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Chicago’s Best and Brightest
®
Companies to Work For
CANDIDATE PACKET
CANDIDATE PROCESS Instructions & Checklist
Page 1
This packet walks applicants through the process of becoming a Best and Brightest Company to
Work For®. It is important that each area is completed by the deadlines assigned. Materials are
encouraged to be submitted as soon as possible to prevent delays in assessment reports.
Employee Roster
Deadline & Scoring and
Analysis Fee Deadline
April 3, 2015
□
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Company Survey
EE Survey
Deadline
Deadline
April 3, 2015
Winner Selection
May 4, 2015
Week of June 1, 2015
EMPLOYEE SURVEY METHOD: THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO SURVEYING
AND GATHERING EMPLOYEE DATA.
Option 1: Companies that have their own Employee Engagement Survey and Assessment Report may submit their
finding from a third party for a confidential evaluation into the Best and Brightest selection process. The Best and
Brightest Companies to Work For® has strict confidential provisions for the use of these third party materials. There
is an additional $250 cost in addition to the Scoring and Analysis Fee as this data has to be stringently examined.
Option 2: Companies may elect to go through the Best and Brightest employee survey process which is detailed
below. Please ensure materials are submitted by the required deadlines.
□
ASSEMBLE & SUBMIT THE EMPLOYEE ROSTER
[Due No Later Than April 3, 2015]
Please provide an employee roster in an Excel-compatible spreadsheet. Please send the roster to
[email protected]. The roster should include your Information Technology representative’s
contact information for a test pilot to ensure successful delivery of the employee surveys.
It is your responsibility to ensure your Technology Representative knows about the test and to stay in contact to
ensure the test pilot is taken so deadlines are adhered to. The survey will come from [email protected].
The specified fields are as follows:
Survey by Mail (Paper) Fields Needed
First Name
John
Last Name
Company Address
City
St
Zip
Doe
XYZ Street
Any
Any
12345
Survey by email Fields Needed (Preferred Method)
First Name
John
Last Name
Doe
Email
[email protected]
Below is the tech support site for technical issues with the employee survey. The link goes directly to a site to input
any issues such as employees who have not received surveys, survey error messages and any problems that occur
during the survey administration. https://iitresearchrs.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_295i6DI7PgjmsNn
CANDIDATE PROCESS Instructions & Checklist
Page 2
□
SUBMIT YOUR SCORING AND ANAYLYSIS FEE
[Due April 3, 2015]
To participate in the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® Competition, there is a scoring fee. Each
application is scrutinized, scored and feedback is shared with both winning companies and those that did not make
the winners list. Company data is analyzed as well as each employee survey by participating companies. To keep
the integrity of the program, a third party partner is used to score each application. As a service organization, it is
expensive to process hundreds of companies’ data and their respective employee surveys without a fee applied. All
nominated companies that pay this fee will receive a complimentary overall assessment report that contains
feedback and benchmark scoring data.
There are also options to purchase in-depth comprehensive reports with detailed data to help participants and their
executives improve their overall operations. As a service organization, these comprehensive reports are significantly
less expensive than private firms that offer survey services. If you did not use the online submission of your
Company HR survey, there is an additional $50 fee. We accept MC, Visa and AMEX. To pay by check, please make
check payable to “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®”. For any assistance please contact the best and
brightest team members at 866.321.1822.
□
Regular, Full-time
Employees Within the
Region
# of Employees
Surveyed
Minimum
Expected Rate
of Response
Fee for
submitting
online
10 to 50
51 to 200
201 to 500
501 to 1000
1000 and up
All
All
250
350
500
80%
70%
50%
50%
50%
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
Completing
Company HR
Survey in
written or typed
form.
$250
$300
$350
$400
$450
Fee for submitting
Company HR Survey
& Third Party Survey
Data
$450
$500
$550
$600
$650
PAPER SURVEY PROCESSING FEE
[Due April 3, 2015]
For companies that elect to have employees surveyed by the traditional paper survey method. There is a nonrefundable fee of $2.75 for each employee survey due upon receiving the employee roster. The paper
surveys will be sent with a return envelope. Paper surveys are mailed the week of April 13, 2015. We accept MC,
Visa and AMEX. To pay by check, please make the check payable to “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work
For®”. For any assistance please contact the best and brightest team members at 866.321.1822.
□
PREPARE YOUR STAFF FOR THE EMPLOYEE SURVEY
[Starting April 20, 2015 – Survey Deadline May 4, 2015]
Employees are confidentially and randomly surveyed by e-mail about their work environment. Prior to sending us your
roster, please send a memo to your team regarding the survey so they will know they are receiving legitimate and
important correspondence regarding the program. Employee responses are collected, scored and used to evaluate the
application. The survey will come from [email protected]. Each employee link sent is unique and assigned; once
a survey link is completed it cannot be forwarded as the link is not usable. It is your responsibility to follow up with your
employees to ensure the employee survey is taken. Digital surveys are emailed April 20, 2015.
