Top Employer Award Categories
For more than a decade, our Top Employer Awards have celebrated and shared best practice in flexible working, gender diversity, returners, family support and progressing women at work. Please view categories below.
Best for Mental Health Award
To be eligible for the Best for Mental Health Award employers should demonstrate initiatives aimed at protecting their employees’ mental health.
This may include:
- Initiatives that recognise the mental health challenges many workers are facing
- Addressing workload, eg, through job redesign or review
- Ensuring that people are not burning out through constant connection, overwork or blurring of work life boundaries
- Signposting to mental health resources
- Line manager training
- Communication with staff, however they work
- Initiatives that engage all staff, however they work
- Initiatives to address financial well being
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
Best for Diversity & Inclusion Award
To be eligible for the Best for D&I Award employers should demonstrate actions taken to ensure equality of opportunity for all.
This may include:
- Data collection and mining for up-to-date information on recruitment and progression
- Action plans based on data gathering
- Initiatives to promote an inclusive culture, from recruitment onwards
- Staff networks or other methods for understanding the particular issues faced by underrepresented sections of the workforce
- Line manager training
- Use of flexible working to widen the talent pool for carers, those with disabilities, etc
- Role modelling and leadership from the top on D&I issues
- Effective initiatives to address bias in the workplace
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact e.g. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Best for Flexible Working Award
To be eligible for the Best for Flexible Working Award employers should demonstrate how they promote and manage flexible working and encourage a flexible culture in their organisation.
This could include:
- Managing hybrid working
- Promoting flexible working in job adverts
- Enabling day one flexible working
- Monitoring career progression of flexible workers
- Ensuring a range of flexible working options are available
- Support for remote workers
- Rewarding managers for effectively managing hybrid or flexible teams
- Line manager training
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Best for Family Support Award
To be eligible for the Family Support Award employers should demonstrate how their policies and practice support working families and carers.
Your submission could include:
- Flexible working around childcare commitments
- Support with finding or paying for childcare
- Support for employees looking after elderly parents or relatives.
- Provision of equal parenting and leave that covers particular challenges for parents, such as neonatal leave
- Reproductive health policies such as fertility and miscarriage
- Virtual employee support networks
- Use of social media channels to share challenges
Submissions should be supported by evidence of impact. This could include testimonials, case studies or/and employee surveys.
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Best for Career Progression for Women Award
Sponsored by FSCS
To be eligible employers should demonstrate initiatives aimed at developing women’s leadership potential, including women’s networks, mentoring initiatives, outreach, training and return to work programmes.
Employers should demonstrate a commitment to and strategy for enabling women at all levels and with all patterns of working to progress in their careers and awareness of the impact of intersectional inequalities on women’s career progression.
This may include:
- Analysing data on progression and pay gaps and producing effective action plans
- Working with employee network groups to get feedback on what they feel would be effective
- Ensuring that all jobs offer a career pathway
- Offering training and development opportunities to all and looking at innovative ways to upskill employees, particularly when it comes to STEM skills
- Ensuring there are part-time and flexible roles at all levels of the organisation
- Offering mentoring and sponsorship opportunities to women to help them get ahead
- You can also add in this submission policies that support older women at work e.g. menopause policy.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence is relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Best SME Award
To be eligible for the SME award, organisations showed a real commitment to work helping employees balance home and work life. We would also like to hear about all the good practice within your organisation that has a positive impact on your employees.
Note: you do not need to have a formal flexible working policy to enter the awards. You will need to demonstrate however that you have a flexible culture (see below for more information on what you could include).
This award is split into two by company size. This will be split from 1 – 25 employees, 26 – 250 employees
Possible areas, if relevant, you MAY include in your submission are:
- Information on how flexible working works in your organisation and why what you offer exceeds standard practice.
- How you have supported employees with childcare or caring for elderly relatives
- The range of working patterns available, including term-time working, annualised hours, part-time vacancies and take-up
- How you support women’s return to work after maternity leave
- How you support those returning from career breaks and career progression for all
- Do you use flexible working as a talent attraction tool, i.e. do you use it on recruitment adverts?
