HR Achievement Categories

These categories recognize specific achievements - team or organizational - since the beginning of 2023.
    Nominations that won in the 2024 Stevie Awards for Great Employers may be resubmitted for consideration in the 2025 awards. If they have been updated with recent achievements, they may be submitted to the same categories in which they won. If they have not been updated, they must be submitted to categories different from those in which they won.

The information requirements for entries in these categories in the 2025 competition include:

  Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated achievements since January 1 2023, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:

a. Briefly describe the nominated team or organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words).  Required
b. Outline the team's or organization's achievements since the beginning of 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words).  Required
c. Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant.  If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the team's or organization's past performance (up to 250 words).  Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words).  Optional

  Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, work samples, internal or external reviews, or employee feedback, for example. 

B01     Achievement in Accessibility
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to learning programs that incorporate global accessibility standards, which make the learning accessible to audiences with disabilities.

B02     Achievement in Benefits Design and Administration       
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to benefits design and/or administration since the beginning of 2023.

B03     Achievement in Career Mobility
Recognizing organizations' achievements, since the beginning of 2023, to support workers as they learn new skills critical to their personal progress. Nominations in this category should focus on the policies and programs established to encourage and facilitate employees' career mobility.

B04     Achievement in Certification Programs
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to learning programs that were specifically designed as certification programs.

B05     Achievement in Coaching and Mentoring
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace programs and approaches to mentoring, knowledge sharing, and structured social learning at an enterprise or group level, that create(d) positive organizational outcomes.

B06     Achievement in Compensation Design and Administration       
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to compensation program design and/or administration since the beginning of 2023.

B07     Achievement in Competencies and Skill Development or Management
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to a workplace development program designed to support a competency and/or skill development need within an organization.

B08     Achievement in Compliance Training
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to learning programs that were specifically designed to address a compliance-driven learning objectives.

B09     Achievement in Customer Training
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to customer-training programs that have obtained desirable results connected to the program goals and improved business outcomes.

B10     Achievement in Developing and Preparing for the Future of the Work
New category for 2025. Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to preparing the workplace for anticipated changes in how work will get done. Might involve the impact of artificial intelligence or onshoring of production, for example.

B11     Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion    
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace or workforce diversity and/or inclusion since the beginning of 2023.

B12     Achievement in Employee Engagement    
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to employee engagement or motivation since the beginning of 2023.

B13     Achievement in Employee Relations          
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to employee relations since the beginning of 2023.

B14     Achievement in Employer Branding
Recognizing a human resource unit's contributions, since the beginning of 2023, to creating a strong employer brand necessary to hire and keep top talent.

B15     Achievement in Executive Development
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to best practices in developing executives. Executive development should impact the business, specifically lagging and leading indicators including significant KPIs in all talent lifecycle processes as well as key business KPIs.

B16     Achievement in Extended Enterprise Learning Programs
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to learning programs that were designed for an audience other than internal employees.

B17    Achievement in Flexible and Hybrid Work Models
Recognizing the achievements of organizations in enabling and promoting flexible and hybrid work models to appeal to potential employees, and help to retain current ones.

B18    Achievement in Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) will transform every aspect of the enterprise, from intelligent work assistants, to video and image generators, to the design and delivery of online learning. This category will recognize organizations' achievements, since the beginning of 2023, to introduce generative AI tools and features to the workplace to make employees more productive, engaged, and informed.

B19     Achievement in HR Technology     
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the design, development, deployment, and/or administration of HR-related systems or technologies since the beginning of 2023.

B20     Achievement in Human Resources Administration         
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the administration of an organization's total HR organization since the beginning of 2023.

B21     Achievement in Internal Communications
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to internal communications programs or campaigns since the beginning of 2023.

B22     Achievement in Leadership Development
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to best practices in developing and delivering an effective leadership development program since the beginning of 2023.

B23     Achievement in Leadership Development for Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to best practices in developing and delivering an effective leadership development program for members of ethnic or racial minorities since the beginning of 2023.