CANDIDATE PROCESS Instructions & Checklist
Page 3
□
COMPLETE YOUR COMPANY HR SURVEY
[Due No Later Than April 3, 2015]
□ Create Your Online Client Account
The link to create your online log in profile is https://server1.crs.iit.edu/101BAB_2015/create/
□ Access The Online Company HR Survey
When your log in profile is created, you will be immediately directed into your Company HR survey for
admittance. Please copy the entire link in your web browser and save it as a favorite as every time you log
in, you will need this unique link to access your survey data. You can save your work any place during the
survey. Please note: if only half a page is complete, click the button to go back to the previous section, then
click the save and exit button. This will still save the responses on the page that was half completed. If you
accidently submit your Company HR Survey and need it re-opened, it may take up to 24 hours to re-open it.
If you did not save your unique login link, it may take 24 hours to generate and resend the unique link.
□ Printing Your Company HR Survey
The print option is available after the user submits the survey. Once the user submits, he/she will receive a
confirmation page and the print button will be available on that page. This feature allows you to print your
entire survey once it has been submitted for review. However, if you would like to print the responses as
you work, you can do so by manually printing each page of the survey.
□ Submit Any Supplemental Materials
To submit supplemental materials, e-mail them to [email protected] or ship them to
27700 Hoover Road, Warren, MI 48093.
□ Submit Company Description
Submit your company description by e-mail to [email protected] by April 20, 2015 for
marketing purposes.
□ Submit Social Media Handle
Submit your company social media handles by e-mail to [email protected] by April 20,
2015 for marketing purposes.
□
EVALUATION PROCESS
Status of your analysis will be communicated to you by the Best and Brightest ® Team Members
once all applications have been processed by the independent third party research firm. Information will be
available by the week of June 1, 2015, media announcements will immediately follow.
CANDIDATE PROCESS Instructions & Checklist
Page 4
SAMPLE E-MAIL/MEMO TO PARTICIPATING COMPANY EMPLOYEES:
TO: All employees
SUBJECT: Best and Brightest Companies® Employee Engagement Survey.
We want to know what you think!
[COMPANY NAME] is participating in the National Association for Business Resources 2015 Best and
Brightest Companies to Work For® award process in Chicago and your input is needed.
Employee feedback is essential to helping us understand what you value, what you think is working well and
where we can improve. This survey will help us understand why employees choose to work and continue to
work for [COMPANY NAME] and provides an opportunity for employees to provide feedback. The survey
results will be used to identify specific initiatives that will help us continue to strive to be a Best and
Brightest company. To make this process a success, we need your participation.
The employee engagement survey will be administered online by Illinois Institute of Technology’s Center For
Research and Services to maintain participant anonymity. Paper surveys for employees who do not have
access to email are mailed the week April 13, 2015. The digital surveys by email will be sent on April 20,
2015 and should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Reminders to take the survey are to be sent
on April 27, 2015. The deadline is May 4, 2015.
CANDIDATE PROCESS Instructions & Checklist
Page 5
□
ORDER DETAILED AND COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT REPORTS:
[By Week of June 15, 2015]
Assessment reports are available for applicants who wish to purchase additional feedback. Many Best and Brightest
Companies® leverage this data for implementation of initiatives and for benchmarking purposes. Sample reports are
available for your review by emailing [email protected].
Executive C-Suite Summary Report:
Includes an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvements, with scores in the three
highest and lowest areas.
Comprehensive Employee Engagement Assessment Report:
The Employee Engagement Assessment Report is a powerful analysis tool that provides a detailed picture of
engagement and disengagement throughout an organization. The report also provides organizations with
bulleted statements from employees.
Dual Comprehensive Company & Employee Engagement Assessment Report:
This option provides organizations with an individualized assessment of the Company and Employee
Engagement Survey. This report provides in-depth human resource practices utilized and compares each
organization’s response to other participating organizations. It also includes the Comprehensive Employee
Engagement Assessment Report.
Executive C-Suite Chronological Assessment Report:
This report compares your organization results year over year allowing you to map the effects of your strategic
efforts. This report contains finalized results, ready to take to the boardroom or send out to managers.
□
REGISTER TO ATTEND THE AWARDS GALA OR PAY CRYSTAL AWARD FEE
[By July 17, 2015]
To celebrate your achievements winners will be invited to an awards gala on July 27, 2015. Crystal fees only apply
to winners that do not participate in a local competition awards gala and educational symposium. Once you agree to
participate in a regional Best and Brightest Program, it is expected that all winners participate in the education and
awards gala. The mission of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For ® is Better Business, Richer Lives and
Stronger Communities. We do this through education and winning companies sharing their best practices and
engaging with other winners to make the local community stronger. As a result we require winners to attend local
awards galas that include educational opportunities to raise the bar of excellence, hence Better Business. We
strongly encourage event day participation. For those companies that do not participate, we charge a fee of $160 to
ship their award crystals to them. Companies that decline to participate in the educational awards gala forgo their
opportunity to be an Elite Winner as they are refusing to share their success with the business community which is
part of the programs key mission. We encourage nominated companies that were not selected to attend to learn
more about the practices of winning firms. Educational sessions will be provided along with opportunities to
understand your scores and how to improve them.
