Categories
Across all categories, and in line with CIPD’s Profession Map, which sets the international benchmark for the people profession, the judges will be looking for you to demonstrate that the work you do is:
- Evidence-based: your work carries more weight when it’s supported by strong evidence,
- Outcomes-driven: your work should be driven by understanding of context and outcomes,
- Principles-led: your decisions, actions and behaviours should be led by clear principles.
Team categories
Most Impactful Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Programme
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This award recognises an organisation that has designed and delivered a truly impactful Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) programme that drives measurable organisational performance, strengthens workplace culture, and contributes positively to the wider profession.
Judges will be looking for programmes that move beyond policy and intent — demonstrating tangible business impact, cultural transformation, and sustainable inclusion embedded at organisational level.
Entries should clearly evidence outcomes, data, leadership commitment, and long-term change.
Best Learning and Development Programme - Private Sector
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Best Learning and Development Programme – Private Sector
This award recognises a private sector organisation that has designed and delivered an outstanding Learning and Development (L&D) programme that drives measurable business performance, builds future capability, and creates meaningful impact for individuals and the organisation.
Judges will be looking for programmes that move beyond traditional training delivery — demonstrating strategic intent, innovation in design and delivery, clear alignment to commercial priorities, and evidence of sustained behavioural and organisational change.
Entries should clearly evidence outcomes, leadership commitment, learner engagement, and long-term value creation.
Best Learning and Development Programme - Public Sector
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This award recognises a public sector organisation that has designed and delivered a truly impactful Learning and Development (L&D) programme that strengthens workforce capability, enhances organisational performance, and delivers measurable public value.
Judges will be looking for programmes that move beyond isolated training activity — demonstrating strategic intent, measurable outcomes, and sustainable capability building embedded at organisational level.
Entries should clearly evidence outcomes, data, leadership sponsorship, and long-term workforce impact.
Best AI Programme in HR/L&D
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This award recognises an outstanding AI-driven programme that has transformed HR or Learning & Development through the intentional, ethical and effective application of AI technologies.
The category celebrates organisations that have moved beyond experimentation or automation, using AI to meaningfully enhance decision-making, personalisation, workforce capability, learning effectiveness or employee experience.
Judges will be looking for clear, deliberate use of AI (such as machine learning, generative AI, natural language processing or intelligent automation) that delivers measurable outcomes, aligns to organisational objectives, and demonstrates responsible, human-centred design.
Submissions should clearly articulate why AI was chosen, how it was embedded into HR or L&D practice, and how it has created value for both the organisation and its people.
Best Nationalisation Programme - Private Sector
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This award recognises a private sector organisation that has designed and delivered a high-impact Nationalisation Programme that meaningfully contributes to national workforce development objectives.
Judges will be looking for organisations that move beyond compliance targets to demonstrate strategic, sustainable and measurable national talent integration — strengthening business performance while contributing to broader economic and societal priorities.
Entries should clearly evidence long-term workforce planning, capability building, leadership commitment, measurable outcomes, and meaningful career pathways for national talent.
Best Employee Engagement Programme
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This award recognises an organisation that has designed and delivered an outstanding Employee Engagement Programme that demonstrably strengthens organisational culture, drives measurable performance outcomes, and enhances employee experience.
Judges will be looking for programmes that move beyond one-off initiatives or survey cycles — demonstrating a strategic, evidence-based, and sustainable approach to engagement that is embedded into leadership practice, organisational design, and business performance.
Best Change Management Programme
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This award recognises an organisation that has successfully designed and delivered an outstanding Change Management Programme that drives measurable business transformation, strengthens organisational capability, and embeds sustainable behavioural and cultural change.
Judges will be looking for programmes that go beyond project implementation — demonstrating strategic clarity, leadership alignment, people-centred design, and measurable outcomes that support long-term organisational success.
Entries should clearly evidence structured methodology, stakeholder engagement, governance, measurable impact, and how change has been embedded rather than simply delivered.
Best Talent Attraction & Employer Branding Programme - NEW
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This award recognises an organisation that has designed and delivered a high-impact Talent Attraction and Employer Branding strategy that strengthens organisational reputation, attracts high-quality talent, and delivers measurable business results.
The category goes beyond recruitment marketing. It recognises organisations that demonstrate an integrated approach — aligning employer brand, workforce planning, talent assessment and selection practices, and total rewards strategy to create a compelling and differentiated employee value proposition (EVP).
Judges will be looking for organisations that combine data-driven attraction strategies, innovative assessment methods, and strategically positioned reward frameworks to attract, select and retain the right talent in a competitive market.
Entries should demonstrate clear evidence of business alignment, measurable outcomes, and sustainable competitive advantage.
Best Talent Performance and Capability Development Programme - NEW
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This award recognises an organisation that has delivered an outstanding Talent Performance and Capability Development programme that demonstrably improves organisational performance, builds critical capability, and drives measurable business outcomes.