B24     Achievement in Leadership Development for Women
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to best practices in developing and delivering an effective leadership development program for women since the beginning of 2023.

B25     Achievement in Learning Measurement
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace learning measurement programs that assess the learning outcomes and organizational impact of a learning program or learning function.

B26     Achievement in Learning Technology Implementation
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to learning technology implementations that led to positive organization outcomes since the beginning of 2023.

B27     Achievement in Machine Learning and AI
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to a workplace-learning program that is innovative and drives positive organization outcomes.

B28     Achievement in Managing a Remote Workforce
Recognizing organizations' strategies for managing remote workforces and how the strategies were effectively implemented since the beginning of 2023.

B29     Achievement in New Employee Onboarding        
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the onboarding, assimilation, and training of new employees since the beginning of 2023.

B30     Achievement in Organizational Culture
Recognizing HR's contributions to create, maintain, and communicate a unique organizational culture, since the beginning of 2023, that works to attract, and keep, top talent.

B31     Achievement in Performance Management
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace strategies and approaches to managing performance of an organization's workforce that supports improved employee performance and positive organizational outcomes.

B32     Achievement in Recruitment and Talent Acquisition           
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's new-employee or executive recruitment efforts since the beginning of 2023.

B33     Achievement in Succession Planning and Career Management
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace strategies and approaches to managing career succession of an organization's leadership, key talent, employee workforce that support an organizational vision and create positive organizational outcomes.

B34     Achievement in Talent Management Technology Implementation
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace-talent management technology implementation(s) that led to positive organizational outcomes.

B35     Achievement in Upskill/Reskilling Employees
New category for 2025. Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to programs or initiatives to update, enhance, or retrain employees.

B36     Achievement in Workforce Development and Learning 
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workforce learning or training since the beginning of 2023.

B37     Achievement in Workplace Design
Recognizing the design of workplaces that promote engagement, productivity, and employee wellbeing. There is no eligibility timeframe for this category - it doesn't matter when the workplace's current design or configuration was established.

a. for up to 10 employees
b. for up to 100 employees
c. for more than 100 employees - single location
d. for more than 100 employees - multiple locations                    

B38     Achievement in Workplace Health & Wellbeing  
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's efforts to promote and protect workforce health and wellbeing since the beginning of 2023.

B39     Achievement in Workplace Safety & Compliance           
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's programs to promote workforce compliance and workplace safety since the beginning of 2023.

B40     Best CSR Strategy
Recognizing organizations that have embedded corporate social responsibility throughout the organization, in particular through its people. Entrants should demonstrate the role HR has played in the strategy and execution of CSR initiatives since the beginning of 2023.

B41     Best Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
This category will recognize best practices in developing a formalized approach to EVP since the beginning of 2023.

B42     Best Launch of a Corporate Learning University
This category will recognize effective launches and implementations of Corporate Learning Universities that have demonstrated positive learning outcomes and performance since the beginning of 2023.

B43     Best Leadership Development Program
Recognizing organizations for their leadership development programs and initiatives since the beginning of 2023.

B44     Best Learning & Development Strategy
Recognizing organizations' learning and development strategies, developed or deployed since the beginning of 2023, that invest effectively in the development of their people across an entire organization. Entrants should include details about the business need, what the strategy entails, and how it was communicated to the workforce.

B45     Best Results of a Learning Program
Recognizing workplace-learning programs that have obtained desirable results connected to the program goals and improved business outcomes.

B46     Best Reward & Recognition Strategy
Recognizing organizations for their work since the beginning of 2023 to closely align a benefits, reward and/or recognition strategy to business objectives in order to incentivize and enhance productivity. Examples of initiatives that could be entered in this category include: the introduction of a new approach to benefits, a new employee and team recognition strategy, impressive work around reducing a gender pay gap, or the introduction of a new pay structure that’s achieved strong results in terms of productivity, attraction and/or retention.

