We were shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Ir. Tony Roland Silitonga, MBM, MBA, DBAcan, a regular judge for the Stevie Awards, most recently for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, His family informed us that he had passed away on April 15 after battling lung disease and diabetes, and our thoughts are with them at this time.

It also caused us to look more closely at the illustrious career of a man we had come to see as a good friend of the Stevie Awards.

Tony was a judge who took his responsibilities seriously, and last fall he received a prize for his contribution to judging the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  He and his wife attended our 12th annual awards dinner on Friday, November 13, 2015, in New York City, and we were honored to have met him and to have been able to thank him in person for his generous contribution to the important process of judging our Stevie Awards.

(Tony is featured in the center of the above photo. This picture was taken during his trip to the United States last October/November, and this is how we will remember him: a happy and outgoing man.)

Tony had a distinguished career: he had been on the Board of Trustees of the Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorship since October 2012. The IICD is a not-for-profit organization founded by ten highly reputable Indonesian Business Schools and preeminent individuals.  Tony had been a lecturer to Post Graduates at universities such as De La Salle University-The Philippines, Swiss German University, Universitas Indonesia (UI), Universitas Gajah Mada (UGM), Universitas Brawijaya, and Universitas Sriwiijaya. From 2010, Tony had also been Chairman of The Board of Management of the Forestry Research Institute for Public Policy, Economic, and Community Development (FORESPECT), a Research company on Forestry Development, and Eco Green activities

Tony had more than 30 years of professional experience across different countries and industries, and had worked with different multinationals including IBM, ARCO Oil & Gas (now BP Indonesia), Standard Chartered Bank (The Philippines), Merrill Lynch (USA), China Development Industrial Bank (Taiwan), Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA/BPPN), and Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorships. He was also a founder member of the Indonesian Finance Association, Forestry Research Program on Education & Cultural Transformation, and Sentra Pemimpin Asia, a John Maxwell Leadership Company.

Tony graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology in Petroleum Engineering. He obtained his Master in Business Management (MBM) in Finance and Strategic Management from the Asian Institute of Management, Makati, Philippines, and his MBA in finance from Columbia Business School, New York, USA.

The Stevie® Awards is accepting entries for the first annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers, which will honor the world’s best companies to work for and the HR teams and professionals, HR achievements, new products and services, and suppliers that help to create and drive great workplaces.

The final entry deadline is June 8, but late entries will be accepted through July 20 with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/HR

Other Stevie Awards programs such as The American Business Awards and The International Business Awards offer human resources categories, but The Stevie Awards recognized the need for more specific HR awards categories. Today we will highlight the New Product & Services categories in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers.This is the first time these categories are availble for HR-related products and services.

REQUEST THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The New Product & Services categories in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers will recognize software, training programs or media, and curated training platforms. See entry requirements and all of the categories offered below.

The information requirements for entries in these categories in the 2016 competition include:

a.  An essay of up to 625 words describing the nominated product or service: its benefits, features, functions, and sales results to date.

b.  Summarize in up to 10 bullet points (up to 150 words) the chief benefits, features, and functions of the nominated product or service.

c.  Add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges.  These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. 

