EMPLOYER OF CHOICE APPLICATION

EMPLOYER OF CHOICE APPLICATION

BEA 2023 | Employer of Choice Application

Focus HR Business Excellence Awards Application | EMPLOYER OF CHOICE AWARD

 

This form is for the EMPLOYER OF CHOICE AWARD sponsored by FocusHR

Questions about your application? Contact the Chamber.

07 4638 0400 or bea@toowoombachamber.com.au 

YOUR PROGRESS WILL SAVE ON EXIT AT THE END OF EACH SECTION


Overview

The assessment breakdown for the Focus HR Business Excellence Award 2023 is as follows:

  • written application | 45%
  • site visit and presentation from the applicant | 45%
  • the 30 second – 1minute video of the business | 10%.

 

The site visit will give you the opportunity to showcase your business. During the site visit, judges will want to see evidence of your strategy, vision, and values coming to life in the applicant’s business. All judges are to visit each applicant together to reduce disruption to the business.


The Judging Process

Judges will be advised that they should reduce applicant scores who exceed word and video limits length limits.

 

The business is required to nominate key personnel to undertake a short survey as part of the process.


Application Guidelines & Eligibility

All applications MUST be signed and authorised by a Senior Executive of the company or event applying.

All applications must be submitted online using this form  by Monday 24 July 2023 at 9am. Please note – there will be no extensions this year

Businesses entering the Employer of Choice Category will be required to complete the application SPECIFIC to that category.

Businesses may enter more than one Category. A separate application will be required per category that the applicant would like to apply for. Note: While applicants can enter more than one category, it is highly recommended that the applicants enter the category where they can demonstrate a competitive edge.

All applications MUST be submitted electronically ONLY, including the signed declaration. Without this signature the application will not be accepted. NO USB’s or hand delivered applications will be accepted.

All applications are judged by a selection of independent judges.

All applications are confidential, and all judges sign a deed of confidentiality and conflict of interest agreement.

The Employer of Choice Champion will not be eligible for the overall Focus HR Business of the Year 2023 Award.


APPLICANTS DETAILS


APPLICATION

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS


1. Please select one of the below


2. Number of Employees

 (including owner / operator)


3. Describe the nature of your business including history, products, services and key activities

Maximum 600 words | Exceeding the word limit will receive a reduced score.


4. Outline your organisational structure or attach an organisational chart (names not required):


Satisfaction and Wellbeing

The organisation consciously focuses on employees' wellbeing and satisfaction.

  • Businesses that consciously focus on employee’s wellbeing and satisfaction are typically more likely to produce exceptional products and services, have an aligned workforce and be successful.  A focus on individuals, programs, processes, and systems can supercharge a workforce productivity.

     

    Did you:

    • demonstrate how you focus on staff culture and demonstrate that their work environment promotes the health and wellbeing, motivation and satisfaction of its employees
    • identify any extra benefits or ‘perks’ you provide to your employees
    • outline how you show your employees that they care about them
    • provide evidence through results of staff surveys (or similar) of staff satisfaction, commitment and retention
    • provide evidence of financial investment such as percentage (%) of turnover spent on benefits/wellness and dollars ($) per head spend on benefits/wellness per annum or other relevant metrics)
    • outline creative and innovative ways you are leading the way to promote workforce wellbeing within their specific industry
    • outline how you stand out from other employers and go over and above.

Culture and Employee Engagement

Employees speak positively about the organisation, are motivated and feel connected.

Employees build the business brand.  An employee that speaks positively about the business they work in, is considered motivated and connected.  A strong and positive culture can enhance productivity and improve employee and customer experience. Committed employee engagement can lead to innovation, efficiency, and a real sense of employee belonging.

 

Did you:

  • articulate how your people would describe their organisational culture and working environment
  • outline initiatives you use to ensure effective communication with and involvement from their people
  • outline how your business has created a culture that is consistent with its missions, vision and values
  • demonstrate how you measure the level of employee engagement and how you share statistics and information with their team
  • describe how your initiatives have made a real impact on their organisation and resulted in tangible results for your organisation
  • outline challenges you faced and described your learnings.

