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2023 Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award Winners

Don Clifton's legacy is built on his mission to study "what's right with people." In this spirit, we introduced the Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award in 2020. This award recognizes organizations with workplace cultures that put the strengths of leaders, managers and employees at the core of how they work every day.

These organizations drive performance by helping employees focus on what they do best, maximizing the potential within teams, and integrating strengths-based development into their mission, vision, and values.

Award Recipients

Accenture Logo

Accenture (four-time winner)

For the fourth year in a row, Accenture has won the Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award. The global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security has made applying strengths one of the key actions in its approach to people development: Performance Achievement. Accenture's goal is to enable its 738,000 employees to achieve great performance through coaching and development based on their CliftonStrengths® assessments and by focusing their greatest talents to achieve key priorities.

By weaving a strengths-based approach into performance and career conversations, Accenture established a strengths-based culture, enabled by a global network of approximately 300 strengths coaches and hundreds of strengths champions trained over the years. Their focus on collaboration and shared success helps fuel high performance and greater inclusion. Since the launch of Performance Achievement and strengths-based conversations, more than 694,000 people who have worked at Accenture have completed the CliftonStrengths assessment, and more than 772,000 people who have worked at Accenture have participated in a Q12® team engagement survey.

Learn more.about Accenture

CrossFirst Bank Logo

CrossFirst Bank

The CrossFirst Bank brand stands for a commitment to pursuing excellence in banking and building trusted relationships with their employees, clients, strategic partners and communities. By putting people first, they are able to realize their vision, purpose and promises. CrossFirst Bank understands the value of investing in their people and offers each new employee the opportunity to take their CliftonStrengths® assessment and be coached one-on-one by one of their internal Gallup-Certified Strengths Coaches. CrossFirst Bank has mastered the art of embedding strengths into how they do business. They live this out by speaking about strengths early and often, which naturally led to strengths becoming a common language for their culture.

As a strengths-based, engagement-focused organization, they are committed to giving every employee the opportunity to do what they do best everyday through ongoing development initiatives like CrossFirst University, the "Extraordinary Manager" program and Strengths-Based Selling workshops. CrossFirst Bank's commitment to providing an opportunity for every employee to know their natural talents not only contributes to their own success and wellbeing -- but to the overall success of the bank.

Learn more. about CrossFirst Bank

GIC Logo

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is a sovereign wealth fund that manages the financial reserves of Singapore's government. It was established in 1981 to manage the country's foreign reserves and invest them in order to provide for future generations of Singaporeans. GIC is one of the largest and most successful investment management firms in the world, with investments spanning across multiple asset classes and geographies.

In 2017, GIC's CEO, Chow Kiat, asked, "What if we managed people as carefully as we manage investments?" GIC places a strong emphasis on building and nurturing teams, as well as developing its people. The company believes that teamwork is essential to achieving its objectives. GIC has found that using the CliftonStrengths® assessment helps its teams to understand each other's strengths and work together more effectively.

GIC has used CliftonStrengths in a variety of ways, from leadership development programs to team-building workshops. In addition, it uses strengths to foster a better DEI culture by ensuring all team members feel they belong and are included. To ensure people are familiar with the strengths language, the company developed its own internal strengths podcast. By helping employees understand their strengths and how to use them effectively, GIC has been able to improve employee engagement, retention and overall performance.

Learn more. GIC

PTC Therapeutics Logo

PTC Therapeutics(two-time winner)

PTC is a science-driven, global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically differentiated medicines that provide benefits to patients with rare disorders. PTC's ability to globally commercialize products is the foundation that drives investment in a robust and diversified pipeline of transformative medicines and its mission to provide access to best-in-class treatments for patients who have an unmet medical need. The company's strategy is to leverage its strong scientific expertise and global commercial infrastructure to maximize value for its patients and other stakeholders.

Learn more. about PTC Therapeutics

Seek Logo

SEEK

At SEEK, CliftonStrengths® is integrated into the employee life cycle, from onboarding through to leadership coaching and career development. SEEK intentionally infuses strengths into key people moments in the organization to help its people feel the most fulfilled and productive at work.

"Strengths is the internal expression of our purpose. It is how we succeed."

Embedding strengths where it matters most helps this market leader in online employment marketplaces deliver a phenomenal employee experience, ensuring its people are fulfilled, productive and deliver success at work.

Learn more. about Seek

Southwest Logo

Southwest Airlines®

Through the implementation of CliftonStrengths®, Southwest Airlines has had the opportunity to rise to the next level in terms of creating an amazing strengths-based culture. With over 70,000 employees and around 11 million customers served each month, putting people first is not simply a business mantra for Southwest, but rather a way of life to which the organization is genuinely and wholeheartedly committed.

What started as a grassroots movement in the organization has turned into 100% of the departments committing to CliftonStrengths implementation, starting their journey to make Southwest Airlines the world's first strengths-based airline. With so many customer-facing employees, a culture focused on individuals' strengths is critical to continue growing the spirit of hospitality, one employee at a time. The strengths strategies being implemented throughout the organization enhance the employee experience for everyone.

Learn more. about Southwest

Stryker Logo

Stryker (four-time winner)

Growing talent has always been a part of Stryker's DNA. To deliver on its mission every day, this global medical technology company is driven by a set of values that includes helping its approximately 46,000 employees discover their strengths and follow their passions. From hiring to development, talent is woven into the fabric of Stryker's organizational culture.

Keeping people at the heart of everything they do, Stryker is continually focused on providing talent solutions to their workforce. Strengths is an integral part of the company's culture, and Stryker uses the CliftonStrengths® assessment to help employees understand their natural abilities. The company also leverages an internal coaching community of approximately 300 Gallup-Certified Strengths Coaches to further drive the power of understanding one's strengths through individual and team coaching. When people can do what they do best, they look forward to coming to work and, in turn, will deliver great business results.

Learn more. about Stryker

We're celebrating organizations that are making a difference in people's lives.

From work to education, we recognize organizations doing exceptional work transforming culture, improving engagement and putting strengths first.