SOFTWARE

F01      360 Degree Feedback Solution - New
F02      360 Degree Feedback Solution - New Version
F03      Applicant Assessment or Tracking Solution - New
F04      Applicant Assessment or Tracking Solution – New Version
F05      Attendance Tracking Solution - New
F06      Attendance Tracking Solution - New Version
F07      Benefits Management Solution - New
F08      Benefits Management Solution - New Version
F09      Compensation Management Solution - New
F10      Compensation Management Solution - New Version
F11      Course Authoring Solution - New
F12      Course Authoring Solution - New Version
F13      Employee Engagement Solution - New
F14      Employee Engagement Solution - New Version
F15      Employee Recognition Solution - New
F16      Employee Recognition Solution - New Version
F17      Employee Scheduling Solution - New
F18      Employee Scheduling Solution - New Version
F19      HR Reporting Solution - New
F20      HR Reporting Solution - New Version
F21      Human Capital Management Solution - New
F22      Human Capital Management Solution - New Version
F23      Human Resource Information System - New
F24      Human Resource Information System - New Version
F25      Human Resource Management System - New
F26      Human Resource Management System - New Version
F27      Job Board Solution - New
F28      Job Board Solution - New Version
F29      Learning Management Solution - New
F30      Learning Management Solution - New Version
F31      Onboarding Solution - New
F32      Onboarding Solution - New Version
F33      Payroll Management Solution - New
F34      Payroll Management Solution - New Version
F35      Performance Appraisal Solution - New
F36      Performance Appraisal Solution - New Version
F37      Performance Management Solution - New
F38      Performance Management Solution - New Version
F39      Self-Service HR Solution - New
F40      Self-Service HR Solution - New Version
F41      Talent Management Solution - New
F42      Talent Management Solution - New Version
F43      Time and Expense Solution - New
F44      Time and Expense Solution - New Version
F45      Workforce Management Solution - New
F46      Workforce Management Solution - New Version

TRAINING PROGRAMS OR MEDIA

May be blended, instructor-led, microlearning, video or web-based. 

F50      Brand Training
F51      Compliance Training
F52      Consumer Education Training
F53      Diversity or Sensitivity Training
F54      Interpersonal Skills Training
F55      Leadership Training
F56      Literacy Training
F57      Managerial Training
F58      New Hire Training
F59      Problem-Solving Training
F60      Product Training
F61      Professional or Legal Training
F62      Quality Training
F63      Safety Training
F64      Sales Training
F65      Skills Training
F66      Systems Training
F67      Technical Training
F68      Other

CURATED TRAINING PLATFORM OF THE YEAR

F70      Consumer
F71      Industrial/Technical
F72      Managerial/Professional
F73      Technology
F74      Other

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, today announced the winners of three Grand Stevie Award trophies in its third annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the only awards to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout the entire 22-nation Asia-Pacific region.  All organizations in the region are eligible to submit nominations.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the various categories were announced on April 20.  Those awards were determined by the average scores of more than 50 executives worldwide earlier this year. 

All awards will be presented to winners during a gala event at the Westin Hotel in Sydney, Australia on Friday, May 27.  Tickets for the event are now on sale. 

The three Grand Stevie Award winners announced today are:

• Telkom Indonesia, winner of the Grand Stevie for Organization of the Year for the second year in a row. The leading telecommunications and network services provider in Indonesia won the most award points in the competition this year – 36 – earned for five Gold, eight Silver, and six Bronze Stevie wins in a variety of categories for innovation.  Each Gold win earns three points, each Silver win two points, and each Bronze 1.5 points for the Grand Stevie-winner calculation.
• The Korean Ministry of the Interior won a Grand Stevie for submitting the highest-rated nomination in the competition this year: the story of its innovative community relations campaign to spur continuous reform in local finance. The MInistry communicated with many different stakeholders through various media and digital content.
• BRiN of Sydney, Australia, which submitted the highest-scoring nomination from the host nation of this year’s awards ceremony: the story of the creation of the world’s first 24-hour small business TV channel.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 17 nations including Australia, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Qatar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.S.A., and Vietnam. More than 600 nominations about innovative achievements in the 22-nation APAC region were considered by the judges this year.

“We are very pleased with the results of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, with the growth in the number of entries and the depth and breadth of the stories of business innovation that we received,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  “We are very much looking forward to greeting and celebrating this year’s winners in Sydney on 27 May.”

Details about the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners are available at http://Asia.Stevieawards.com.

About the Stevie® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Max Ash is the 11-year-old "chief creator" of MAX'IS Creations, the Boston-based company whose motto is "The world would be better if we could play with our food!^TM"  Max just became the youngest-ever winner of a Stevie® Award when he won the Gold Stevie for Product Developer of the Year in The 14th Annual American Business Awards.  (Winners were announced on Monday, May 2.) 

