social responsibility, and how this has had a direct and positive impact on culture. Entries will cover how organisations have progressed corporate social responsibility at a cultural, rather than a procedural, level, and the business benefits that have arisen from this. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award recognises organisations that have clearly positioned their brand and purpose; articulated their values or embedded these (depending on the stage they are at on their brand, purpose and values journey). They will be able to demonstrate how brand, purpose and values have at least started to make a positive impact on everyday behaviours. The judges will look to understand how the entrant’s (employer) brand and values have been developed and how they have advanced; for example, how they have been aligned with the consumer brand(s). Evidence should be provided of the benefits they have brought to the organisation; for example, the impact on employer visibility and reputation, as well as on the attraction, retention or engagement of staff. Finally, entrants should clearly demonstrate the journey to achieving this strong brand, purpose and values, including who has been involved and how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

A drive for innovation is central to how an organisation performs in the marketplace and how engaged employees and other stakeholders feel in making a difference to its success. This award will be given to an organisation that has put effective and inspirational innovation at its heart, with outstanding results. Entrants show how their organisations have progressed innovation at a cultural level, not a procedural one. Judges will be looking to understand how the focus on innovation has been enacted, and how this has inspired stakeholders. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Organisations are increasingly needing to innovate on their talent acquisition and development approaches in order to meet both current and future organisational needs. The most forward-thinking companies enact a holistic, inclusive and agile approach, which also takes into account that business culture is key to all segments of the workforce. Entrants to this category may focus on different aspects of their talent approach, for example, upskilling different employee segments in order to enhance existing talent capability and effectively deliver on organisational strategy; considering the needs of contingent or outsourced talent alongside permanent employees; flexible working approaches; or innovative talent acquisition and onboarding strategies. Judges will be looking to understand the engagement of these talent segments; whether culture resonates for them wherever they sit in the organisation; and to what extent the different workforce segments in question are aligned with organisational goals.

This award will be presented to an organisation that has deployed an innovative and effective strategy to maximise the talent opportunity offered by the next generation of their workforce. They will demonstrate that putting the recruitment and development of this segment of their workforce at the heart of Business Culture has yielded exceptional results. Entries may focus on internships and traineeships; graduate schemes; apprenticeship programs; internal development of future leaders; and external engagement with young people on sector-specific skills and interest. Judges will be looking to understand how these next generation engagement / attraction / selection / development processes develop business culture, and who, from across the organisation, is involved. They assess how next generation talent progresses and develops; and how these initiatives have positively impacted on the organisation. Entrants may provide testimonials, as well as key metrics outlining the success of the approach. As well as describing how the culture of the business has changed, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award is open to organisations with considerable reach outside the UK that have undertaken a multinational Business Culture initiative with outstanding results. Entrants will show how their organisation has acted across geographical boundaries at a cultural level, not a procedural one, and what business benefits have arisen as a result. The judges will be looking for achievements in the areas of leadership, communication, innovation, strategic alignment, stakeholder engagement, and learning, for example, but with focus on delivering success through a business culture that transcends borders. Submissions should clearly outline all project steps including planning, implementation, measurement, results and what the next stage will be. NB. Any submission for this Award must be substantively different if the organisation has also made a UK submission.

This category is for companies with 5,000 or more employees that have undertaken a substantial initiative which has had a demonstrable impact on their Business Culture. Judges will be seeking to understand all steps of the project including planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps. They will assess how these organisations have advanced their workplace culture, and what the business benefits of this have been. Entrants should include achievements in areas including strategic alignment, leadership development, stakeholder engagement, improving communication, and advancing innovation. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, submissions should fully outline the transformation journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award is open to companies with 251 – 5,000 employees that have undertaken a substantial initiative which has had a demonstrable impact on their Business Culture. Judges will be seeking to understand all steps of the project including planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps. They will assess how these organisations have advanced their workplace culture, and what the business benefits of this have been. Entrants should include achievements in areas including strategic alignment, leadership development, stakeholder engagement, improving communication, and advancing innovation. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, submissions should fully outline the transformation journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award is open to companies with 1 – 250 employees that have undertaken a substantial initiative which has had a demonstrable impact on their Business Culture. Judges will be seeking to understand all steps of the project including planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps. They will assess how these organisations have advanced their workplace culture, and what the business benefits of this have been. Entrants should include achievements in areas including strategic alignment, leadership development, stakeholder engagement, improving communication, and advancing innovation. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, submissions should fully outline the transformation journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

This award is open to Not-for-Profit or Public Sector organisations of any size that have undertaken a substantial initiative which has had a demonstrable impact on their Business Culture. Judges will be seeking to understand all steps of the project including planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps. They will assess how these organisations have advanced their workplace culture, and what the business benefits of this have been. Entrants should include achievements in areas including strategic alignment, leadership development, stakeholder engagement, improving communication, and advancing innovation. As well as describing how your organisational culture has changed, submissions should fully outline the transformation journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.
NB. This covers publicly-funded organisations including Government departments, NHS organisations, and local authorities.

This award is open to organisations that have achieved a merger or integration of teams, brands, or companies, creating a sense of unity in the culture of the newly-formed entity. Entrants will demonstrate how their organisations have embedded the merger or integration at a cultural level, not a procedural one; in particular, how they have been able to strike a balance between the pre-existing cultures in the creation of a new one. They will also show how they have engaged their stakeholders and delivered business results. Submissions may include achievements in strategic (re)alignment, stakeholder management, organisational design, and development, change management, and process modification, and how these aspects relate to culture. Judges will look to understand both how the organisational culture has changed, and the reasons for this, as well as the change journey itself, including how any challenges and barriers were overcome.

The partnership of consultancies and practitioners can yield transformative results. Furthermore, the initiatives that consultancies implement internally can have a far-reaching impact on their organisational engagement, productivity and performance, as well as yielding learning which can enrich their interactions with clients. This award recognises the contribution of consultancies to Business Culture change initiatives. Entrants will show how they have worked to deliver projects with a maximum cultural, rather than solely operational, impact, either hand-in-hand with their clients, or internally. Judges will be looking for testimonials, key metrics to explain how the consultancy has excelled in their work. They will consider evidence of solution appropriateness, innovation, business impact, and client satisfaction (where applicable). If the entry focusses on a client, or clients, the consultancy must have their permission to enter. As well as describing how organisational culture has changed, and the reasons for this transformation, entrants should clearly demonstrate the initiative’s journey, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

One’s working environment has the power to transform the way employees and other stakeholders operate, innovate and collaborate at work. This category is open both to companies who have taken workplace design to the next level; or who have progressed to working partly or fully remotely, perhaps reimagining or repurposing their physical workspace in order to progress new ways of working. The judges are keen to grasp how employees themselves have helped to shape their new working environment or way of working and how the resulting environment has had a direct and positive impact on culture. They will also be keen to understand the business benefits that have arisen as a result. As well as describing how the culture of the business has been impacted, submissions should also fully outline the transformation journey itself, including how any barriers or challenges were overcome.

Recognition will be given to the organisation that the Judges assess as having delivered the most exceptional Business Culture initiative overall. The Business Culture Gold Award is open to category winners only, and cannot be entered separately. It will be presented to the category winner who has shown the broadest deployment of their initiative; and most comprehensible approach in their methods, when examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. The Judges will be looking for the highest standards in stakeholder engagement, innovation, strategic alignment, leadership, communication, learning and more. Each category winner will be assessed according to all aspects of project planning, implementation, measurement, outcome, and next steps.