For Winning Companies
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For ® will be announcing the roster of winners via Chicago’s news media.
In addition winners can develop their own campaigns and will be able to use the approved winner logo in marketing
materials for one year. Details will be provided in winning companies information packets.
Confidentiality Statement The 101 Best and Brightest program and its partners are particularly sensitive and committed to maintaining the
confidentiality of the Applicants’ information. This applies to materials submitted for the purpose of review and analysis as well as any reports or
assessments provided to each applicant. All applications are kept secured, and the data is confidential. Survey responses will be reviewed and
scored by an independent research organization at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Center for Research. Any written content on the survey
may be shared with our media partners and during the awards luncheon if the company is selected as a winner.
TO PAY FOR FEES Via Credit Card
Page 6
ANALYSIS FEE INFORMATION
Regular, Full-time
Employees Within the
Region
# of Employees
Surveyed
Minimum
Expected Rate
of Response
Fee for
submitting
online
10 to 50
51 to 200
201 to 500
501 to 1000
1000 and up
All
All
250
350
500
80%
70%
50%
50%
50%
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
Completing
Company HR
Survey in
written or typed
form.
$250
$300
$350
$400
$450
Fee for
submitting Third
Party Survey
Data
$450
$500
$550
$600
$650
ASSESSMENT REPORT FEE INFORMATION
Assessment Reports
Fee
Executive C-Suite Summary Report
Comprehensive Employee Assessment Report Only
Dual Comprehensive Company & Employee Engagement Assessment Report
Executive C-Suite and Employee Engagement Assessment Report
$200
$400
$800
$1200
TO PAY ONLINE
https://www.101bestandbrightest.com/nominations/chicago/?pay=true
ORDER INFORMATION
Point Person Name:
_______________________________________________________
Title:
_______________________________________________________
Company Name:
_______________________________________________________
Address:
_______________________________________________________
City State Zip:
_______________________________________________________
Phone /Fax:
_______________________________________________________
Email:
_______________________________________________________
PURCHASE INFORMATION
Assessment Reports Amount: _____________________________________________________
Total Amount Due:
_____________________________________________________
Credit Card Number:
_____________________________________________________
Expiration Date:
_____________________________________________________
Security Number:
_____________________________________________________
Name on Card:
_____________________________________________________
Signature:
______________________________________________________
Submit to: National Association for Business Resources, fax 800-971-8803, email [email protected] or mail to
27700 Hoover Road Warren, MI 48093. Checks should be made payable to “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For ®”
2015 Fact Sheet
Page 7
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® competition identifies and honors organizations that display a commitment to
excellence in their human resource practices and employee enrichment. This program helps to create meaningful change in
companies that improve costs, operations and efficiencies.
SAVE THE DATE
On July 13, 2015, the National Association for Business Resources will present Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work
For® Symposium and Awards Gala.
HOW TO NOMINATE
Contact the Best and Brightest team at 866-321-1822 or visit our website at www.101bestandbrightest.com to complete a
nomination form.
ASSESSMENT REPORTS
Assessment reports are available for purchase, including the Employee Engagement Report and the Executive C-Suite
Assessment and Employee Engagement Report. These reports add over 30 pages of information into workplace culture
allowing companies to identify the most efficient way to target workplace initiatives. These reports provide an in-depth
analysis for each of the company and employee survey questions answered. This tool is a vital component for workplace
improvement.
MEDIA
Winners will be featured in a campaign media blitz. Winners will also be featured in Corp! Magazine and given opportunities to
contribute to the ‘HR Website Section’ throughout the year.
EDUCATION
On event day, the program will include leading edge educational sessions designed to educate and enlighten senior level
managers and executives on human resource ‘Best Practices’ trends and issues. The topics are developed and presented by
key corporate leaders and human resource experts from the winning companies. It is critical for winners to share success
strategies to raise the bar of performance annually.
AWARDS GALA
The awards gala will showcase winning companies committed to exceptional human resource practices. This symposium is the
“Academy Awards” of Human Resources. The awards gala will include Celebrity Announcers who will unveil the elite winners in
the following categories:






Compensation, Benefits and Employee Solutions
Employee Enrichment, Engagement and Retention
Employee Education and Development
Recruitment, Selection and Orientation
Employee Achievement and Recognition
Communication and Shared Vision






Diversity and Inclusion
Work-Life Balance
Community Initiatives
Strategic Company Performance
The Best of the Best Small Business Category
The Best of the Best Overall
ELITE SUITE SERIES
The “Elite Suite Series” workshops provide companies with valuable information that can be immediately implemented to help
businesses reach the next level of success. Companies attending will gain insight directly from elite winning companies and
today’s leadership experts. Enrollment will be limited to 30 participants per session.