Here is Max's story, just as he presented it to the ABA judges, some of the most accomplished people in the world of business.

"I have lots of ideas. But, The Mug With A Hoop!^TM is my best so far. In 2nd grade art class my teacher told us to make a mug.  I like sports and hot chocolate so I put a hoop on my mug for tossing marshmallows into hot cocoa.  I pitched my idea at Babson College and was named a top ten finalist in an innovation contest at Fenway Park. I ran a successful crowdfunding campaign, found a sourcing partner to allow large scale manufacturing overseas, and launched on the market in 2014.  Now, with LOTS of help from my mom, dad and brother Sam, MAX’IS Creations has become a profitable family business!

"In the last year, my team and I launched a multi-sport product line that now includes The Mug With A Glove! ^TM, The Mug With A Goalpost! ^TM, The Soccer Mug With A Goal! ^TM, and The Hockey Mug With A Net!^TM   We sold over 27,500 mugs in 2015 (that’s over $665,000 in retail sales across channels) bringing the total retail sales to over $1 Million since first launching on the market in June of 2014.  Based on industry norms, that’s a LOT of mugs!  

"My mugs created a whole new market. Adults like my mugs because they make them feel like kids again.  And kids like my mugs because they’re fun. My mugs are sold at places like Nordstrom, The Grommet, Uncommongoods, Hammacher Schlemmer, and the Basketball Hall of Fame! The Mug With A Hoop! ^TM is currently a top selling mug on Amazon.

"Lots of other great things happened in 2015. I got my first patent (at age 10) with additional design and utility patents pending.  I signed my first licensing deal with Typo/Cotton On who quickly sold through the Basketball Mug!  And I entered into a partnership with Boelter Brands, a major licensed drinkware company to bring MAX’IS Creations licensed mugs to market.  An NCAA March Madness program is currently underway with NBA, MLB, MLS, NFL, NHL mugs coming next!

"In the past year, me and my mugs have been featured in places like The Boston Globe, CNN Money and Gift Shop Magazine, with product placements on Real Simple, Woman’s Day and Buzzfeed.  A Vat-19 video of my mug went viral with over 4 million views! Queen Latifah featured me on her show and my basketball and hockey mugs made separate appearances on The Today Show!  

"I happen to have dyslexia, a language-based learning disability often linked to creativity. Kids like me see the world differently and the world is lucky that we do! 1 in 5 kids in the U.S. struggles with learning and attention issues related to reading, writing, math, organization and attention. People with learning and attention issues can thrive when they get the support they need. That’s why I donate five percent of the profits from the sale of my mugs to dyslexia-related charities and nonprofits like Understood.org, which are dedicated to empowering parents of kids like me.

"In the last year I shared the stage with people like Daymond John, John Legend and others to showcase the creative advantage of people with dyslexia.  We recently updated my packaging to feature Understood.org as a public service announcement for this great resource.  Since January 2015 I have donated thousands of dollars to dyslexia-related causes and over 1000 mugs to charity.  Being honored by the Stevie Awards will help people see that kids like me are smart and can achieve success with the right supports. Imagine what other good ideas our world will have when ALL kids who think and learn differently are understood!

Congratulations Max, we look forward to presenting your Gold Stevie Award to you on June 20 at The American Business Awards gala in New York.

Simon Hardy, Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive in Vancouver, Canada, has been named as the Chair of the Website & Apps Judging Committee of The 2016 (13th Annual) International Business Awards. FCV won a Gold Stevie Award in the Website Categories of The 2015 International Business Awards for their redesign of the Calgary Transit website.

The 2016 International Business Awards will be accepting entries through June 15, but enter by May 11 to avoid a late entry fee. REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

We asked Simon about being named Chair, what winning the Gold Stevie Award in 2015 had meant to FCV, and what new developments he thought would most affect how companies do business in the future.

