The Gallup Great Workplace Award was created to recognize companies with an extraordinary ability to create an engaged workplace culture. Organizations can apply each year for this award. Organizations must meet the following criteria to be invited to apply:

• Organization Size: The organization's employee engagement results (as measured by the Q¹²) must include at least 1,000 respondents representing a census of the entire organization. Only entire organizations or companies qualify.
• Minimum Response Rate: The employee participation in the employee engagement survey (Q¹²) must be 80% or higher.
• Minimum Results: A GrandMean score (on Q¹²) of 4.15 or higher in at least half of the organization's workgroups is required.

Once invited to apply, the organization must submit a full application including a best-practices portfolio that includes:

• a one-page description that explains how the organization has linked engagement to business outcomes. Actual analysis is required, not anecdotes.
• a strategic plan that highlights building engagement in the organization
• concrete examples of two or three best-practice organization-wide initiatives that were created or used to increase or promote employee engagement
• evidence of dedication at the workgroup level to driving employee engagement
• an example of how engaged employees, teams, locations, etc., have made a difference with customers

Information on the application process will be available in January 2012. Applications are due in February and cover results and performance from the previous calendar year.

For more information on the Gallup Great Workplace Award, contact Larry Ruhlman.