The WorkforceChicago Award Nominations—An Overview

Below you can find information about the award itself, the nomination process, eligibility and judging criteria. We are no longer accepting applications for our Exemplary Practices award this year, but please keep this in mind for next year, beginning in January 2009. Watch for news of the 2008 winning companies in June!

• Why does WorkforceChicago give awards?
• The Nine Key Components
• Why apply for our award?
• How can you nominate your company?
• Selection Process
• Eligibility Requirements
• Judging Criteria

Why does WorkforceChicago give awards?

Business depends on highly skilled, knowledgeable, and motivated employees, and companies dedicated to workforce learning achieve greater business success. WorkforceChicago recognizes Chicagoland companies that exhibit exemplary employee learning and development strategies that build a culture of high performance, productivity, and pride.

The vision of WorkforceChicago is to position the Chicago region as the leading talent pool in the country by promoting effective employee learning and development policies and practices. Every year, we choose award winners who exemplify these goals in their business strategies.

WorkforceChicago grants awards and recognition to companies in the Chicago area that excel in several areas of employee learning and development. The following Nine Key Components serve as the guidelines and principals by which companies with outstanding learning and development practices are selected.

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Nine Key Components of Exemplary Practice in Employee Learning and Development

Nine inter-related practices show how companies build exemplary learning cultures and actively promote employee education and development within the organizational structure.

These key practices were first identified by The Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) and are based upon extensive research in the field.

The Nine Exemplary Practices provide the framework for the annual WorkforceChicago Award which recognizes companies that excel in implementing learning and development strategies.

1. Leadership vision and commitment drive learning.
   The CEO and senior management are the driving forces in elevating the importance of learning and development.
   
2. Employee learning is aligned with business goals.
   Top leadership adopts clear goals and communicates them throughout the organization and ensures that learning and development activities are aligned with the goals.
   
3. Learning and development leader is strategically positioned within senior management team.
   Human Resources Leader or the Chief Learning Officer is part of the executive management team.
   
4. Leadership development is emphasized at all levels of the organization.
   Management recognizes that leadership skills are essential for employees at all levels and efforts are made to develop talent from within the organization.
   
5. Organization is committed to expanding knowledge beyond job-related or technical skills.
   Investments are made to develop well-rounded, versatile employees through tuition assistance programs, customized on-site training, and personal development options.
   
6. Informal learning opportunities are prevalent throughout the workplace.
   Investments are made to intentionally integrate work and learning through team projects, cross training, rotational assignments, and problem-solving exercises.
   
7. Technology is used strategically to meet learning objectives.
   Innovative technologies are used to support and reinforce learning and to manage the firm’s education and training offerings.
   
8. Alliances within educational institutions are central to learning strategy.
   Customized degree, certificate and non-credit programs are developed collaboratively to meet business and employee needs.
   
9. Assessment of impact is emphasized.
   A mixture of measurement strategies is used to assess the impact of training and development investments.

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To nominate your company for the WorkforceChicago Awards, all you have to do is submit an online nomination application. Typically, the nomination process begins each year in January/February when the on-line nomination survey is active and accepting submissions.

All you have to do to nominate your company is complete the nominations survey online, following the instructions laid out on this page. Nominations for the 2008 Awards will open on January 3, 2008.

Below is some information that you might find useful when considering to filling out a nomination application for your company:

• Typically, applications should be filled out by Senior HR or business leaders who oversee their companies’ learning and development programs. If you are not in this position, but would still like to nominate your company for this award, we recommend that you forward the application to someone with oversight of these programs in order to ensure that your application will include all the necessary information.


• To begin the application process, go to the online application and read all the instructions carefully before beginning. While filling out the application, you can save your work and return to it at anytime. Once you save your work however, you cannot return to the information that you have entered in previous pages.


• The application consists of 50-60 questions, where you will be asked to either rate or describe your company's learning and development practices. Most questions involve selecting a radial button, but for the ten narrative questions, you are allowed an unlimited response-length.


• You will not be able to print or preview your responses after you click the Submit button, so make sure that you have confirmed your answers before submitting the form.


• If you have any questions or issues with the application form, please feel free to email Michelle Sanford, or call (312) 499-2337 for assistance.

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Selection Process & Eligibility Requirements

Selection Process:

1. Once the nominations period has closed, all online surveys will be collated and sorted by size, industry and location of organization. All surveys will then be analyzed for content.
2. A selection of finalists will be made and a team from WorkforceChicago2.0 will perform site visits at all finalist organizations.
3. These finalist site visits will take place in mid-March, will last 4-5 hours for each organization and will consist of:
   a. Data collection regarding corporate policies, tuition assistance programs, training programs, and employee on-boarding and exiting protocols.
   b. Focus groups and interviews.
4. During the site visits, WorkforceChicago2.0 expects to hold:
   a. Interviews with the CEO or other senior executive, and the CLO or VP of Human Resources.
   b. Focus group sessions with frontline employees and front line & mid-level managers.
5. Two winning organizations will be selected from the finalists and announced at our annual WorkforceChicago2.0 Award Breakfast in June.
6. A monograph will be produced that gives a brief history of WorkforceChicago2.0 and a case study of each of the winning organizations. To prepare for this, winning organizations should be ready to provide:
   a. Photographs of employees at work and in training situations.
   b. A marketing or public relations contact person who will edit and approve final copy for the award monograph.
   c. Attendees for the WorkforceChicago2.0 Award Breakfast, including CEO. The CEO of the winning organization should be prepared to say a few words about employee learning and development at the event after receiving the award from Mayor Daley.

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Eligibility Requirements:

You are eligible to apply if:

• You have a significant employee presence in the Chicago region.
• Your organization is located within the City of Chicago or the Chicago region (defined by the City of Chicago, the suburbs and outlaying areas of northeastern Illinois).
• You are a for-profit or non-profit organization.
• You are an organization of any size, employment base or industrial sector.

Judging Criteria :

All submissions will be judged using the same criteria as follows:

1. A WorkforceChicago2.0 selection committee is convened. This selection committee will be made up of experts in employee learning and development.
2. An objective statistical analysis of the scaled responses is done in which responses are ranked and the average scores per section are assigned. All scores for every organization will be reported to the WorkforceChicago2.0 selection committee.
3. The selection committee will perform a subjective analysis of narrative responses against:
   
   

   a. Alignment with Nine Key Practices

   b. Alignment with Four Key Goals:

   Innovation (how distinctive or ‘cutting edge’ are the organization’s learning and development programs) Comprehensiveness (how available, accessible, and far reaching are the organization’s learning and development programs) Integration (how well are the organization’s learning and development programs woven into overall business goals) Distributiveness (how well does the organization’s learning and development programs reach all levels of employees).

4. Finalists will be determined using these techniques and site visits will be performed for all finalist organizations. At the site visits, in depth interviews, focus groups and follow up questions will provide the data for the next round of analysis.
5. Winners will be privately notified before March 31 and publicly announced at the Annual WorkforceChicago2.0 Award Event in June.

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For more information about the WorkforceChicago Award, including highlights from last year’s Award Event and details on what previous winning companies, watch this brief video.