On being named Chair of The 2016 International Business Awards Judging Committee for the Website & App Awards categories, Simon observed: “This is a great honor, not only for me, but also for FCV. As we expand across Canada and into the US, it’s really exciting to be a part of The International Business Awards, recognizing work that has genuinely made a difference to an organization or an industry, and–most importantly–resulted in a better user experience.”

A Fantastic Validation

Representatives of FCV attended the 2015 International Business Awards in Toronto last October. On winning the Stevie Award for Best Website in the Transportation category, Simon commented: “We’re very proud of the Gold Stevie Award we won for our work with Calgary Transit. It was fantastic validation for a site that has transformed the digital experience for one of Canada’s most complex public transportation networks. But as a user-focused transformation agency, it also shone a spotlight on the wider range of work we’re doing in public transportation, travel and tourism, and digital government services across North America.”


Calgary Transit provides over 100 million trips every year to riders across the Canadian city. Its website had been out of date, difficult to use, and lacking in the important features that customers expect: mobile compatibility, accessibility, real-time updates, and trip planning. Calgary Transit approached FCV to design a responsive, customer-focused, future-proof website that would serve the connected riders’ every need.

Information at the Users’ Fingertips
FCV successfully delivered a mobile-friendly, customer-centric, scalable website that streamlined user tasks and integrated all transit services into one site. Features included: WCAG 2.0 (AA) accessibility, real-time service updates, improved information architecture, and responsive design.

FCV Interactive’s award-winning website for Calgary Transit launched in 2014 and transformed how riders obtained transit information. They can now access a responsively designed website via phone, tablet, and desktop. Real-time transit information is now at the fingertips of almost 20,000 daily mobile transit users.

The Future of Web Development

As an expert in this field, we asked Simon for his thoughts on what new developments in social media and web development businesses should be looking out for.

“The last year has seen a wide adoption of tools like Sketch and InVision, helping our teams to rapidly prototype, test, and iterate.” he told us. “For private and public sector organizations, this agile approach means we can transform user and brand experiences into something more powerful and meaningful much faster.”

Looking into the future, Simon added: “As more and more clients see the power of truly serving their users’ needs in order to meet business goals, I think we’re going to see some really exciting and unexpected solutions.”



Improving Digital Services

According to Simon, his job has changed over the years, but for the better. “My job used to be all about persuading people to do things,” he explained. “But over the last 10 years, as we’ve all become more and more empowered, it’s evolved into helping people to do things. Working to constantly improve private and public sector digital services with faster access to more relevant data is incredibly exciting.”

In short, Simon told us: “At FCV, the goal that motivates us across every project is always the same: to create a user-focused experience that makes life better.”

About Simon Hardy:
Simon Hardy is Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive. He leads FCV’s Design, Brand, and Content teams, creating solutions that engage customers and deliver results.

Simon is an award-winning creative director, designer, and copywriter with international experience across digital, print, and TV for brands including Starbucks, Nike, lululemon athletica, and EA Sports.  He also serves on the Digital Design Advisory Board at Vancouver Film School.

About FCV Interactive:
FCV Interactive is a user-focused transformation agency. Every day, FCV redesigns organizations and creates digital services that people love. With over a decade of expertise working with public and private sector clients, FCV delivers experiences that make life better. To learn more, visit fcvinteractive.com.

People’s Choice Stevie Awards Voting Open Through June 3

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, today opened public voting at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of its American Business Awards.

All, worldwide, are welcome to vote for their favorite new products and services in 38 categories, from consumer products and services to B2B software solutions.  Voting will close on June 3, and the top vote-getter in each category will be presented with a crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award trophy in New York on June 20 at The 14^th American Business Awards gala.

All new product and service nominees in The 2016 American Business Awards were eligible to be included in people’s choice voting. 