People Development

Employees are encouraged and supported to grow and progress.

People are the central component of all businesses. Employers that encourage and support employees to grow, and progress is an essential component of being an Employer of Choice. How businesses manage this important resource and the initiatives they put in place to ensure the development and professional progression of their staff is a critical component of excellence in business.

 

Did you:

  • outline your employee training and development and growth initiatives
  • detail your policies or practices (formal or informal) that you have in place for career progression
  • provide evidence of financial investment such as percentage (%) of turnover spent on employee development and dollar ($) per head spend on employee development or describe their professional development program for staff and leaders
  • describe how your people initiatives improve productivity and commitment and support employees to achieve high performance and reach their full potential.
  • outline how you engage employees in their own learning and development.

Performance, Recognition and Reward

Employees understand the organisation's goals, and the impact of their personal contribution is positively reinforced.

Employees need to understand the organisation’s goals and the impact of their personal contribution positively reinforced.  Businesses with excellent recognition and reward programs demonstrate increased productivity and higher levels of employee engagement and conversation.  It typically decreases employee turnover, results in enhanced employee satisfaction and an enjoyable and engaging work environment.

 

Did you:

  • demonstrate how your employee performance reviews/appraisals support employees achieve high performance
  • articulate your approach to providing feedback to their people, for example when, how, and why
  • identify how you approach performance improvement and the impact of this
  • show how you effectively remunerate, reward, and recognise their employees’ efforts.

 


Committed Leadership and Strategy

Leaders connect employees with the organisation's vision and strategy in a meaningful way.

Leaders connect in a meaningful way, with employees, with their business vision and with their business strategy.  Only committed connection brings employees and strategy.  

 

Did you:

  • describe your approach to people management aligned to your organisation’s strategic objectives
  • describe how your senior leaders demonstrate organisational culture, values, objectives and expectations through effective leadership behaviour
  • outline how you go about developing leaders in their business
  • articulate how you get employees on board with their strategic direction of the organisation
  • describe your practices to maximise employee engagement and communication within their organisation.

Strong Employer Brand for Attraction

The organisation enjoys a strong supply of qualified and quality talent needed to achieve business goals.

A business needs a strong supply of qualified and quality talent to achieve business goals. Employee attraction and retention can help businesses maintain a competitive advantage of like companies.  The ability to attract and retain staff has been demonstrated as a key tool in business growth and success.

Did you:

  • outline techniques you use to attract and retain talent?
  • demonstrate how you actively promote their employee value proposition, that is, promoting why they are great to work for
  • describe how you have increased your ability to attract quality people in their field.

Employee Survey

A part of the process of being judged as an Employer of Choice is allowing a survey to be completed of your employees. Please attach a list of employee details including:

  • unique identifier (this may be employee number, initials, or full name); and
  • unique email address or mobile phone number where the survey can be sent to.

Please note: the survey is not compulsory, however will contribute to the overall scoring allocated by the judges in each of the above 6 sections.  Submissions without an employee survey will not be able to attain the highest overall grading in each of the sections.

The link to your employees will be submitted within 3 working days of your application being submitted to the Toowoomba Chamber. Please notify your staff of what the link is about so that it does not go to spam and they understand the purpose of the link and their involvement.

Employees will have 3 working days to complete the easy online survey.


Business Summary Video

Applicants are afforded the opportunity to sell their ‘business excellence’ by highlighting how their business displays and delivers excellence. 

 

Did your one-minute video pitch describe:

  • who you are
  • what your business does
  • why you believe you are excellent and an award-winning business.

 

Note:  All finalists will be offered the opportunity to complete a new video for the Focus HR Business Excellence Awards 2023 Gala Awards Dinner.


Preferred Dates & Times for Judges Site Visit

(we will do our very best to accommodate your times)


Please UPLOAD ALL your supporting documents here (see checklist below)

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UPLOAD YOUR FILES HERE

 


YESNO
Uploaded Document Titles include Your Business Name
Organisational Chart PDF
PDF Supporting Documents Satisfaction & Wellbeing
Logo (png or Jpeg)
Chosen 3 preferred times

DECLARATION


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