Call for Entries Deadline: Sept. 20, 2024

Showcase Your Work in the Premier Internal Communications Award Program!

Ragan's Employee Communications Awards is the premier program recognizing excellence in internal communications. This prestigious awards program honors the most innovative and impactful internal communications campaigns and initiatives from the past year, showcasing the talents and achievements of the industry's best.

Entering Ragan's Employee Communications Awards is your opportunity to benchmark your work against the top internal comms teams from around the world. This is your chance to shine, to prove that your team is leading the way in creating engaging, effective internal communications that make a difference.

Don't miss your chance to have your hard work recognized on a global stage. Imagine the prestige and pride of being named a finalist or winner, setting your team apart as a leader in the industry. Ensure your team is among them by entering your standout campaigns.

Join us in 2025 at the Ragan Awards Gala, where finalists will be honored, and winners will be announced. This is an event you won't want to miss, filled with celebration, networking and inspiration from the brightest minds in internal communications. Make sure your team is part of this unforgettable experience.

Enter now for your opportunity to secure your place among the elite in employee communications.

CATEGORIES

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

 Best Overall Intranet

Creativity. Collaboration. Connection. What was your strategy when you pulled it all together? How does your intranet set the tone for your organization, empower and engage employees, reduce email and influence your organization’s culture? Tell us how and why it makes your staff more productive, collaborative, confident and cheerful. Share screenshots, testimonials and results. Tell us how your intranet made your organization better.

 Best In-Office Work Experience/Culture

This category celebrates organizations that have created an exceptional in-office work experience that promotes communication, collaboration and employee satisfaction. Entries should showcase the initiatives, programs or cultural elements that make the in-office environment engaging and supportive for employees.

 Best Remote Work Experience/Culture

Work life is a little different now. How have you made the experience fun and productive for your remote workforce? What benefits, tools or experiences have your offered? We want to know how you make WFH life more enjoyable for your employees.

 Employee Communication Campaign of the Year

Did you capture the attention of your entire organization? What channels did you use to share your message and create a comprehensive internal campaign? What was the story you were trying to tell? Our judges will look at everything—your mission and goals, your strategy and tactics—and, of course, your results.

 Employee Communications Professional of the Year

This category honors an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation in employee communications. Nominees should exhibit excellence in crafting and executing strategies that have significantly improved internal communication and employee engagement.

 Employee Communications Team of the Year

Sometimes it takes a team of dedicated internal communicators to engage an organization of busy employees. Tell us how your team delivered important information to your workforce in a way that caught their eye and kept them from instantly deleting any internal material. What worked best? What was your team’s strategy, and what tactics did you use to achieve success? We want to hear it all. Share your wins and results.

COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGNS/INITIATIVES

 Alignment with External Communications

You built bridges to connect your internal and external communications teams, leading to wonderful collaboration and effective messaging. We want to hear how you worked with your external communications companions to create and deliver effective messaging for your audiences.

 Annual Report

How do you reveal the heart and soul of your organization while you impart information to stakeholders? How did you take your annual report beyond the numbers to tell a real story? Our judges will look for the personal, human touch, even in sections dealing with IT, legal and finance departments.

 Article Series

You wanted to delve deep into an untold issue, so you put together a compelling series to tell the full story. What made your story so significant it merited several installments? What did employees think about your series? How many people read every installment? We want to know how you were able to bring people back to read more of your story time and time again.

 Benefits Communication

How did you make delivering benefits information fun, entertaining and informative to employees? Do you use infographics? Video? Interactive news and updates? Tell us your goals and how you achieved them. Please include employee feedback.

 Blog

You share news using many formats, but your blog is the most popular. What topics are most successful? How has the team responsible for your blog grown its readership? Do you feature executives or celebrate staff accomplishments? We’re also interested in active comment sections if you have them. Show us your results and how you measure the blog’s popularity.

 Change Communication

Let’s face it—change can be scary, especially within an organization. When employees are kept in the dark, they fear that any change could be detrimental. Your communications kept employees in the know and at ease during turbulent times. Share how communication played a key role in making a smooth transition during periods of change.

 Community Relations

How has your organization and its employees gotten involved in your community and helped make it a better place? Do employees volunteer their time to serve in the community? Does your organization donate financial support? We want to hear about the positive impact you’re making on your community.

 Crisis Response

How did you confront and power through a crisis this past year? What was the crisis? How did you navigate the issue? Tell us what your strategy was for getting your message to the right audience in a timely and tactful manner.

 Cross-Departmental Collaboration

This category recognizes successful initiatives that have fostered collaboration between departments, leading to improved communication and organizational outcomes. Submissions should highlight strategies that broke down silos and encouraged teamwork across the company.

 CSR/ESG Report

Your organization did a lot of good this past year. We want to know how you delivered your CSR/ESG report in a compelling way. How did you communicate the results to your stakeholders in a way that told the deeper story? What were the results? Share the details. We’ll consider either digital or print versions.

 Email Communication

Email still reigns supreme as a communications channel. We want to hear how your email messaging delivered important news in engaging ways. Don’t forget to share the goals, strategy, execution and metrics.

 Employee Advocacy Program

This category celebrates programs that empower employees to be advocates for their organization. Entries should demonstrate how the program has encouraged employees to share company messages, build brand loyalty and enhance the organization's reputation.

 Employee E-Letters

This category highlights the effectiveness of electronic newsletters in keeping employees informed, engaged and connected. Submissions should showcase creative content, design and strategies that have made e-letters a vital tool for internal communication.

 Employee Retention

This category honors strategies and programs that have successfully improved employee retention by fostering a positive and supportive work environment. Entries should demonstrate the impact of these efforts on reducing turnover and enhancing employee satisfaction.

 Employee-Generated Content

Employees are your best advocates. Tell us about the impressive content they created and shared, organically. Did it give insight into the culture at your organization? Did it help shed light on your organization's mission and values? What was the content and what made it so special?

 Employer Branding

We want to hear about your employee experience—and how you got the word out about it. What did it say about your workplace? What were the results?

 Executive/Leadership Communication

Your organization’s leaders are often viewed as mysterious, intimidating and out of reach. What did you do to make your executives more relatable and human? Reveal your creative ideas and share employee and management feedback.

 Feature Article

What story were you hoping to tell with this feature article? We want to see an impressive combination of a compelling headline, a magnificent lead, in-depth reporting and a creative vision. How did employees respond to the story? Share both metrics and comments.

 HR Communication

This category recognizes excellence in HR communication initiatives that have effectively conveyed important information, policies or changes to employees. Submissions should highlight clear, engaging and accessible communication that has positively impacted the workforce.

 Hybrid Communication Strategy

This category celebrates innovative communication strategies designed to support a hybrid work environment, seamlessly connecting in-office and remote employees. Entries should demonstrate how these strategies have maintained engagement, collaboration and information flow across different work settings.

 Innovation in Internal Communications

The status quo just wasn’t cutting it. So, you dreamed up creative new strategies, tactics, initiatives, content, campaigns or ideas that delivered impressive results for your internal audience. Tell us all about the ways you’ve transformed some aspects of your internal comms.

 Internal Branding Campaign

This category honors campaigns that have successfully strengthened the internal brand, aligning employees with the organization's mission, values and goals. Submissions should showcase how the campaign resonated with employees and reinforced the company culture.

 Internal Email

Internal emails are typically met with yawns, eyerolls, a quick skim and a delete—but not in your case. Tell us how you delivered essential information in a way that engaged employees. Share metrics, screenshots, outcomes and any feedback that proves your success.

 Interview or Profile

You conducted an interview that gave an inside look at the personal or career journey of one of your employees. Why were they selected for the interview and how did the story impress your readers? How did you pull the story together to throw light on someone’s life and enrich your organization’s culture? We want to know how you highlighted one of your employees to better connect with your entire organization.

 Magazine

Does your internal publication rival those on newsstands? We want to see magazines that combine visually arresting photography with fantastic storytelling. How do you decide which information is most useful for your employees? We want to know what successes you’ve achieved with your magazine. How do you measure your success?

 Manager Communication

When managers and their direct reports are on the same page, your organization is in a much better place. How did you ensure clear, open communication between managers and employees? What positive outcomes and new ideas that this produce? We want to hear it all.

 Measurement and Data

Diving into metrics can shape a successful employee communications program or campaign. How did tracking and monitoring employees’ engagement drive your internal communications? Did this help you craft captivating content that received tons of engagement? Share the metrics, details, strategy and content that captured the attention of your workforce.

 Mission and Values Communication

We want to know how your organization's mission and values are expressed, demonstrated and illuminated in your internal and executive communications. How are you working with your executives to craft messages that acknowledge the needs of the business and align with your organization’s mission and values?

 Newsletter

How does your newsletter engage employees and deliver important information about your organization at the same time? What in your design makes employees want to read more? What information do you include? How do you communicate the most important information? Links, screenshots and feedback are essential.

 Partnership with Human Resources

You and HR worked in perfect harmony. How did you work together to deliver important news, updates, resources, etc. to your employees? What was the employee response? We want to know what worked and hear about the successful tactics.

 Podcast

You have a lot of information to share with employees, and a podcast was the perfect medium for your message. How did your podcast improve the effectiveness of your internal communications strategy? How did you get people excited about it? Share your plan, audio files and the metrics that prove its success.

 Pulse Survey

You make sure your employees’ voices are heard. Tell us about your regular surveys and what insight you gleaned from these questions and responses. How did you use the results to improve your internal communications? Did this lead to any new, exciting ideas? We want to hear all about the survey and the responses.

 Rebranding

Your organization is evolving, and you have to put together a campaign to reflect the changing tide. How have you updated your image with a new mission, culture and aesthetic? How did you announce it to your team? How did you engage frontline employees in this difficult job? What was the feedback? We want to see the solutions this effort brought to the forefront and the impact it has had.

 Recruitment

Finding the best and brightest candidates for open positions at your organization is hard work. We want to know how you put together a campaign to attract prospective employees. How were you able to connect with the best and brightest talent, potentially without the benefit of an in-person event or meeting? Tell us about the content of your campaign, who you were looking to attract, the channels you distributed it on and why it was effective.

 Social Justice Communication

Your organization took a stand to fight for social change. What issue did you aim to address? How did you bring this issue to the forefront of public consciousness? We want to hear about the powerful communications you delivered about important issues.

 Social Media

Creating connections within offices or among global workforces is a huge task. Thankfully, social media can make it easier to build connections and break down walls in your organization. How did you motivate employees to share more than what was required of them? Tell us how using social media improved productivity and creativity. We want links, screenshots and feedback.

 Speechwriting

We want to award communicators with impressive speechwriting abilities. Tell us why a speech was the right medium for delivering your leader’s message. Share video or a written version of the speech. Don’t forget to include feedback and the impact the speech had on executive visibility, organizational transparency or employer branding.

 Storytelling

This category celebrate compelling narratives that resonate within organization, fostering a culture of connection and understanding. From captivating anecdotes to strategic campaigns, this category honors the storytellers who skillfully weave tales that inform, inspire and engage the workforce.

 Sustainability Communication

This category recognizes effective communication efforts that have promoted the organization's sustainability initiatives and engaged employees in these efforts. Entries should demonstrate how sustainability messaging has been integrated into the company culture and inspired action.

 Visual Storytelling

Tell us how you make use of visual elements for internal storytelling. Did you create a photo series to show off your new international office? Maybe a series of infographics illustrated a new internal process change for employees. Tell us how you told internal stories on your intranet with the help of visuals like photos, infographics, GIFs and more.

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

 Amazing Workplace Culture

Employees want to work at your organization—bottom line. What makes your workplace culture so appealing and welcoming?

 Brand Ambassador Program

When employees feel supported and valued, they can be your greatest brand ambassadors. How did you inspire your employees to advocate on behalf of your organization? Tell us how you encouraged employees to share their experience on social media or via other means. How did this effect perceptions of trust, reach and influence as an organization?

 Burnout Busters

Tell us about your innovative initiatives and strategies that foster a healthy work-life balance, enhance employee engagement, and cultivate a supportive and sustainable work culture.

 CSR/ESG Initiatives

Socially responsible workplaces are held in high regard, especially among younger employees. Tell us the strengths of your corporate social responsibility or environmental, social and governance program and about your success in the last year. What were your goals? We want to know how you communicated your goals to employees and got them excited about participating. Share the details.

 DE&I Commitment

You’ve created a workplace that cultivates creative thinkers and champions its diverse employees. Tell us how communications played a pivotal role in fostering this atmosphere of acceptance. What new ideas have been introduced thanks to diverse points of view? How has this led to outstanding success for your organization? Share the success of your diversity, equity and inclusion commitment.

 Employee Education/Training Program

A commitment to continuous learning is at the core of your organization. Did you offer employees financial education programs, extra training, employee development, higher education or certifications? What incentives did you create to encourage them to participate? How has this affected organizational culture and employee retention? We want to know how you were able to keep employees’ minds sharp.

 Employee Engagement

You want your culture to generate excitement. Tell us about your organization’s efforts to engage your employees. What was your goal? Your strategy? Your success? Show us your engagement results—before and after your campaign.

 Employee Recognition or Reward Program

You appreciate your employees, and you wanted to make sure they knew that. How do you shower your workforce with recognition or rewards? Why do they love the program so much? What feedback have you received? Tell us all about it.

 Employee Resource Groups

Your employees led groups that fostered a workplace that champions diversity, equity and inclusion among all employees. What was the goal of your ERGs? How did this foster career growth or benefit your organization? We want to hear how these employee-led groups benefited your employees and organization.

 Employee Volunteer Program

Service learning can inspire and motivate employees. Why is that an important component of your business, and how has it made a difference for your organization and team? How did you recruit volunteers? What project did you take on? Did employees take a day off to help build a house, volunteer at an animal shelter, plant an urban garden or do a virtual activity to help a specific cause? Tell us how you inspired your team of volunteers. How has this affected employee recruitment and retention, along with your reputation in the community?

 Employee Well-Being Program

The health and wellness of your employees is important to you. What was your strategy to promote healthier choices in the office? How did you make living a healthy lifestyle easier for your employees? What was the response? We want to see how you motivated employees to make important lifestyle changes.

 Hybrid Workplace Strategy

The "new norm" is hybrid, and your organization has thrived with this blend of in-office and remote employees. How do you keep all parties engaged? What do you do to ensure collaboration and creativity flourish among your in-office and remote workers? Tell us all about how you seamlessly connect with your workforce, regardless of where they are working.

 Internal Event Strategy

Town halls and organization-wide meetings don’t have to be boring. Tell us how you made meetings exciting and engaging for your employees. Did you add something special so your remote employees felt included? Tell us about the unique events you put together for employees, their purpose and how they’ve improved life at your organization.

 Leadership Development Program

This category spotlights initiatives that empower employees to grow, lead and thrive within the organization. From innovative training modules to mentorship programs, this category celebrates efforts to cultivate the next generation of leaders, driving success and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

 Mentorship Program

This category celebrates mentorship programs that have successfully paired employees with mentors to foster professional growth, knowledge sharing and career development. Submissions should highlight the program's impact on both mentors and mentees, as well as overall employee engagement.

 Onboarding Strategy

This category honors innovative onboarding strategies that have effectively integrated new employees into the organization, ensuring they feel welcomed, informed and prepared. Entries should showcase how the strategy has set the stage for long-term success and engagement.

 Talent Management Strategy

This category recognizes strategies that have effectively managed and developed talent within the organization, aligning employee growth with company goals. Submissions should demonstrate how the strategy has enhanced talent retention, development and overall workforce performance.

 Total Rewards Program

This category celebrates comprehensive rewards programs that have effectively motivated, retained and engaged employees. Entries should showcase the variety and impact of the rewards offered, including compensation, benefits, recognition and development opportunities.

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

 Employee App

A mobile app was the perfect solution to keeping everyone in your organization—no matter where they live and work—connected. Walk us through the pain point your organization was experiencing and how an app provided just what you needed. What kinds of content make the app informative and enjoyable? Share all of the details with us and include screenshots and creative assets unique to your app.

 HR Tool/Service

This category honors innovative HR tools or services that have significantly improved employee communication, engagement or management. Submissions should demonstrate how the tool or service has enhanced the employee experience and supported HR objectives.

 Intranet

This category recognizes the best use of an intranet to facilitate communication, collaboration and information sharing within the organization. Entries should showcase the design, functionality and impact of the intranet in connecting employees and fostering a cohesive work environment.

 Use of AI for Employee Engagement

This category recognizes innovative applications of artificial intelligence to boost employee engagement and foster a more connected and motivated workforce. Submissions should demonstrate how AI has been used to create personalized experiences, streamline communication and enhance employee interactions.

REMOTE CULTURE

 Virtual Employee Engagement

Working from home can make employee engagement a little more difficult—but not for you. Tell us about your organization’s efforts to engage your employees virtually. What was your strategy? What worked? What does success look like? Show us your engagement results—before and after your campaign.

 Virtual Events/Celebrations

You held an internal event worth celebrating. What was the event for? What were you celebrating? How did you get employees to attend the virtual event? We want to know how you delivered a successful virtual event.

 Virtual Executive Communication

Employees want to hear from their organization's leaders. How did you deliver executive communication virtually to a remote workforce? How did you make it engaging and informative? What was the employee response? What was the messaging? We want to hear it all.

 Virtual Onboarding

It’s important that new hires are well-informed of organizational practices, benefits, policies and more. But it’s a little more difficult to when you can’t meet face-to-face. We want to know how you completed the onboarding process virtually—and smoothly.

 Virtual Team Building Activities

This category celebrates creative and effective virtual team-building activities that have strengthened connections and collaboration among remote employees. Submissions should highlight how these activities have maintained team spirit and engagement in a virtual environment.

 Virtual Town Hall

Employees still expect to hear from their organization’s leaders when working remotely—and they want two-way communication. How did you orchestrate an engaging virtual town hall meeting, allowing your organization’s leadership to deliver business updates, company initiatives and more? What was the employee response? Share the goals, tactics, execution and results.

 Virtual Well-Being Programs

Working from home and not being able to socialize as often can take a toll on employees’ mental and physical health. What programs did you offer to help employees who are struggling with their mental health? How did you entice your workforce to commit to staying physically active during COVID-19? We want all the details.

 Other

Something we missed, remotely? Enter it here!

VIDEO CAMPAIGNS/INITIATIVES

 Company Overview Video

Video was the perfect way to showcase your company—we want to know why. How did your video portray the benefits and features of your company? did you share your company's values in a unique way using video? Tell us why video was the ideal medium for delivering results.

 Cultural Diversity Video

We're looking for videos that showcase how your organization champions its diverse employees and fosters an atmosphere of acceptance. Show us how diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of your organization. You've taken this beyond a statement and made it part of your organization's mission.

 Humorous Video

We’re looking for all types of videos that incorporate humor: regular installments, video news with a light touch, organization-wide lip dubs or your something even more unique. Tell us what the sober, no-nonsense goal of your video was, along with your strategy and success.

 Informational Video

Have you produced a video to train new employees, explain a new procedure, lay out a new vision or update the members of your organization? We want to see your clever ideas not solely in words, but in motion and action. Send us your goal, strategy and proof of success (and, of course, your video).

 Inspirational Video

Video has a unique power to connect with audiences on a deeply emotional level. How did you inspire your employees with your video? What was the goal of the video? What was the employee response? Share all the details—and, of course, the video.

 Interview Video

Video captures human wisdom and emotion more powerfully than any other medium. Why did you choose video to bring a person’s passion or story to life? Did you interview an employee to share his or her experience at your organization? We want to know what made your interview video a success.

 Intranet Video

How did you use intranet videos to enhance your employee communications? Was it an emotional ad, a 30-second clip, a media reel or a video testimonial? Give us the story behind the video. Tell us about its conception, growth, message and how it succeeded.

 Leadership Video

Executives can no longer sit in their ivory towers, never seen or heard from (except when addressing a dicey situation). Employees want a connected, two-way channel of communication. Video has the wonderful power to convey a leader’s human side. How did a video help executives connect with employees? We want the details.