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.  More than 3,400 nominations were reviewed in the judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the peer-review judging were announced yesterday.  For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced yesterday, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

2016 Stevie winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  Tickets are now on sale.  The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Winners to be Celebrated in New York on June 20
(see summary of major winners by major MSA below)

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, today announced the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners in The 14th Annual American Business Awards^SM.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.  More than 3,400 nominations were reviewed in the judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners.

2016 Stevie winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  Tickets are now on sale.  The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

CallidusCloud (Dublin, CA) is the leader among Stevie Award winners, with 40 wins in a wide range of categories, including six Gold.  CallidusCloud is sure to be among the winners of the Grand Stevie Award trophies, the top overall winners in this year’s ABAs, who will be announced next week.

Winners of four Gold Stevies include CAS (Columbus, OH), Jeunesse Global (Orlando, FL), and MWW (East Rutherford, NJ). 

Notable Stevie winners include:

• 11-year-old Max Ash of MAX'IS Creations (Boston, MA), winner of the Gold Stevie for Product Developer of the Year and the youngest-ever Stevie winner
• TiVo's BOLT, Silver Stevie winner for Best New Consumer Electronics Product. Last week TiVo announced that it would be acquired by Rovi
• Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove, IL), winner of 14 Stevies
• TextRecruit (San Jose, CA), winner of three Gold Stevies including B2B Startup of the Year

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced today, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

This is the first year in which Stevie winners in The American Business Awards are announced before the awards gala.  In the ABAs’ first 13 years, finalists were announced in advance of the awards gala, but the Stevie winners weren’t revealed until the night of the presentations.   

Every new product or service nominated in The 2016 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, a worldwide public vote. Voting will open tomorrow and conclude on June 3.  People’s Choice Stevie winners will be announced the week of June 6, and will be honored during the June 20 presentations.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Key Stevie winners in some major metropolitan statistical area include, among others:

Atlanta: Arketi Group, Liaison Technologies (Alpharetta), CATMEDIA, Citi Retail Services, MessageGears, One Vision Productions, LLC (Clarkston), Panasonic Automotive Systems (Peachtree City), and QASymphony

Austin: AgileCraft, Dell (Round Rock), Epicor Software Corp, Magnitude Software, mindWireless, and Workplace Answers

Boston: Centage Corporation (Natick), Curriculum Associates (North Billerica), Enquiron, Fiksu, Fleetmatics (Waltham), Globoforce (Southborough) Harvard Business Publishing, HubSpot (Cambridge), John Hancock, MAX'IS Creations, Inc., PAREXEL International (Waltham), Progress (Bedford), Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Ve Interactive, VirtusaPolaris (Westborough), and ZipCar (Cambridge)

Chicago: Accenture , Applied Systems (University Park), BMO Capital Markets, Empire Today (Northlake), Endurance (Northbrook), Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove), Peapod (Skokie), SIM Partners, and Wheels, Inc. (Des Plaines)

Dallas: ACTIVE Network, AT&T, Monitronics Security (Farmers Branch), Omnitracs, LLC, Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth), and USHEALTH Advisors (Grapevine)

Denver & Boulder: EffectiveUI (Denver), Level 3 Communications (Broomfield), SolidFire (Boulder), and Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy (Denver)

Detroit: Critical Signal Technologies (Novi), Farbman Group (Southfield), George P. Johnson (Auburn Hills), Great Expressions Dental Centers (Bloomfield Hills), and Shinola (Detroit)

Houston: Effex Management Solutions, Gorilla Safety, PROS, Inc., Signet Interactive, and TopSpot Internet Marketing

Los Angeles: Christmas in Hollywood (Hollywood), Dollar Shave Club (Venice), Ixia (Calabasas), j2 Global® Cloud Services (Hollywood), PMK*BNC (Los Angeles), and ZipRecruiter (Santa Monica)

