Productivity awards honor the best companies and people that do a great job of increasing efficiency and output. Having worked as a production line employee who later became a lean management consultant, I’ve experienced the impact productivity awards can have on inspiring innovation and lifting spirits.
Whether it’s global awards or industry specific recognition, productivity awards acknowledge those who figure out how to work smarter. So who wins them and why?
Productivity Awards Overview
Productivity awards are designed to honor organizations and individuals who are particularly efficient and productive. These are more than just vanity awards. Productivity awards are a mark of excellence across industries.
I’ve personally witnessed how these awards inspire teams and create a culture of continuous improvement. They also highlight best practices and new innovation to improve productivity. Winning an award also boosts team morale and encourages a culture of high performance.
There are several categories of productivity awards:
- Individual efficiency awards
- Team efficiency recognition
- Company efficiency awards
- Industry efficiency awards
- Innovation in process efficiency awards
The primary industries that regularly award efficiency accolades include manufacturing, technology, business services, and healthcare. Additionally, many government agencies and non-profits participate in efficiency award programs.
Productivity awards range from global competitions to regional and local awards. However, they all emphasize one thing: a measurable improvement in efficiency and productivity.
Notable Productivity Awards Programs
Productivity awards range from local contests to global competitions. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is a prestigious competition in the U.S. that judges organizations on leadership, customer focus, strategic planning, and results.
Regional awards, such as the Singapore Productivity Association’s awards, are specific to a particular geographic region. Winning some of these regional awards can help you eventually win a larger international award.
There are also industry-specific awards that are limited to a specific industry, such as:
- Manufacturing Excellence Awards
- Service Industry Productivity Challenge
- AgTech Innovator of the Year
- Healthcare Efficiency and Quality Award
Many companies also have their own internal productivity awards. This is an excellent strategy to create a culture of competition and continuous improvement within your organization. I’ve implemented these awards at companies, and it significantly increased employee engagement and overall productivity.
Global initiatives, like the World Productivity Congress, bring together the best experts and organizations from around the world and showcase the best of the best in productivity. They also typically have a competition track where you can win an award at the global level.
Benchmarks for Excellence in Efficiency Recognition
Productivity is evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative measures. Award committees want to see quantifiable increases in efficiency and output. They also evaluate the creative nature and long-term viability of the productivity initiative.
Quantitative metrics commonly used to evaluate productivity include:
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Output per hour | The amount of output produced within a given time frame |
| Cycle time reduction | Increased speed through a process |
| Cost savings | The financial impact of increased productivity |
| Quality improvement | Fewer mistakes or defects |
| Resource utilization | Making better use of existing resources |
Qualitative factors are also important. Judges often consider employee satisfaction and work-life balance improvements. They also think about how increased productivity impacts the overall culture of the organization.
Another important consideration is the innovativeness of the productivity improvement. Many award-winning productivity improvements introduce a new technology or methodology. For example, I’ve seen companies win awards for implementing AI to optimize a process or creating a new lean manufacturing methodology.
Sustainability is a final consideration. The productivity improvements should be something the company can sustain over time. Judges prefer productivity improvements that show the company still has more opportunities for improvement and scale.
Applying for Efficiency Recognition
Productivity awards are one of the most popular types of business awards you can win, and the process to win them is similar to other awards.
- Research the award and its applications
- Compile data showing productivity increases
- Write a story about your productivity
- Collect any documentation (charts, graphs, etc.)
- Submit the award before the deadline
- Prepare for a potential interview or site visit
Most productivity awards will ask you to provide data on how productivity has increased after implementing your solution. You can claim credit for these results as long as you can prove your solution resulted in those increases in productivity.
Deadlines for submission vary, and some have multiple submission deadlines throughout the year. Be sure to start the process to win the award early enough to get everything you need and write a great story.
Make your application stand out by writing a story. Don’t just write numbers on a page. Tell a compelling story of how your company was struggling with productivity, what that was doing to the company and how you solved that. Use lots of specific examples and stories to communicate your impact.
Benefits of Winning Productivity Awards
A productivity award is a powerful asset. It’s a third-party stamp of approval that you run an efficient operation. As a result, you can often command higher prices for your products and services.
It’s also an excellent recruiting tool. People want to work for the best, and winning a productivity award is a clear signal that you run one of the best operations.
When you win a productivity award, you become the best at something among your peers. Use this insight to continue pushing your team to achieve even more.
Investors and potential acquirers pay attention to productivity awards. It’s a sign that you run a well-managed, efficient operation, so you can often generate new opportunities from these types of awards.
Showcasing Past Productivity Award Winners
Toyota is a perennial winner of productivity awards due to its lean manufacturing from the kaizen (continuous improvement) playbook, which is now replicated across industries.
Here are a few examples of productivity award winners:
- Installing predictive maintenance systems
- Building AI-driven supply chain optimization
- Designing ergonomic workstations to reduce fatigue and increase productivity
- Implementing gamification to increase employee engagement and productivity
One common takeaway from analyzing productivity award winners is the importance of employee buy-in. Many successful initiatives started with employees observing and fixing inefficiencies.
Many winners use their awards to recruit talent and win new business. They use the accolades as evidence of their operational excellence in marketing and sales materials.
Establishing an In-House Recognition System for Efficiency
Setting up an internal productivity awards program is a great way to see substantial improvements. To get started, clarify the specific goals of your productivity awards program. What areas of productivity do you care about and want to improve?
Then establish categories that help you achieve company goals. For example:
- Process improvement
- Efficiency innovation
- Teamwork
- Customer satisfaction improvement
Set up a fair, transparent judging process. You might use a combination of quantitative metrics and judge based on qualitative feedback. Involve leaders from various departments to ensure a comprehensive evaluation process.
Publicly celebrate your winners. This could be an awards ceremony or highlighting them in a company communication. This step is important, as others will then aspire to win a productivity award.
Use the program to identify best practices that you can then scale throughout the organization. This generates a flywheel of continual improvement and learning.
Impact of Productivity Awards on Business Performance
Productivity awards are a solid proxy, as companies that win these awards often experience better financial performance. They also earn more market share and sales as customers recognize this stamp of approval as a sign that they’re buying from an efficient business.
Employee engagement tends to increase when companies win productivity awards. Workers feel proud to work for an award winning company. As a result, you may experience higher retention and company-wide productivity.
Productivity awards competitions inspire innovation. When teams are forced to think about efficiency and productivity, they often adopt a more innovative mindset that leads to breakthroughs across the entire business.
Winning awards is often a catalyst for long-term improvements in productivity. This is because the process of applying for and winning these awards helps companies identify more opportunities to enhance productivity. It establishes a culture of continuous improvement even beyond the awards application cycle.
It’s difficult to attribute the direct impact of a productivity award to a company’s success with productivity awards. After all, many variables impact a company’s success. However, the journey to apply for and win these awards often results in companies becoming more efficient and producing more output. It’s a journey that can transform a business regardless of the outcome of the competition.
To Sum It Up
Productivity awards encourage excellence and stimulate innovation within industries. They serve as a recognition of best practices, a source of motivation for teams, and a way to build a culture of continuous improvement. If you’re in the process of pursuing a productivity improvement, look into relevant awards you can apply for, or establish an internal awards program.
The benefits of the above honors are plenty of business and cultural transformation. I’ve witnessed these programs turn businesses around. Just remember, the road to productivity is never ending. Continue challenging the status quo and recognizing your victories along the way.
