ESOP Awards: 2012 Annual Awards for Communications Excellence (AACE)

The deadline for submissions for the 2012 Annual Awards for Communications Excellence (AACE) is March 1, 2012.  Here is a listing of the 2011 AACE Award Winners and a link to photos and a brief description of the 2011 winners.  The ESOP Association site has additional resources and shares some tips for winning:

1. Notice everything you do/have with the words “ESOP” or “Ownership”. Start a file early on, and keep it current.

2. If you haven’t already done so, start putting “employee owned” on everything; business cards, stationery, invoices, signs, trucks, advertisements, job applications, web sites, flags, product packaging, etc.

3. Keep a camera on site. Designate a photography buff to take lots of pictures, and put them in the newsletter, on the web, on bulletin boards, & in the AACE entry.

4. Consider making company events “ESOP” events, such as a picnic or a brown bag lunch, a parade float, or Employee Owners of XYZ Company working for Habitat for Humanity, or the Animal Shelter.

5. How much and how often the ESOP is mentioned counts, such as in a newsletter, in the educational structure, the brochures, the web site. Does ownership permeate the company culture? Tell the judges.

6. In printed materials, clear, easy to read information and good graphic design counts (not necessarily expense). Ownership communication content is paramount.

7. Education about ESOP counts. The more informative, fun and creative the better.

8. Tap into your funny, creative people. Fun and good humor are very powerful. Best of all, upper management with a sense of humor is invaluable, a huge asset.

9. Consideration for the employee owner counts. Respectful feedback for suggestions is important. Is there a forum for concerns? Write it up as an asset.

10. Employee owner involvement in the ownership aspect of the company, as well as in actually preparing the AACE entry counts.   

Why apply?

Four Solid Steps to Win Business Awards discusses four easy steps to use to apply for and win an award on behalf of your company and/or employees:

• Apply For The Darn Thing

• Make It Obvious

• Include What Is Requested

• Follow Up

The first step is the key (APPLY FOR IT!), because you cannot win if you do not apply.

Why should you try to win an award? How to Win Business Awards explains why:

But the day I won the Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award from the SBA in New Jersey, I had a PR coup that just wouldn’t quit. Every major New Jersey newspaper ran an article, all the local TV news station highlighted me, and the networking… oh the networking… it was amazing. I walked away with the biggest client I ever had, just by winning a “silly” award. 

The ESOP Association Blog also shares some reasons to enter:

• Organize Your Thoughts — Preparing an entry forces you to organize your program for review by the judges.

• Help you review — As you put together your entry, you can get a good overview of your program.

• Help you evaluate — Once your program is organized, you can evaluate it in the light of what the judges will look for, and what they are likely to see from other companies.

• Generate new ideas — As you organize your program for entry, new ideas come to you for augmenting and improving it.

• Share your ideas — Your entry will be displayed at the Annual Conference in May so that other ESOP companies can see what has worked for you.

• Create an archive — You’ll be able to look back and determine direction, growth and results.