Miami: Coastal Risk Consulting (Plantation), DCR Workforce (Boca Raton), Future Energy Solutions (Ft. Lauderdale), Lion Agency (Miami), MONAT Global (Doral), ScribeAmerica (Ft. Lauderdale), and TEAM Enterprises (Ft. Lauderdale)

Minneapolis: Ceridian, Deluxe Corporation (Shoreview), Renters Warehouse (Minnetonka), RiverSource Annuities, and RiverSource Life Insurance Company

New York: Broadstreet, Datapipe, Inc. (Jersey City, NJ), Diligent Corporation, Fidelity Investments (Jersey City, NJ), Hudson Group (East Rutherford, NJ), Kaplan Test Prep, Makovsky & Co, MASS Communications, Momentum Worldwide, MWW (East Rutherford, NJ), ProSight Specialty Insurance (Morristown, NJ), Radware (Mahwah, NJ), Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (Mahwah, NJ), SocialCode, Squarespace, Swiss Post Solutions, Thomson Reuters, TouchBistro, TransPerfect, VertaMedia LLC, and W Magazine

Philadelphia: Broadview Networks (King of Prussia), GetResponse Inc. (Wilmington, DE), Karma Agency, LCG, Ltd. & H.E.L.P.® Legal Plan (Bala Cynwyd), Nutrisystem (Fort Washington), and Worldwide Clinical Trials (King of Prussia)

Phoenix: Allbound (Scottsdale), Beyond20, Casino Arizona (Scottsdale), Digital Air Strike (Scottsdale), Isagenix International (Gilbert), The James Agency (Scottsdale), KEO Marketing Inc., Talking Stick Resort (Scottsdale), and Yeager Marketing

Salt Lake City: 4Life Research (Sandy), 97th Floor (Lehi), IHG, Morinda, Inc. (American Fork), SnappConner PR (South Jordan), and USANA Health Sciences

San Diego: AMN Healthcare, Amobee, The Control Group, PACIFIC, Qualcomm, Red Door Interactive, and RippleNami, Inc. (Cardiff)

San Jose: Cisco Systems, Electric Cloud, EMC, Malwarebytes, PayPal, RiseSmart, TextRecruit, TiVo Inc., and Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

San Francisco: Blueshift Labs, ClearSlide, CoreOS, Demandbase, DocuSign, Godfrey Q, Grow Marketing, Scality, SquareTrade, STRV, Teridion, and Wells Fargo Treasury Management

Seattle: Avalara, Capital One Investing, Microsoft Corporation (Redmond), Talking Rain Beverage Company, and T-Mobile US, Inc. (Bellevue)

Silicon Valley: Actiontec Electronics (Sunnyvale), BDNA (Mountain View), Clinovo (Sunnyvale), Cloudinary (Palo Alto), Host Analytics (Redwood City), Intuit (Mountain View), Jasper (Santa Clara), Nexenta Systems, Inc., (Santa Clara), RiskSense (Sunnyvale), Robin Systems (Milpitas), Simility (Palo Alto), SnapLogic (San Mateo), Tanis Communications (Mountain View), Tintri (Mountain View), TriNet (San Leandro), Vendavo (Mountain View), and WebAction, Inc. (Palo Alto)

Washington, DC: Applied Predictive Technologies (Arlington, VA), Bloomberg BNA Software (Arlington, VA), Clarabridge (Reston, VA), CSC (Falls Church, VA), Cvent (Tysons Corner, VA), Deltek (Herndon, VA), GTT Communications (McLean, VA), ICMA-RC, Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD), Meals on Wheels America (Arlington, VA), Merkle (Columbia, MD), Milk Processor Education Program, Neocate (Rockville, MD), Transurban USA (Alexandria, VA), U.S. Green Building Council, and Vistaprint Digital Services (Silver Spring, MD)

The Stevie® Awards is accepting entries for the first annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers, which will honor the world’s best companies to work for and the HR teams and professionals, HR achievements, new products and services, and suppliers that help to create and drive great workplaces.

