How to win a GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Award

The GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Awards are back for 2024. We're very excited about the whole thing.

We know these awards are quite in-depth and they may seem a little complicated. We get a whole lot of questions. Is it really free? (Yes) Is our data really only being used for judging? (Yes) Is it open to all employees? (Mostly).

So we've created a little guide, and a friendly FAQ, to explain how the whole thing works...

If you're interested in understanding the judging process, we've got a detailed guide to how we decide the winners here.

1. Fill In the 'Take Part' form

This form basically asks three questions. Who are you? How do we get in touch? How big is your company?

That last question may look strange, but it's because the size of your company depends on how many staff need to fill in the survey. That's right, there's a survey. Let's move on to point Two.

2. Check your inbox

Within 24 hours of filling in the Take Part form, you'll get an email from us. The email will detail everything we need from you to complete your entry. But most importantly, it'll contain a link to our two forms: The Employer Form and The Employee Survey

3. Send Out The Employee Survey

The Employee Survey asks your staff to agree or disagree with just over 30 statements. It takes about 5 minutes to complete. Send it to all of your staff. In the email we sent you, we will tell you how many staff need to fill this in. We will keep you updated on how you're doing so we have time to send any reminders.

This survey is worth 80% of your final score. It's the most important part.

4. Fill In The Employer Form

The next thing to do is fill in your employer form. It's a lengthy form, but here's the thing: You Can Skip Questions. So if there's something you don't want to share, or something you simply don't know the answer to... that's fine. There are lots of points available on this form, so it's not the end of the world if you don't answer all the questions. However, do try and answer them. It's still worth 20% of your final score, after all. And please do give as much detail as you are willing.

5. Keep an eye on that inbox

We will send you updates on how many staff have filled in the Employee Survey. This is so you can send a reminder if needs be. After the deadline has passed, we will let you know if you've won (yay) or not (never mind). We will also send you a free report that shows you how you scored on each of the 30+ statements.

That's it. That's how you win a Best Places To Work Award. But I know, you have questions. Hopefully this FAQ below will help. But if it doesn't, email us at [email protected]. And we will answer them.

FURTHER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How is this judged exactly?

We have a robust and thorough judging system with two different surveys. The winners are ultimately decided by the teams themselves. We have a really detailed guide on how we work out the winners right here.

Can employees outside of the UK take part in the surveys?

If you are a UK company with an employee based in another country, they are encouraged to fill in the survey. If that employee works for a department in another country, or reports to an office in another territory, they are not eligible to take part.

In other words, if you are a global games company with offices around the world, and you're entering the UK Best Places To Work Awards, only employees reporting or working for the UK office should fill in the survey. But if you are a UK-based company with remote employees around the world, they are all eligible to fill in the survey.

I am a company with multiple studios, do we take part collectively?

This is entirely up to you. We've had big publishers take part as one group, including all their sub-divisions and studios. We've also had some studios at big companies take part, but not all. And we've also had an entire company take part, but wanted us to seperate out their studios individually afterwards so that they could identify if there are any problem areas a little easier.

What do you do with all our data?

We do not share your data with any party. We will not send you emails about unrelated things. The data is confidential and only used to judge the awards. We also aggregate the data together to do post-event reports. But that's it.

Employee data is also not shared with anyone. Not even you. We will reveal the average scores for each statement, but nothing that will identify any individual.

What about the Special Awards?

Every company who takes part has a chance to win a Special Award, and companies can also take part separately (links for those are through here). These awards (which include the CSR Award, Environmental Award, Educational Award and more) are based on employer answers and judged by a panel.

Is it really free?

The Best Places To Work Awards was built as a project to 'make the games industry a better place to work'. That's our central aim. Participation is free, the ceremony is made available online, it's free to attend in person for those who participate and we even provide all participants with a free basic report. It's a heck of a deal.

How we fund it is in two ways. The first, is via sponsorship of the event itself (if you're interested,drop George an email right here). The second, is by creating more enhanced reports, with benchmarking elements, which we sell for between £600 - £2,000 (depending on the report). These reports are optional and available once the judging is complete.

How do I submit someone for the HR Hero Award?

Simply through here!

What if I win? Around three weeks before the event, you will be notified of your success. We will request logos and other visuals to go alongside your victory. Before the event, we will supply you with social media assets and your Best Places To Work Awards winners logo. The news must be kept confidential until the event itself. For the Special Award, we will announce finalists before the event, but winners will be announced on the night.

Where can I use the badge?

Anywhere you like. We've had winners use it in their email signatures, on their websites, on their job advertising (the GI Jobs Board features it automatically), and we've even had one winner incorporate it into a game teaser trailer.

What happens if I don't win?

You will receive a notification before the awards that you were not successful, and a link to your basic report where you can see how your staff rated you.

We will not announce you as a participant. We only announce the winners.

Hang on I've got another question...

Great, email us at [email protected]