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About Employee Excellence Awards

Every workplace has someone who makes it better.

In shops, depots, offices, wards, kitchens and building sites across the UK, employees go beyond what their job description asks of them every day, and most of it is never formally recognised.

The Employee Excellence Awards exist to recognise outstanding employees in every kind of role, the managers and teams around them, and the workplaces that bring out their best.

First in.

Last to leave.

Finally, recognised.

Why we exist

Organisations run on people. People are rarely thanked.

A warehouse operative who trained every new starter on the night shift.

A receptionist regular customers ask for by name.

A line manager whose team nobody ever wants to leave.

An apprentice who spotted the fix everyone else had missed.

A colleague who noticed when someone was struggling and did something about it.

Great employees spend every day making work better for others.

This time the recognition is for them.

“We noticed.”

“Thank you.”

Who we celebrate

From the first shift to thirty years of service.

Employees in every role, rising stars, apprentices, graduates, line managers, teams, champions and the workplaces that support them.

The Employee

Whose work makes everyone's day better.

The Rising Star

New to the job and already making their mark.

The Unsung Hero

Quietly holding everything together.

The Manager

The boss people are glad to work for.

The Team

Achieving more together than anyone expected.

Know a colleague who deserves to be seen?

The awards

Four ways to be recognised.

Outstanding Employees

Employee of the year, rising stars, unsung heroes, frontline staff, apprentices, graduates, long service and career changers.

Managers and Teams

Line managers, teams, cross team collaboration, workplace mentors and remote and hybrid teams.

Beyond the Role

Customer heroes, bright ideas, and champions of wellbeing, volunteering, inclusion, safety and sustainability.

Great Workplaces

Best places to work, employee voice, recognition programmes and employee development.

Beyond the night

Recognition that stays with people.

Pride for the person

A moment they and their family will never forget.

Confidence for the team

Proof that great work is seen and valued.

A better place to work

Employers recognised for their people attract more of them.

Connections

Meet outstanding employees and employers from across the UK.

Is this for me?

You do not need a senior job title.

Judges consider the nature of the role and the size of the organisation, so a cleaner, a driver or a care worker competes on equal terms with anyone.

Anyone can put a colleague forward, and employees can enter themselves.

Customer and colleague names can be left out of any entry.

The difference someone makes matters more than their title.

The question isn't:

“Is my job important enough?”

A better question might be:

“Is my work making a difference?”

How judging stays fair

Recognition only counts when it is earned fairly.

The value of an award depends on the integrity behind it, so the way entries are judged should be clear before anyone enters.

Free to enter

Nominating and entering cost nothing. No category depends on buying a ticket, a table or a package.

Independent judging

Entries are scored by an independent panel, not by the organisers, working under a confidentiality agreement.

Read more

Conflicts managed

Judges declare any conflict of interest and stand aside from the entries it touches.

Read more

Sponsors support the awards. They never decide the results.

Nominate

The best employees never put themselves forward.

They say:

“I was only doing my job.”

“Anyone would have done the same.”

“It was a team effort.”

And sometimes that is exactly why somebody else needs to say:

“They made the difference.”

“They deserve to be recognised.”

If you work with someone like that, put their name forward. It takes a minute.

How it works

From a name to the night itself.

01

Discover

Find the award category that fits the achievement best.

02

Nominate

Put forward a colleague, a manager, a team, your workplace or yourself.

03

Tell the story

Share what was achieved, and the difference it made.

04

Judging

Eligible entries are judged against the published criteria.

05

Recognition

Finalists and winners are celebrated at the awards.

Great work is how great workplaces begin.

Every employee has a story.

Every team has a moment.

This is where

employees get their credit.

Register your interest