Other Stevie Awards programs such as The American Business Awards and The International Business Awards have human resources categories, but The Stevie Awards recognized the need for more specified HR awards categories. Today we will highlight the HR Achievements categories in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers. No other competition offers these category varieties.

The early-bird entry deadline with reduced entry fees is Wednesday, May 4.

The final entry deadline is June 8, but late entries will be accepted through July 20 with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/HR

REQUEST THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

HR Achievement categories:

These categories recognize specific achievements - individual, team, or organizational - since the beginning of 2015.

The information requirements for entries in these categories in the 2016 competition include:
a.  An essay of up to 625 words describing the nominated achievement(s).  Describe for the judges the genesis, development, deployment, and results of the achievement(s) to date.

1. Summarize in up to 10 bullet points (up to 150 words) the chief features and results of the nominated achievement(s).
2. Add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges.  These might be press articles, press releases, videos, work samples, internal or external reviews, or employee feedback, for example. 

B01     Achievement in Benefits Design and Administration       
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to benefits design and/or administration since the beginning of 2015.

B02     Achievement in Compensation Design and Administration       
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to compensation program design and/or administration since the beginning of 2015.

B03     Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion    
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workplace or workforce diversity and/or inclusion since the beginning of 2015.

B04     Achievement in Employee Engagement    
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to employee engagement or motivation since the beginning of 2015.

B05     Achievement in Employee Relations          
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to employee relations since the beginning of 2015.

B06     Achievement in HR Technology     
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the design, development, deployment, and/or administration of HR-related systems or technologies since the beginning of 2015.

B07     Achievement in Human Resources Administration         
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the administration of an organization's total HR organization since the beginning of 2015.

B08     Achievement in Internal Communications
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to internal communications programs or campaigns since the beginning of 2015.

B09     Achievement in New Employee Onboarding        
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to the onboarding, assimilation, and training of new employees since the beginning of 2015.

B10     Achievement in Recruitment          
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's new-employee or executive recruitment efforts since the beginning of 2015.

B11     Achievement in Workforce Development and Learning 
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to workforce learning or training since the beginning of 2015.

B12     Achievement in Workplace Design
Recognizing the design of workplaces that promote engagement, productivity, and employee wellbeing.   There is no eligibility timeframe for this category - it doesn't matter when the workplace's current design or configuration was established.

1. for up to 10 employees
   b. for up to 100 employees
   c. for more than 100 employees - single location
   d. for more than 100 employees - multiple locations        

B13     Achievement in Workplace Health & Wellbeing  
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's efforts to promote and protect workforce health and wellbeing since the beginning of 2015.

B14     Achievement in Workplace Safety & Compliance           
Recognizing notable single achievements, or a series of achievements, related to an organization's programs to promote workforce compliance and workplace safety since the beginning of 2015.

Richa Ramola is Vice President Human Resources at Radius Global Solutions in Mumbai, India. As one of the more active judges in the 2016 Asia Pacific Stevie Awards, she contributed to judging submissions in the Company, Management, HR, Customer Service, and Creative Awards categories.

See the full list of Asia-Pacific Stevie-winners here.  

We asked Richa about the judging process, what she thought about the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, and what most interested her about her own work.

Judging the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, Richa told us, had been an enriching experience. “I have enjoyed judging each entry for the awards. There is so much learning and so much innovation that has been shared by the participants, and that gives us insight to intelligent processes and work being done across a variety of organizations in different countries.”

Apply here if you would like to be considered as a judge for the 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

As someone who judged entries in multiple categories this year, we asked Richa for her overall impression of entries to the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  “I can see organizations competing amongst each other for this coveted award, and there are so many more entries this year,” she commented. “The competition is getting tougher!”

This year, the judges were divided into committees by category group and by language.  The judges who participate in the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have their own competition: two of them will win a pair of tickets to attend the Awards Presentations in Sydney, Australia, at the end of May.  Richa is hoping she will be one of this year’s contenders. “Sydney is such a beautiful city and I would love to visit it! And being part of the Awards Ceremony would make it all the more exciting,” she told us.

