Award categories
Leadership
1. Best Executive Coaching Programme
This category recognises HR teams that have designed executive coaching programmes tailored to help senior executives become adaptive, innovative and more agile business leaders. Focused on rewarding HR teams that have either organised in-house transformational coaching or collaborated with external vendors, the programmes that shift behaviours and mindsets while fuelling business growth will win.
2. Best First-Time Manager Programme
Organisations that provide robust support to help individual contributors transition to become first-time managers and instil confidence when diving into their new role will be shortlisted as finalists. Judges will crown teams whose programmes set new managers up for success in their new role, by equipping them with the tools, knowledge and behaviours that they need to build and motivate their team
3. Best Management Training Programme
Focused on grooming high potential talent across various career stages from early, mid to top-level for leadership positions, judges are on the lookout for effective and all-rounded management training programmes. Entries that showcase how relevant and consistent management training has enabled the talent to execute business strategies, and contribute to long-term success will be frontrunners in the judges’ eyes.
4. Best Graduate Training Programme
This award recognises the efforts of organisations in developing high caliber graduates that are either recent school leavers or those with one-two years of work experience. The judges will determine the success of the organisation by its ability to display success in grooming young talent to become future leaders through an accelerated learning environment, formal training, purposeful business opportunities and professional development.
5. Best Women Leadership Programme
This category celebrates organisations that advocate for a collaborative, positive and open approach to women empowerment and leadership. Entries that highlight how the organisation supports and nurtures a growing pool of talented female professionals, while pushing to become an equal opportunity employer in all aspects of rewards, performance and development will take home this award.
6. Best Holistic Leadership Development Strategy
HR and leadership functions are under extreme pressure to proactively prepare organisations for the long road to recovery. With that, this category looks at leadership development strategy as a whole, the effectiveness of the various programmes, and the business benefits accrued as a result of developing high-quality leaders. As such, leadership programmes that focus on communication skills, soft skills training and more will rise above the rest as winners.
7. Best Cross Functional Leadership Development
This award will spotlight HR teams that successfully support leaders or aspiring leaders in charge of team members from different departments and/or disciplines within the organisation. Entrants should demonstrate how they helped break down silos across teams and business units to allow for more collaborative leadership transformation. The entrants would have proactively put in place programmes that enable employees to move between functions and business units with the objective of development and best practice sharing.
8. Best Remote Management Strategy
This category acknowledges organisations that have successfully managed their remote workforce, including gig workers, through their work-from-home and flexible working arrangements pre, post and during the pandemic. Entries that emphasise how organisational leaders have successfully leveraged on digital technologies to keep a pulse on employees without causing disruptions to workflow processes and business productivity will win.
9. Best Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Equal opportunity employment goes beyond numbers and quotas, to unlock inclusive policies that do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training or promoting whatsoever. The winning entry should demonstrate that the organisation has taken active steps in recognising and celebrating all forms of diversity, not limited to race, gender, age, sexuality, culture and physical capabilities; and has put in place policies for inclusion across the workforce.
10. Best Succession Planning Strategy
Managing succession has come more into focus than ever before. Judges are on the lookout for the future-focused practice of identifying the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform certain functions and then developing and executing a plan to prepare multiple individuals to potentially perform those functions.
11. Best Crisis Management and Leadership
In the face of dramatic contextual jolts, HR deliverables of talent, leadership, and organisation become even more pivotal. Winning entries are those that clearly indicate how HR helps leaders make bold business decisions, instil confidence with all stakeholders through clear crisis communication, and have a robust business continuity plan in place to ensure the business stays afloat.
12. Best HR Communication Strategy
Leading organisations are able to deliver a gold-quality employee experience by capitalising on the wide array of internal and external communication channels. HR teams that have transformed the business through their effective and transparent communication strategy should enter. Winners of this category are those that have leveraged on social media and other innovative practices to reliably communicate key messaging to various stakeholders, to keep them highly engaged on the progress of business decisions.
13. Most Inspiring Leader – Individual winner category
Recent times have seen some of the most challenging socio-economic times and brought with them a real test of leadership. This category is a remarkable opportunity to recognise a leader who has demonstrated leadership at any level, from the frontline to C-suite, and has stepped up to help individuals and teams navigate personal and business challenges. Inspirational leaders who showcase how they leverage on their ambition and vision to spark confidence in others, motivate, engage and drive high performance will win.