- Initiatives to encourage the wellbeing of your staff
- Good practice around family support – such as caring for sick children or elderly relatives
- How you support older workers, i.e. countering ageism in the recruitment process,making available senior management positions, health related policies, etc.
- Initiatives that help dads at work
NB These are just suggestions and there may be other aspects relating to gender equality at work and family friendly working that you might like to highlight.
You should back your application up with case studies/testimonials from staff and data showing how these practices are being monitored and developed.
Providing Evidence
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Statistics you may include are:
- % of women recruited in the last year and any data on recruitment to non-traditional roles for females
- % of employees who work flexibly, whether formally or informally, including a male/female breakdown where possible
- % of women in senior and middle management positions
- % of women at board level
- Retention rates after maternity/paternity leave
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your entry.
The awards are now closed for entry.
Back to Top Employer Awards Homepage
Best for Returners Award
To be eligible to apply for the Best for returners Award, organisations will need to demonstrate they have stand-out programmes or initiatives aimed at returners – those who have taken a career break and are looking to get back into the workplace.
Entrants should demonstrate:
- The thinking process behind their returner initiative
- Challenges they have overcome or restructuring of initiatives in response to feedback
- How they monitor impact [for instance, through tracking returners]
- Evidence of impact
- Any additional support they offer after the initiative has taken place
- How they are looking to change ideas about returners in their organisation or more broadly in their sector.
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
Back to Top Employer Awards Homepage
Best for Older Workers Award
To be eligible for the Best for Older Workers Award, employers should provide details of what they do and how it helps older workers, including through metrics, how they are monitoring success and individual case studies which show impact.
Entrants should demonstrate:
- How they counter ageism in the recruitment process
- Flexible working options for older workers
- Mid-career reviews
- Training for older workers
- Policies for women who are going through the menopause
- Senior management part-time options
- Carer support
Only those entries that provide evidence of the impact of their practices will be considered.
Please provide quantitative evidence where applicable.
Case studies
For those areas where it is hard to quantify, please use case studies of employees who are benefiting from your practices. This is a great way to show how your way of working is having a positive impact. View example case study.
You could also consider testimonials from staff, but they should contain enough information to show impact on the employee’s ability to work or to progress, on their well being or some other important personal fact.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
Back to Top Employer Awards Homepage
Best for Learning and Development
To be eligible employers should demonstrate that they have created the right culture and environment for all individuals to learn and grow and to keep learning and upskilling, throughout their working lives.
Employers should demonstrate a commitment to and strategy for enabling everyone at all levels and with all patterns of working to progress in their careers.
This may include:
- Analysing data on progression and pay gaps and producing effective action plans
- Working with employee network groups to ensure learning and development policies are inclusive
- Ensuring that all jobs offer a career pathway
- Offering training and development opportunities to all and looking at innovative ways to help employees to progress whether upwards or sideways
- Ensuring there are part-time and flexible roles at all levels of the organisation
- Offering mentoring and sponsorship opportunities to help disadvantaged employees get ahead.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Best for Talent Attraction and Outreach
To be eligible to apply for the Talent Attraction and Outreach Award, organisations should demonstrate that they are thinking creatively about outreach and recruitment in a difficult labour market.
That might involve:
- Outreach events/initiatives to underrepresented groups
- Checking the language and imagery used in job adverts
- Ensuring diverse interview panels and tackling bias in the recruitment process
- Offering day one flexibility
- Promoting policies and benefits externally and branding to attract underrepresented groups.
Submissions should be backed up by supporting evidence, where possible, such as examples of job adverts, training around interviewing and data on how programmes and initiative are evaluated.
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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Special Innovation Award
This award is for organisations that have a stand-out policy or initiative related to working parents, women’s career progression, older workers or flexible working that has/is having a demonstrable impact on its employees or the wider community.
Examples may include:
- a policy on neonatal leave
- an initiative on domestic violence or microaggressions
- a campaign on mental health
- a reverse mentoring scheme
You should detail what motivated the initiative/policy, how it was implemented, how you are evaluating it and impact [through data or case studies].
Please ensure case studies and evidence are relevant to your application.
The awards are now closed for entry.
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