Judges will be looking for programmes that go beyond learning delivery, frameworks, or participation metrics — instead evidencing clear, quantifiable impact on performance, productivity, capability strength, leadership effectiveness, and organisational results.
Submissions should demonstrate how the programme has strengthened workforce capability in a way that creates sustainable value for the organisation and contributes positively to the wider profession.
Best Wellbeing Programme
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This award recognises an organisation that has designed and delivered an outstanding wellbeing programme that demonstrably enhances employee health, engagement, performance, and organisational sustainability.
Judges will be looking for programmes that go beyond standalone initiatives or reactive wellbeing activities — demonstrating a holistic, evidence-based, and strategically embedded approach to workforce wellbeing.
Entries should clearly evidence measurable outcomes, leadership commitment, long-term sustainability, and alignment between wellbeing strategy and business performance.
People Team of the Year < 20 people
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This award recognises a high-performing People/HR team of fewer than 20 professionals that has delivered exceptional impact for their organisation over the past year.
Designed to celebrate agile, resourceful and strategically aligned teams, this category acknowledges smaller People functions that demonstrate outstanding collaboration, innovation and measurable business contribution — often delivering transformational results with lean structures.
Judges will be looking for evidence of strategic influence, commercial awareness, measurable outcomes, and a clear demonstration of how the team has strengthened organisational performance, culture and capability.
Entries should clearly outline team structure, priorities, key achievements, data-led outcomes and the tangible difference made to both the organisation and the wider profession.
People Team of the Year > 20 people
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This award recognises a high-performing People/HR team of more than 20 professionals that has delivered outstanding organisational impact through strategic leadership, collaboration, innovation and measurable business results.
This category celebrates teams that operate at scale and complexity — demonstrating strong governance, clear operating models, capability depth, and the ability to influence executive decision-making while delivering excellence across the employee lifecycle.
Judges will be looking for teams that move beyond transactional delivery and demonstrate strategic contribution, commercial acumen, innovation, and meaningful impact on organisational performance and culture.
Entries should clearly evidence collective achievements, measurable outcomes, team capability, leadership alignment and sustainable results.
Employer of the Year - Public Sector
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This award recognises an outstanding Governmental or semi-Governmental organisation organisation that demonstrates excellence in people management, workforce strategy, and organisational leadership — delivering measurable impact for citizens, employees, and the wider community.
The award celebrates institutions that go beyond policy compliance to create high-performing, inclusive, and future-ready workplaces. Judges will be looking for organisations that place people at the heart of service delivery, demonstrating innovation, measurable impact, and strong alignment between workforce strategy and organisational purpose.
Entries should clearly evidence outcomes, leadership commitment, employee engagement, and sustainable organisational performance.
Employer of the Year - Private Sector
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This award recognises a private sector organisation that demonstrates excellence in creating an outstanding workplace culture while delivering strong and sustainable business performance.
The award celebrates employers who place people at the heart of their strategy — embedding progressive people practices, inclusive culture, leadership excellence and employee experience into the core of how the organisation operates.
Judges will be looking for organisations that demonstrate measurable impact, innovation in people management, clear alignment between people strategy and business performance, and a commitment to raising standards within the wider profession.
Entries should provide robust evidence, data, and examples that demonstrate sustainable success rather than one-off initiatives.
Individual categories
Outstanding CIPD Student of the Year
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This award recognises an exceptional CIPD student who has demonstrated outstanding academic performance, professional growth, and meaningful impact throughout their studies.
It celebrates individuals who go beyond academic success — applying learning in real workplace contexts, demonstrating professional behaviours aligned to the CIPD Profession Map, and contributing positively to their organisation and the wider people profession.
Judges will be looking for a student who exemplifies commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, innovation in thinking, and a clear trajectory toward future leadership within HR or L&D.
Entries should provide strong evidence of achievement, reflection, applied learning, and measurable impact.
N.B. Study Centres and APPs should nominate their current CIPD students and encourage tutors to recommend outstanding students. The entry should clearly state the study centre or university and the centre should be confident of the student’s ability to present at the second stage interview if selected.
Entries should be submitted by the centre or university and not by the student themselves.
Entrants must be an active CIPD member.
Most Impactful Independent Consultant - NEW
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This award recognises an outstanding independent consultant who has delivered exceptional value to client organisations through insight-led advice, professional expertise, and measurable outcomes.
The winning entry will demonstrate how the consultant has gone beyond delivery to create sustained impact—shaping organisational capability, influencing senior decision-making, and strengthening people practices in a meaningful and ethical way.
Judges will be looking for clear evidence of performance excellence, professional credibility, innovation, and contribution to both client success and the wider profession. All examples given should be from the last 5 years.
N.B. Entrants must be an active CIPD member.
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