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Gallup Exceptional Workplace Awards

Celebrating clients who are reaching new heights of what's humanly possible with cultures that change the way the world works

What makes a workplace culture exceptional?

Strengths-based

Engagement-focused

Performance-oriented

We recognize organizations that are committed to developing human potential.

Our mission is to deliver the art and science of what's humanly possible, and our awards highlight the impressive achievements of our partners.

The winners of these awards integrate employee engagement and weave it throughout the employee life cycle -- indeed it is embedded in the very culture of each organization. In doing so, these organizations unleash human motivation, creativity and innovation by building cultures that support the employee experience, develop the strengths of each employee and focus on engagement to drive performance.

Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award

The Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award: Elite Recognition for Engaged Cultures

The Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award is our most distinguished recognition. Created in 2007, the award was designed to identify excellence and celebrate clients who incorporate employee engagement into their culture -- from how they do their work to how they motivate their teams and achieve business outcomes.

Winners of the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award put their people at the heart of their business strategy -- focusing on strengths and coaching talent to its full potential to get extraordinary business results all while helping employees thrive in their wellbeing.

Criteria and Application
Learn More about Criteria and Application
Current Winners
Learn More about Current Winners
Previous Winners
Learn More about Previous Winners

Manager of the Year Award

Extraordinary managers are the foundation for an exceptional workplace. Organizations invited to apply for the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award are asked to nominate one manager who consistently affects the overall employee experience and achieves high performance levels, retention and team engagement.

Learn More about the Manager of the Year award
Additional Exceptional Workplace Awards

Celebrating Culture Transformation, Strengths Development and More

Gallup has studied what it takes to be exceptional at work and in school to transform culture and put strengths first.

In 2020, we introduced three new award categories to further recognize the excellence achieved by our clients. They are awarded based on nominations by Gallup account teams. Contact your account team if you are interested in learning more about how to be nominated.

About the Additional Awards

The Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award recognizes organizations that drive performance by cultivating workplace cultures that put the strengths of every employee at the core of how they collaborate, communicate and succeed.

Learn more and see winners. of The Don Clifton Strengths-Based Culture Award

The Gallup Culture Transformation Award recognizes workplaces where cultural aspiration meets workplace reality. They have defined their culture and transformed a core element to have measurable impacts for their people and business.

Learn more and see winners. of The Gallup Culture Transformation Award

The colleges, universities and school districts recognized by the Don Clifton Strengths for Students Award are embedding strengths within education to help the leaders of the future realize their full potential and thrive in all areas of their lives.

Learn more and see winners. of The Gallup Culture Transformation Award

Frequently Asked Questions

There are no fees associated with our awards. Client organizations that meet the criteria for the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award will be invited to apply at no cost. The other exceptional workplace awards are nominated by Gallup client teams, again at no cost to the organizations.

Yes, only Gallup clients are eligible to be recognized by our awards. Contact us to learn more about how we can partner with you to improve employee engagement, transform culture and achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Visit the criteria page to learn more and start your application.

The Gallup Great Workplace Award was renamed the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award in 2020. After reviewing the caliber of our winners, we realized "great" just wasn't good enough. These organizations achieve extraordinary outcomes and create cultures of engagement far surpassing global and U.S. averages.

No, it is the same award, just with a different name. If an organization won the Gallup Great Workplace Award four times and the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award one time, they would have won a total of five times.

Organizations that satisfy the minimum criteria are invited to apply for the award by submitting detailed evidence of their culture of performance excellence. A panel of Gallup judges reviews and scores all applications.

Gallup selects the judging panel from our leading workplace scientists and experts.

Yes, organizations eligible to apply for the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award are given the opportunity to nominate one manager from their organization as part of the overall application process. Of the managers nominated, the Gallup judging panel will select 10 finalists and will honor one manager as the Manager of the Year. View the criteria.

These awards will be nominated by Gallup client teams. If you are interested, contact your account team to learn more.

Nominations are evaluated by judging panels of workplace and education experts, based on formal criteria for each award.

Have a different question? Contact us for more information about our client recognition or to learn how we can partner with you to create an award-winning workplace.

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