ADVISORY BOARD
The Advisory Board is comprised of business leaders, community influencers and representatives from various community
organizers. Their goal is to ensure a positive program and winners experience throughout the year.
OPPORTUNITIES
To attend, advertise or sponsor, call to speak with a Best and Brightest Team member at 866-321-1822.
BENEFITS At A Glance
Page 8
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® have many benefits of participating that are exclusive to this program. Below
are the benefits at a glance for participating companies.
WORKPLACE ASSESSMENT & ANALYSIS REPORTS
Overall Assessment Report:
Participating organizations receive a complimentary overall assessment report, which summarizes and helps organizations
understand how they were scored compared to other participating organizations.
Executive C-Suite Summary Report:
Includes an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvements, with scores in the three highest and
lowest areas.
Comprehensive Employee Engagement Assessment Report:
The Employee Engagement Assessment Report is a powerful analysis tool that provides a detailed picture of engagement and
disengagement throughout an organization. The report also provides organizations with bulleted statements from employees.
Dual Comprehensive Company & Employee Engagement Assessment Report:
This option provides organizations with an individualized assessment of the Company and Employee Engagement Survey. This
report provides in-depth human resource practices utilized and compares each organization’s response to other participating
organizations. It also includes the Comprehensive Employee Engagement Assessment Report.
Executive C-Suite Chronological Assessment Report:
This report compares your organization results year over year allowing you to map the effects of your strategic efforts. This
report contains finalized results, ready to take to the boardroom or send out to managers.
CONSULTING
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® provides one-on-one consultation for those who desire a deeper look into their
workplace policies and procedures. These consulting services are provided by third party vendors who are not involved in the
selection process to preserve the integrity of the program.
WORKSHOPS, SPEAKER, WEBINARS (ELITE SUITE WORKSHOPS)
As part of the winner experience, various educational opportunities are available. These Best and Brightest ® Elite Suite Series
workshop allow top Elite winners share their best practices for everyone to excel and raise the bar of performance.
SOCIAL MEDIA, FORUMS & CONNECTIVITY TO OTHER WINNERS IN ALL REGIONS
The Best and Brightest Social media sites are your HR destination to interact with the top employers across the country. Join
our Linkedin group at Best and Brightest LinkedIn Group, tweet us on twitter at @101Best and like us on Facebook.
WINNER MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Winners’ are highlighted in a media campaign blitz that includes press releases sent to the local news media. Winners will also
be featured in Corp! Magazine’s online e-publication that is distributed to over 70,000 executives across the country.
THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR® HR E-PUBLICATION
Winners also have the opportunity to contribute articles in Corp! Magazine’s HR Website Section. Winners will receive up to date
trends, issues and advice from leading professionals.
BEST AND BRIGHTEST CUSTOMER SERVICE
The Best and Brightest staff is available to answer any questions you have through out the entire year. This is not a program where
you are just listed as a winner; the Best and Brightest ® organization is dedicated to making your business better through education,
business knowledge, surveys and workplace improvement tools.
2015 Program Timeline
Page 9
APRIL, 2014 – MARCH 27, 2015
BY MARCH 27, 2015
SEPTEMBER, 2014- MARCH 27, 2015
Nominations are open.
Nomination deadline. Verification will be sent
to all nominees.
Participation instructions including the online
username and password creation will be sent
to the primary contact at each of the nominated
companies.
APRIL 3, 2015
Employee Rosters due.
APRIL 3, 2015
Company HR Surveys are due.
WEEK OF APRIL 13, 2015
Test pilots for the Employee Surveys are sent
to the Technology Representative for each
nominated company.
WEEK OF APRIL 13, 2015
Paper version of the employee surveys, cover
letters, and envelopes are sent to employees at
nominated companies (paper option only-additional
fee applies).
WEEK OF APRIL 20, 2015
Digital employee surveys are sent via email for
each nominated company.
MAY 4, 2015
Deadline for all Employee Surveys.
WEEK OF JUNE 1, 2015
Non-winner companies are contact by phone.
Complimentary Assessment Reports are provided
and additional resources offered.
WEEK OF JUNE 1, 2015
Congratulatory winner calls are made to winning
companies. Electronic Winner Packets sent.
Winners are announced to the media.
WEEK OF JUNE 15, 2015
JULY 13, 2015
Assessment Reports available for Purchase.
Awards celebration and Gala to be held.
Attendance is required by winning firms.