Training Journal Awards 2019 are open

Do you look around your office and think that empty spot on the shelf could benefit from an award certificate in a nice frame or a piece of engraved glass marking your achievements? Can you think of a better way of recognising the good stuff you and your team have been contributing?

But where to start? Every award wants something different, entry costs can be prohibitive, even with early bird or not-for-profit discounts. It can appear daunting so, as both award winner and judge, I’d like to share my thoughts and experiences with you to encourage you to take the plunge…

This year’s Training Journal Awards are are open for your submissions! With 14 categories to chose from, you and your team will be able to find somewhere to highlight that fantastic work you’ve been doing to make an impact on staff, customers, business performance and the bottom line. Get your CEO and other Board members excited, give them something to put in your Annual Report. At the very least, get a chance to celebrate with us at the fantastic TJ Awards Gala Dinner in early December at the Pavillion at the Tower of London.

Often I am asked if I have any advice to help people get started. My answer is always to start at the beginning; here are my top tips.

Identify your story - everyone has one!

Some L&D teams focus on regular training, others tackle specific operational challenges and some a mix: regardless of where you fall, there are a number of ways to order your thoughts.

Ask yourself: What have you and your team been doing over the last year or so? What are you most proud of? What’s been a surprise? How have you impacted performance? What’s been painful? Who’s been impressed? This should start to create a list of projects or activities for you to consider as a potential award submission.

Brainstorm

I’d suggest sketching a very simple five minute outline for each of these projects around the following topics:

• What business challenge was this project seeking to address?
• How does it link with the business plan?
• Who were the stakeholders?
• What specific benefits, improvements or changes did you want to deliver?
• What solutions did you consider and why - and which did you choose?
• How did you implement, were there any problems or pleasant surprises?
• What benefits did you deliver? Were they as planned?
• Was it worthwhile?

When you have answered these questions, you will have a much clearer idea of those projects worthy of recognition.

I haven’t yet mentioned any award specifics and that’s deliberate because unless you can answer these basics, you won’t find it easy to compose any application. In this way, you avoid getting caught up in details too early.

Tailor your application

Register in good time, you’ll see all the requirements and, if payment is required, you shouldn’t have to pay until the end of the process - just in case you don’t complete. The Training Journal Awards are free to enter so a great place to start.

Once you have your outline, review the categories to identify which is best suited to your project. This may require a little re-framing to fit well. For example, work setting up a call centre could be considered within ‘customer experience’, ‘commercial programme’ or even ‘training partnership’ categories. With 14 categories in this year’s TJ Awards to chose from, you and your team will be able to find somewhere to highlight that fantastic work you’ve been doing.

Now have a look at the award category headings and how you can distribute your story throughout. Their instructions may identify other information you haven’t considered, so this is a great opportunity to add to your story, as required. Be aware that each category in the same award may ask for different information; this may assist you in deciding which category your activity best fits.

Do you have any proof?

Evaluation is worthy of special mention. Happy sheets don’t cut the mustard: they’re generally only useful to tweak your admin. What really matters is business impact and this is where you tie up the initial challenge with proof that you delivered benefits. Perhaps they were more or less than anticipated, do you know why? Does it matter? What did you learn? Are you doing more? Asking the business, reviewing before and after metrics and reviewing as time progresses all give you insight.

Hard data is necessary in business but doesn’t give the whole picture, particularly from a ‘people’ perspective. Why not consider information from participants, their managers or business heads a few months down the line when changes may start to be seen? This goes for both large and small activities. If 75% of managers now feel more confident in dealing with a particular issue, that’s as useful to discover as the fact that there is a 20% reduction in the occurrence of this problem. It paints a more fulsome picture and, as Brené Brown said, ‘stories are just data with a soul.’

You’re ready to submit

Now, you’re ready to complete the submission. If this is undertaken online, it’s safer to complete offline in Word and then cut and paste: many of us can remember that sick feeling when an internet connection goes down along with an hour’s unique creativity. I’d definitely avoid experiencing that…

Do note the word count requirements and, in particular, the relative numbers. I would suggest that a 500 word section is more important to judges than one requiring 200. Some awards may detail scoring and clearly this can give you a steer. That said, don’t waffle – volume never makes up for quality.

As TJ’s Category Champion and lead judge, I am particularly keen for you to enter your TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME into my category so that me and my fellow judges will have loads of good stuff to discuss. We take our roles seriously and enjoy reviewing your challenges, solutions and impact; there’s always something for us to learn, too! We will review all the entries and determine a shortlist of six organisations who will then be interviewed later in the year.

So, who won the Gold last year? It was Darlington Building Society's Growing our Own programme.

Great engagement from the chief executive set the scene for the success of this project. With clear recognition and evidence that a strong people strategy delivers demonstrable business performance, this on-going programme is a worthy TJ winner.

It’s free to enter. Yes, really! There’s still time as the entries close on 12 June and we even provide hints and tips including some panel webinars hosted by Jo Cook. Why not take a look at the categories where you will also be able to access further information and get this year's submission underway.

If you are a business and would like to gain great PR coverage amongst the professional L&D and Training community during the run up to the stunning Awards Gala and on the sparkling night itself, you could sponsor my BEST TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME category. Please get in touch with me ASAP so that you can maximise the value of your involvement.

• Entries close: 12 June 2019
• Shortlist announced: 29 July
• Interviews: Mid-September
• Gala Awards dinner at the Tower: 3 December

Good luck! I look forward to receiving your entries soon.