“Aren’t there just awards for everything nowadays?”
Well, it’s true that there are many different awards out there, capturing the very best of what’s going on in every sector and industry, but wouldn’t it be much worse if we were to limit what could be awarded and, in doing so, alienate those businesses and individuals whose activities (and associated talents) are much less common?
Everyone needs to aim high
OK, being The Awards People you may expect us to support the fact that the awards industry is blooming; after all, doesn’t our business rely upon that being the case? But we genuinely believe that it is a good thing to have aspirational goals regardless of how niche your business is or how unique your individual activities are. Catch-all categories in bigger awards such as ‘innovation’ or ‘ethical trading’ are of course accessible to all, but there is still a need to recognise those who stand out, head and shoulders above others operating within the same industry.
Getting independent verification
Benchmarking has been an accepted practice within businesses over many generations. It has always been seen to be important to establish whether the product you are making (or the service you are providing) meets relevant standards in terms of quality, safety, value etc. and that it compares favourably to everything else out there. Entering awards is simply a (fairly) modern way of achieving this kind of comparison – but with the added advantage that it is being done by someone outside of the business itself. Internal assessments and critiques are great, but they still don’t match the strong sense of pride to be felt when you have been judged independently and found to be worthy.
With many additional benefits
Of course, there are a multitude of other reasons to enter awards and we’ve covered most of them within earlier blogs on this very page. Never neglecting the chance to provide a quick reminder, we thought this might be a good point to re-iterate some of the many additional benefits – other than the shiny trophy itself – to entering business awards: –
- Boosting employee engagement
- Encouraging contact from prospective clients
- Introducing amazing networking opportunities
- Heightening awareness and company exposure
If awards were merely for awards sake, we wouldn’t hear the wonderful stories of success which are shared by our clients, friends and colleagues when they tell us of the huge impact a win (or even a finalist shortlisting) has had on them and their whole organisation.
The fakes are easy to spot
It is true that there may be situations where awards can be ‘bought’ or ‘earned’ simply by participating and this is, we feel, a whole separate issue. In these cases, the award is most definitely devalued but we, and most other decent business folks, know what these events are and thankfully give them a very, very wide berth. Generally, they very seldom last much longer than their inaugural event as people are wise to such things and reserve their attention and admiration for the awards which they know are won through hard work and genuine achievement.
On a lighter note
At The Awards People we have just recently been looking at The Awards Awards (yes, there is such a thing!). These recognise and showcase the talents of awards professionals; those who create inspiring categories and produce events to capture the imagination and joy of those who participate. A quick glance on this awards website(https://awardsawards.co.uk/) illustrates just how diverse and inclusive the awards calendar can be. Regardless of who you are or what you do, there is a way to ensure that your efforts go neither unnoticed nor unrewarded and we, for sure, embrace this as being a very good thing!
