Award deadlines coming up (scroll down below text for a list of awards organised by industry) 

Welcome to my overview of upcoming awards to look out for during March, April and beyond.

It is often the case that some industries see their awards bunch together. For example, financial services in autumn, IT and technology over the new year, while the construction industry prefers the first few months of the year.

Well, with this in mind, it is fair to say that this time of the year is very much HR awards season, as well as there being some significant training awards deadlines. But it’s not all about HR – there are plenty of other great awards schemes approaching in CSR, marketing and retail, and some of the big general business awards like The National Business Awards are now open, so definitely worth including in your planning. As ever, contact our team here at Boost if you need help with your entries or further guidance on which awards to enter. 

HR awards

Training awards 

The IELA International E-Learning Awards – Business Division are International awards run from New York by International E-Learning Association (IELA), with a 2019 deadline of 1st March. They are fairly unusual in the sense they have just three categories – E-Learning, Mobile Learning and Blended Learning – and are very much focused on products, rather than projects. There is nothing in the entry form for impact or results, just product description, audience and goals. 700 words total.

The Princess Royal Training Awards: These prestigious UK awards recognise good, solid, well-evaluated training – both in terms of the company-wide strategy, and one particular headline case study. It is an onerous process with a huge entry form, three supporting documents and a lengthy site visit – but the potential reward at the end is royal recognition.

The scheme attracts big brands, is extremely credible, and – being a multi-winner scheme – winnable, too. Very worthwhile if you put in the investment of time.

They have a deadline of 29th March so if you need our help, contact us asap.

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Human Capital Management Program: These are US-based but open for international entry. A decent-sized application form, but there are loads of awards up for grabs. They have a deadline of 12th April. These awards are great in terms of having loads of categories for products as well as projects, and multiple gold, silver and bronze. Categories include – Learning and Development; Talent Management; Leadership Development; Talent Acquisition; Workforce Management; Sales Performance.

The TJ Awards (Training Journal): These two-stage UK awards are highly credible and have a deadline of 12th June – some way off yet, but they do require some preparation. There are 16 categories available, including catch-all categories like “Best Public Sector Programme” and more focused ones like “Best Sales Programme”.
The second stage is a face-to-face presentation where PowerPoint is banned, so it is all about the script. (N.B Boost can also help with presentations, so even if you do write the main entry yourself, it might be worth contacting us if you do get shortlisted.) Boost will be taking part in the TJ Awards seminars, with advice on entering over the coming months, so please come and join us. 

Marketing awards

There’s never any shortage of marketing awards on the horizon. While it certainly isn’t peak marketing season quite yet, there are a few worth mentioning:
The Hermes Creative Awards: The trophy is a majestic symbol of the ancient Greek messenger, depicted as a pair of wings on a plinth. In Greek mythology, Hermes is not just a messenger, he is the Olympian god of orators and wit, of literature and poets, and invention and commerce. So naturally you would be proud to display this in your trophy cabinet! These popular US-based international awards have a deadline of 14th March and an enormous 200+ categories.

The Marketing Week Masters Awards: Though these UK awards have undergone a number of name changes over the years, they remain very credible amongst agencies in particular. Deadline here is 29th March, with categories falling into three camps: Sector Masters, Channel Masters and Special Masters (agency, brand innovation, etc.). Three overall winners are announced.

The UK Digital Experience Awards, by Awards International, have a deadline of 5th April, and are particularly interesting because they are the only scheme focused squarely on customer experience in the digital space. We have found that companies wanting to promote their online consumer offerings are very keen indeed to get this award, so it’s well worth considering.

Retail awards

There are a few big awards coming up in retail too:
The Grocer Gold Awards is a huge scheme, particularly amongst the main supermarkets. They all want to be the Grocer Gold Retailer of the Year. They are UK-only and have an extended deadline of 11th March. Categories fall into five themes: 1) Product Awards; 2) Initiatives; 3) Retailer / Wholesaler Awards (including “Grocer of the Year”); 4) People Awards; 5) Manufacturer / Supplier Awards.

The Grocer Own Label Accreditation and Awards: These UK awards are a year-round accreditation, with the current phase deadline being 29th April.

The Drinks Business Awards: As you might expect, these are very credible in the world of wines and spirits in particular. They have a deadline of 4th May, with categories themed as Personality Awards, Business Awards and Marketing Awards. Cheers!

The Drapers Awards are everything in the UK fashion industry…as demonstrated by the eye-watering £4k price tag per table at the dinner! They have a deadline of 18th May.

Hopefully these award highlights have provided some insights to help you plan which awards to enter – I wish you the best of luck during the spring awards season. Below you will find all the awards in the next two months organised by industry sector. Remember, do please contact Boost if you need a helping hand entering any of these – our in-house team of experienced award writers have won over 1,100 awards and can increase your chances of a win significantly.

You can also sign up for our email deadline reminder service, so that the next two months of deadlines arrive in your inbox – completely free of charge. Handy, I think you will agree!  

Chris.