Richa works in the Mumbai office of Radius Global Solutions, which has its corporate headquarters in Ambler, Pennsylvania, USA. The company is hoping to expand into the Asia Pacific region in the near future.

As Vice President Human Relations at Radius, Richa loves her work. “People are our most valued assets, and our HR department has a very important role to play in creating a strong culture where our employees enjoy coming to work each day,” she explained. “Developing our people and seeing them grow in their work makes me happy and inspires me to continue to build a culture where people love to work and want to grow.”

About Richa Ramola:

Richa is currently the Vice President HR for Radius Global Solutions' India site. Prior to this role, she had 19 years of experience across well-known organizations such as ITC Hotels, SITEL, and IBM. She has work experience across functions including Customer Service, Operations, Quality, Training, and Human Resources.

In her current role, Richa is responsible for leading HR strategy for the India site and executing it successfully. She acts as a business partner to the organization’s senior management, sharing best practices, HR support, guidance, and advice with the India leadership. She manages all HR activities across the site, developing, implementing, and communicating HR practices, policies and programs.

About Radius Global Solutions:

Radius Global Solutions, headquartered near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, is a leading provider of accounts receivable, customer relations, and revenue cycle management solutions. Radius was established on the principle of innovation. The company attracts the best people, empowers them with a progressive business culture, and enables them with next-generation technology. Radius is at the forefront of compliance. Its commitment to meeting the challenges of an ever-changing regulatory environment provides tangible and measurable benefits to its clients. With more than a century of experience in the industry, the Radius team has the knowledge and expertise to provide reliable, consistent service. Radius delivers the results its clients expect and deserve. For more information go to www.radiusgs.com/

With The 13^th Annual International Business Awards entry deadline being just a few weeks away, today we will highlight the new awards categories this year.

A variety of new categories are introduced for the 2016 competition including Technology PR Campaign / Program of the Year, and Re-Branding / Brand Renovation of the Year. The 34 Company of the Year categories have each been split into three categories, based on company size (small, medium-size, and large). See more about each category below.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The final entry deadline is May 11. Late entries will be accepted through June 15 with payment of a late fee. These are the world's premier business awards, each year attacting nominations from organizations in more than 60 nations and territories. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE

New for 2016:

The Technology PR Campaign / Program of the Year category entails:

• Technology: campaign/programs in the technology sector, including business-to-business and consumer campaigns. 

The Marketing Re-branding / Brand Renovation of the Year category entails:

• Re-Branding / Brand Renovation of the Year: for campaigns that recreated or repositioned an existing brand. 

Company of the Year:

May be for-profit or non-profit, public or private, large or small.  Each of these industry categories now has three sub-categories:

• Small (≤ 50 employees and turnover ≤ €10 m / $11 million)
• Medium-size (≤ 250 employees and turnover ≤ €50 m / $55 million)
• Large (> 250 employees and turnover > €50 m / $55 million)

B01.    Accounting
B02.    Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations
B03.    Aerospace & Defense
B04.    Automotive & Transport Equipment
B05.    Banking
B06.    Business or Professional Services
B07.    Chemicals
B08.    Computer Hardware
B09.    Computer Software
B10.    Computer Services
B11.    Conglomerates
B12.    Consumer Products - Durables
B13.    Consumer Products - Non-Durables
B14.    Diversified Services
B15.    Electronics
B16.    Energy
B17.    Financial Services
B18.    Food & Beverage
B19.    Health Products & Services
B20.    Hospitality & Leisure
B21.    Insurance
B22.    Internet/New Media
B23.    Legal
B24.    Manufacturing
...and more.

An international judging panel of more than 200 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. Results will be announced in mid-August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Rome, Italy on October 21.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Management Awards 
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards 
• Human Resources Awards 
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards 
• New Product Awards 
• Public Relations Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards