10TH ANNUAL CORPU AWARDS

It's Your Turn

From the desk of Marcia Dresner...

You’ve created a new program that everyone is raving about, or developed valuable partnerships with suppliers or colleges to create new learning opportunities for employees.

Maybe you’ve found a novel use for learning technology, or a creative approach to marketing and branding the learning organization.

Perhaps your strength lies in how well learning is aligned with the needs of the business, or in finding innovative ways to develop the company’s leaders.

Or maybe you’ve developed a leading edge metrics program.

It’s time to be recognized for your accomplishments. Applying to the 10th Annual CorpU Awards program, the oldest and most prestigious program in the industry, is the way to get that recognition.

A little history

The CorpU Awards salute corporate and government learning organizations that create exciting and impactful programs that show measurable improvements in both employee and business performance. The first awards were given out in 1999, marking this year as the 10th anniversary of the oldest awards program in the learning field.

Award winners in the first 4 years of the program included companies that not only continue to win awards today, but consider their learning organization a true strategic resource. In the early years, Infosys and TVA were winners in the alignment category and McDonald’s Hamburger University won an award for corporate-college partnerships. Measurement was a strong point for Intel’s Virtual Learning Community and Accenture’s People Enablement group. IBM’s Institute for Learning and Deloitte Consulting’s Learning Edge each won for their innovative use of technology. International awards were won by Rolls Royce and Lufthansa.

The winners sensed the value of the CorpU Awards from the start. Candy Haynes, Associate Chief Learning Officer of Deloitte Consulting, said that earning two Excellence Awards in 2002 “made a huge difference in the way in which our internal learning function, LearningEdge, is viewed by our consultants and our leadership. Our ability to successfully compete for awards of this caliber provides a great testimonial to the quality and rigor of our learning programs."

Alain Dutheil, STMicroelectronics Vice President of Strategic Planning and Human Resources, said that their second award validated the company’s approach validated the company’s approach to expanding their corporate learning to their customers and suppliers. “It also validates our commitment to employee education, which we view as key for our company’s success.”

Farmers Insurance
9th Annual Excellence Award winner in the Leadership category

Over the years, a few new categories have been added and the international awards were merged into the U.S.-based program so that all companies compete together. There have also been additional levels of awards, meaning companies can be awarded an Excellence, Best Practice or Exemplary Practice award in each category.

Participation in the CorpU Awards has increased steadily, with 20-30% growth in applications each year since 2004. International participation has also increased – more than a third of applicants came from companies headquartered outside the United States in 2007. Small companies are encouraged to apply and recent winners from smaller organizations include OhioHealth, Simonton Windows, Sunrise Communities, and Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Being Recognized

“Winning the CorpU award for Best Overall Corporate University gave us credibility with corporate leaders when we were getting started” said one learning organization leader. “They knew we were doing something right.”

"It validates our commitment to employee education..."
- Deloitte Consulting

That same sentiment is expressed over and over by winners of the Corporate University Xchange Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Corporate Learning (CorpU Awards). At the annual awards gala, learning leaders in black tie apparel accept their awards on behalf of their learning teams. The winners know a panel of distinguished judges has deemed them worthy, and they can take their trophies back to their company as evidence of their success.

This sense of accomplishment continues as companies send out press releases that laud the achievements of their learning organizations. Additionally, winners share their innovative work with their peers through presentations, webinars, and case studies.

Benefits of Participating

Learning organizations competing for awards get more out of the process than just bragging rights if they win. The process of developing the application is worthwhile in itself. Matching the award criteria in each category to your programs and practices can provide insights into areas that need improvement. Every company that applies for an award can ask for the judge’s feedback on its application, providing an invaluable opportunity to find out where improvement is needed.

The application can tell a compelling story to business leaders and executives. It consists of a 2500 word essay and has to include (1) a description of how the learning organization fits into the overall corporate strategy, and (2) how the establishment of the learning organization or development of a particular program has helped the business meet its goals.

Applications are due September 5, 2008. The Finalists will be announced in mid-November and the Awards Symposium and Gala is scheduled for late February (more details to follow).

Click here to register for the awards, or click here for more information and applications.

CorpU TV interviews with past award winners:

Marcia Dresner, CorpU Senior Research Analyst