Microsoft Dynamics, in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, is calling for final submissions to the Change Ambassadors Programme 2013, which will recognise the skills, efforts and vision of key change-makers within UK business.
For more information and to find out how to enter
The competition is about recognising those employees who, often behind the scenes, have helped execute successful change- big or small. Watch the video.
The inaugural awards are encouraging anyone who has executed successful change within their organisation in the UK in the last 24 months to make their submission before entries close on Friday 29th March 2013.
The awards are open to businesses of all sizes in the UK and are targeting managers to departmental heads or business executives, with five awards on offer across key categories: Marketing, People and Culture, Technology, Finance, and No Boundaries.
The shortlisted entries will be announced in April 2013 and the final winners of each category will be revealed at an exclusive awards ceremony on Thursday 16th May 2013. They will be decided by category judges made up of qualified experts from leading British businesses, academia, and other influential thinkers.
Each of the winners will receive a week-long executive seminar at the prestigious Cranfield School of Management, an annual digital subscription to The Economist and an audience for the winner and their organisation with some of the country’s leading figures in business at the awards ceremony in May.
Prestigious judges of the five categories include:
Doug Baillie, Chief Human Resources Officer at Unilever and member of the Unilever Leadership Executive, will judge entries to the People and Culture category
Umair Haque, Director of Havas Media Labs and ranked one of the world’s most influential management thinker by Thinkers50, will judge the No Boundaries category
Tom Standage, Digital editor at The Economist, who oversees the publication’s website, Economist.com, and its mobile-phone, tablet and e-reader editions, among judges in the Technology category
Mark Earls, who as one of marketing’s leading authorities on consumer behaviour has authored the popular Welcome to the Creative Age (Wiley 2003), HERD (Wiley 2007 & 2009) and I’ll Have What She’s Having (2011 MIT Press) and written for WIRED, Contagious, The Observer and Sun newspaper, will judge the Marketing category
Scott Moeller, Director and Founder of the M&A Research Centre at Cass Business School, will judge the Finance category.
The judges will be looking for entries that demonstrate excellent inter-personal, communication, leadership and management skills and self-motivation, among others.
They will assess effectiveness through a combination of quantitative and qualitative information, including ROI and productivity, sponsor’s and peers’ feedback.
Alasdair Ross, Global Product Director at the Economist Intelligence Unit and host of the awards ceremony, says: “The Change Ambassadors Awards celebrate the efforts and innovative thinking of people in the UK who have implemented change in their organisation. Businesses need talented individuals who can identify where change is needed to stay one step ahead of the competition.”
Steve Morrow, Director, Microsoft Dynamics UK, lead sponsor, said: “The most successful businesses understand the need to adapt as the world evolves around them. At the heart of change there is always an individual who pioneered an idea from inception to reality and fundamentally improved the way that business works; these awards are designed to reward their achievements.”