B47     Best Strategy for a Corporate Learning University
Recognizing organizations for their well-defined strategies that have demonstrated positive learning outcome and performance since the beginning of 2023.

B48     Best Talent Acquisition Process
Recognizing organizations for their best practices in the process of hiring.

B49     Best Talent Management Strategy
Recognizing talent management strategies developed or deployed since the beginning of 2023. Entrants should give details of how their organization defines and spots talent, where responsibility for managing talent sits, how they deliver appropriate development opportunities, and how they monitor and measure the success of implementation and outcomes.

B50     Best Team Development Program
Recognizing excellence in development for an entire executive team, management team, or cross-functional team rather than the development of an individual.

B51     Best Training and Development Program for Supporting Business Strategy
New category for 2025. Recognizing training and development programs for their alignment with expressed business strategies. Successful nominations in this category will clearly explain how the programs cited support their organization's strategies.

B52     Best Transformation Strategy
Recognizing organizations that have completed a successful people-focused business transformation program since the beginning of 2023. Areas that will be assessed include making the business case for change, its communication, implementation and measurement. Entries can include those where external interim resources have been brought in to achieve a positive outcome and successful merger and acquisition programs.

B53     Best Use of Blended Learning
Recognizing outstanding learning programs since the beginning of 2023 that use(d) two or more delivery methods.

B54     Best Use of Games and Simulations for Learning
Recognizing learning programs since the beginning of 2023 that effectively use(d) one or both of the following
- one or several gaming components in the course of an overall learning program
- one or several simulation models that illustrate a real-world example or experience

B55     Best Use of Mobile Learning
Recognizing learning programs since the beginning of 2023 that include(d) content on portable devices such as smart phones, tablets, music players, hand-held computers, GPS devices, and other mobile tools.

B56   Best Use of People Analytics
Recognizing organizations and teams for their use of people analytics since the beginning of 2023 to drive the development of business strategy.

B57     Best Use of Performance Support
Recognizing workplace-learning programs that, since the beginning of 2023, provide(d) snippets of information and help at the point of need to aid performance.

B58     Best Use of Social Collaborative Learning
Recognizing workplace-learning programs since the beginning of 2023 in which learners use(d) social tools to create and share content. (In social learning, the learners connect with each other and create and share content using tools such as blogs, wikis, communities, and other collaborative tools.)

B59     Best Use of Video for Learning
Recognizing workplace-learning programs since the beginning of 2023 that include(d) video content on learners' computers or mobile devices.

B60     Best Use of Virtual Worlds for Learning
Recognizing workplace-learning programs since the beginning of 2023 that include(d) the use of a virtual world, such as Second Life, for learning.

B61    Best Youth Employment Strategy
Recognizing organizations and teams that have gone above and beyond in creating a youth employment strategy that offers opportunities to young people from a range of backgrounds. Strategies could include apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate schemes, internships, and work experience programs.

B62    Leading Transformation Award
This category covers organizations that have completed a successful people-focused business transformation program. Areas that will be assessed include making the business case for change, its communication, implementation, and measurement. Entries can include those where external interim resources have been brought in to achieve a positive outcome and successful merger and acquisition programs.

B63    Most Innovative Deployment of HR Technology
Recognizing organisations and teams for their use of technology, since the beginning of 2023, to move HR forward. It could be via the application of HR software and analytic systems, online recruitment, or an e-learning program.

B64     Most Innovative Leadership Program
Recognizing organizations and teams for their innovative leadership-development programs that drive positive organizational outcomes.

B65     Most Innovative Learning and Development Program
Recognizing organizations and teams for their innovative workplace-learning and development programs that drive positive organizational outcomes.

B66     Most Innovative Talent Acquisition Program
Recognizing organizations and teams for their innovative talent acquisition programs that drive positive organizational outcomes.

B67     Most Innovative Talent Management Program
Recognizing organizations and teams for innovative aspects of their talent management programs since the beginning of 2023.

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