Learning
14. Best Remote Learning Initiative *NEW
This award recognises the best solutions to continued learning and development amidst the shift to a remote working environment. Entries that showcase effective use of technology, communication, combined with tangible results, will win this category.
15. Best Career Development Programme
This award recognises the career development opportunities that the organisation provides for its employees such as coaching, mentoring, upskilling, lateral moves, reverse mentoring and more. Entries that showcase strong business alignment, lifelong commitment to employees’ professional development, and overall mastery in planning for future skillsets will win.
16. Best Soft Skills Training Programme
This category honours organisations that supported their employees with training in skills that help them most successfully interact with others. This can include, but is not limited to, adaptability, communication, customer service, decision making and problem-solving, listening, negotiation, networking, organisational skills, public speaking, teamwork and time-management. Judges will be looking at how these programmes were successfully implemented to yield positive results.
17. Best Organisational Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy
A high-performing, agile organisation is often identified by its future-ready organisational design, underpinned by a strategic approach to upskilling and reskilling. HR teams that focus on helping employees to thrive in the current business climate as well as provide a platform to hone skillsets for future employability through a company-wide skills programme will win.
18. Best In-House Learning Academy
An in-house learning academy is on the wish list of a majority of L&D professionals who are able to devote the time, investment and resources to pooling together expertise internally. However, an academy today is no longer just a physical learning space, but rather a library of content that organisations provide their employees. Winners in this category must demonstrate their expertise in building a sound infrastructure that enables functional, technical and business learning.
19. Best Global Talent Exchange Programme
Increasingly, organisations are on the lookout for the right talent to compete effectively in the global market. This award recognises companies that offer exciting international and/or regional exposure through a talent exchange or mobility programme. The programme must be geared at developing in-demand skills, fuelling employees’ growth, sharing best practices, strengthening organisational culture, and building a pipeline of global-ready talent through internships and overseas work opportunities.
20. Best Learning and Development Programme
Leading the future of work transformation, L&D programmes form a key element of robust talent development and business progression. Workplace learning empowers employees to hone new skills and grow professionally, while on the business front, it helps to engage the workforce and increase productivity. HR teams that integrate blended learning and unlock talent capabilities through learning tech and tools to improve bottom line business productivity will emerge victorious.
21. Best In-House Certification Programmes
This award celebrates organisations that value professional and lifelong continuing education as an essential foundation of capability development through benchmarked standards of excellence. Judges are on the lookout for in-house certification programmes which are tailored to suit the needs of employees and the business, and are built with a view to progressively enhance the competencies of the workforce.
22. Best Capability Development Programme for the HR team
HR professionals themselves must embody the value of upskilling to remain strategic and trusted business partners. Entries that highlight focus on the HR team’s own development, by providing a plethora of innovative developmental opportunities and build in-house cross-functional expertise in HR will ensure a win in this category.
Engagement
23. Best Response to Covid-19 *NEW
This award will go to the teams the demonstrated excellence in helping their employees cope with the impact of Covid-19, from managing manpower disruptions and the changing nature of workplaces, to successfully engaging staff and looking out for their mental well-being.
24. Best Onboarding Experience
Companies that overcome specific cultural and logistical challenges to creating an engaging new-employee experience in a region as diverse as Asia will thrive in this category. Judges will reward organisations that have excelled in welcoming new employees all the way from day one to their ramp-up towards productivity, through the necessary knowledge, skills and disposition to become valuable team members.
25. Best Employer Branding
This category celebrates companies that have successfully created a strong brand story that resonates with employees and positions the organisation at the top of candidates’ employer wish lists. HR teams that leverage on innovative storytelling techniques, inspirational employer branding champions, and a partnership with internal stakeholders, among many others to engage potential and current employees will emerge as the top.
26. Most Innovative and Sustainable Office Design
An attractive, well-conceptualised office with a focus on sustainability is becoming more vital to an organisation’s employee value proposition. Forward-looking organisations understand the impact of a conducive and vibrant workspace on talent attraction and employee productivity. The best talent wants to work in an inspiring yet eco-friendly environment. This award recognises sustainable and ergonomic workspaces that provide spaces for employees to perform, collaborate, and thrive.