 Training or Orientation Video

Did you create a video to welcome new employees and share your organization’s history? Did your video train existing employees on a new process? Why was video the right medium for your message? We want to see more than talking heads and corporate jargon. Share your video with us and include metrics or feedback.

 Recruitment Video

If you aim to expand your talent pool, video is a must. Share with us the video storytelling that touched the hearts and minds of a demanding audience of potential new hires. A new generation in the workforce expects an ultra-intelligent but lighthearted and passionate picture of your organization and its doings. How did you achieve this?

 Remote Work Culture Video

This category honors videos that have effectively captured and communicated the essence of the organization's remote work culture. Entries should demonstrate how the video has conveyed the company's values, supported remote employees and enhanced the sense of community.

HOW TO ENTER

Awards Criteria

On the entry form, be sure to include a thorough synopsis explaining the purpose and scope of your project. We ask that the synopsis be 350-900 words and include the following sub-headings (when applicable):

  • Goals
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation: success, results or ROI

Be sure to follow the guidelines laid out in the category descriptions, as the judges will look for those elements when they select the winners.

You will be able to upload additional documents to your submission. We encourage you to include press releases, design concepts, videos, analytics, testimonials and anything else you feel will give us a better sense of your project. Proprietary or internal information can also be attached and will not be shared with the public.

ENTER

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

These awards are open to in-house, agency and independent communication practitioners in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Enter your work, the work of your organization or submit entries on behalf of your client.

Companies from around the world are welcome to enter as long as the entry is submitted in English.

Contact Brendan Gannon to find the perfect category for your campaign or project. You can call 312-960-4407 or email brendang@ragan.com.

This year’s program is open to any work executed between Sept. 1, 2023, and Sept. 20, 2024, inclusive.

ENTRY FEES

The fee for this program is $525 per entry into standard categories, and $575 per entry into Awards of Distinction categories.

A late fee of $275 per entry will be added to all entries received after 11:59 p.m. Central time, Sept. 20, 2024.

Do you have a campaign, project, individual or team you'd like to enter into multiple categories? Pay the original entry fee, and then only $250 for each additional category!

All entries are non-returnable and non-refundable.

All entries are non-returnable and non-refundable.

W-9 Form / Tax ID Number Request

Frequently Asked Questions

🏆 WHY SHOULD I APPLY?
Our Employee Communications Awards program is the premier award program for internal communications. It helps you measure the success of your work and prove the value of your contributions to your organization or clients. As a winner, you’ll earn publicity for your brand across our websites and social media audiences, a custom write-up about your campaign and a trophy.
🌎 WHO CAN ENTER THESE AWARDS?
Entries may be submitted by organizations worldwide. Entries must be submitted in English. The program is open to in-house, agency, independent communication practitioners and vendors in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors.
✅ CAN I ENTER TWO OR MORE CATEGORIES?
YES! In fact, we encourage you to submit your applications in multiple categories. Each category is judged discreetly, and discounted pricing applies to your 2nd category and beyond. This also increases your chances of winning.
🔎 WHAT DO THE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN ENTRIES?
Judges look for top-quality work that shows clear, bold and creative ideas that benefit your business or client. Please provide metrics or results that support your claims, and share creative collateral such as videos, visual design or websites that were a part of your project. Please look at our past award winners to see what gets recognized and rewarded.
🗓️ WHY ARE SOME DEADLINES EXTENDED?
We extend deadlines based on applicant needs and upcoming promotional opportunities.
🎤 WHEN WILL I FIND OUT RESULTS?
Ragan will recognize all finalists—and announce category winners—at a live awards gala in 2025. All entrants will be notified 3 months prior to the event.

Additional Questions

If you have any questions about the program or problems submitting your entry, please email Brendan Gannon at brendang@ragan.com.

Sponsorship Opportunities

If you are interested in sponsoring one of Ragan Communications’ award programs, please contact Morgan Einspanier at morgane@ragan.com. 

 

Ragan Communications is not responsible for international shipping fees related to trophies or certificates.