27. Best Employee Wellness Strategy
High performing companies that measure employee health as a key part of their overall risk management strategy generate a healthier workforce, organisational culture and financial bottom line. Since wellness and employee engagement go hand-in-hand, judges are on the lookout for an integrated plan of action that boosts the holistic wellness of the workforce, through mental, emotional, financial and physical lenses.
28. Best In-House Career Website
A solid vision, a cohesive plan, excellent technical partners, and company-wide buy-in comprise a good blueprint for an in-house career website. This category recognises organisations with user-friendly career websites, which encourage internal mobility through a sound yet discrete portal, in addition to attracting external candidates. Judges would be on the lookout for a robust career website that showcases career opportunities through clear, concise and compelling information.
29. Best In-House Candidate Experience
Does your organisation consistently deliver a positive, respectful and professional experience at all touchpoints with candidates – be it from application to interviewing and from hiring to onboarding? Enter this category to be recognised for the exceptional candidate experience that your organisation provides.
30. Best Rewards and Recognition Programme
Effective employee recognition programmes help to attract and retain top talent, and ensure that employees feel valued, appreciated, and motivated to achieve company goals. HR teams that integrate relevant and innovative rewards to drive recognition, and incentivise the behaviours required to enhance the organisational culture will win.
31. Best HR Digital Transformation Strategy
With the shift in generational demographics, on top of the rapid advancements in technology, HR is often left trying to balance legacy organisational processes with the demands posed by a new generation of employees. Entries that showcase how HR has taken the lead to transform the business through digitisation and digitalisation, whilst improving the overall employee experience will take home the award.
32. Best Use of Recruitment Technology Tools
Have you effectively leveraged on technology to optimise and streamline your organisation’s talent acquisition process? Have you demonstrated the ability to differentiate your company and attract candidates, all while minimising time-to-hire and bringing down costs? If you have explored innovative technological tools that make recruitment a breeze, we want to hear from you in this category!
33. Best Work-life Harmony Strategy
It’s key that employees are able to strike a balance between work and personal life, especially in times when technology and remote working have blurred the line between work and home. Organisations that provide workplace flexibility and other holistic benefits/programmes to help employees cope with the demands of home and career while increasing productivity and reducing turnover should enter.
34. Best in Show: Leadership- Overall (Not open for entry) *NEW*
This category is not open for entry, and will go to the entrant who performs best across all categories in the leadership pillar.” In order to qualify to win this overall winner category, companies must have entered at least three or more categories in the Employee Experience Awards. This trophy will be awarded to the organisation that has secured the most quality wins across all EX categories. The organisation that clearly values employee welfare and delivers the best for its workforce deserves to win.
35. Best in Show: Learning- Overall (Not open for entry) *NEW*
This category is not open for entry, and will go to the entrant who performs best across all categories in the learning pillar.” In order to qualify to win this overall winner category, companies must have entered at least three or more categories in the Employee Experience Awards. This trophy will be awarded to the organisation that has secured the most quality wins across all EX categories. The organisation that clearly values employee welfare and delivers the best for its workforce deserves to win.
36. Best in Show: Engagement- Overall (Not open for entry) *NEW*
This category is not open for entry, and will go to the entrant who performs best across all categories in the engagement pillar.” In order to qualify to win this overall winner category, companies must have entered at least three or more categories in the Employee Experience Awards. This trophy will be awarded to the organisation that has secured the most quality wins across all EX categories. The organisation that clearly values employee welfare and delivers the best for its workforce deserves to win.
37. Employee Experience Champion of the Year – Overall Winner (Not open for entry)
The most coveted of all achievements at the Employee Experience Award, this prestigious title goes to the best performing entrant across all 3 pillars: Leadership, Learning and Engagement. Using a standard points system, 4 points will be granted for Gold, 2 points for Silver, and 1 point for Bronze. Any point ties will be decided based on placement (i.e. 2 Gold would break a tie against 1 Gold and 2 Silver). Any placement ties will be decided by the average score percentage assigned by the Judging Panel.