Celebrating excellence
in customer contact across Northern Ireland
Individual Categories
Appprentice / Newcomer of
the Year
This category will recognise an apprentice or newcomer who have been employed in a non-managerial role for a minimum of 6 months, who show outstanding progress, a positive approach to employment and excellent interpersonal qualities. The judges will be looking for evidence of exceptional vocational competence, achieving great results, making a difference within a short period of time, plus excellent interpersonal skills
Rising Star
This category is for colleagues working in any contact centre or customer contact function within the organisation. The Rising Star Award honours a colleague who has shown an outstanding performance within the last twelve months and who is considered to be a key employee within the business or a potential future leader.
Support Person
of the Year
This category is for non-managers working across the organisation eg. HR, IT/Analysts, Facilities, Comms, Marketing, Workforce Management, Transformation etc. The judges will be looking for evidence of enthusiasm, drive and determination and competence in providing exceptional levels of support to the organisation and their colleagues.
Advisor
of the Year
This category is for individuals working at advisor grade in a sales or service capacity who has demonstrated exceptional levels of service and vocational competence. The winner will be someone who goes above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities to provide excellent support to their colleagues, demonstrate consistently high performance as a customer adviser or sales agent, provide strong results and make a real difference to their organisation.
Team Leader of the Year
The Team Leader of the Year is a professional and inspirational person who leads by example, takes responsibility for the team and ensures that their colleagues’ experience of work is a positive one. Entrants must demonstrate strong leadership, be results oriented, with a commitment to staff development, and have evidence of guiding their team to consistently high performance.
Learning & Development Manager of the Year
This category is seeking a professional L&D Manager who applies innovative learning strategies to deliver both corporate objectives and individual needs. Entrants must demonstrate an enthusiasm for staff development and provide evidence of how their training/coaching solutions have improved staff skills/performance and resulted in successful outcomes for the business.
Support Manager of the Year
Open to individuals who have been managing a support team or support function based in a centralised customer delivery (eg: Quality, Finance, Marketing & Communications, HR, etc). The winner ensures consistently high performance of the support team or contact centre and combines a commitment to the delivery of objectives with an efficient and effective service. The winner will also have implemented strategies that have impacted positively on the team / department and made a real change to the organisation.
Technology Manager
of the Year
Open to individuals who have been managing a Technology team or function based in a centralised customer delivery (eg: IT, Analysts, Workforce Management, etc). The winner ensures consistently high performance of the technology team or function and provides a commitment to the delivery of objectives with an efficient and effective service. The winner will also have implemented strategies or innovations that have impacted positively on the team / department or organisation.
Customer Contact Manager of the Year
Open to individuals who have been managing customer contact and/or customer service functions across a variety of operations and channels and manages a team responsible for customers. The team can be remote, hybrid or office based. The customers can be internal or external across any function of the business. The category seeks to reward exceptional leadership and vocational competence. The winner ensures consistently high performance in customer contact, delivers the company’s vision and objectives with an efficient and effective service, has successfully implemented innovative strategies that positively impact the organisation and displays a commitment to the continuous improvement of the organisation and its staff.
Senior Manager of the Year
Open to senior personnel including site directors who have been managing a customer contact organisation or other customer contact managers. This category seeks to reward exceptional leadership and management skills. The winner ensures consistently high performance of the centre/site, delivers the company’s vision and objectives with an efficient and effective service, has successfully implemented innovative strategies that positively impact the organisation and displays a commitment to the continuous improvement of the organisation and its staff.
All individual entries must be nominated by a manager.
For details on how to enter, click here
Company Categories
Support Team of the Year
This award will recognise the outstanding support delivered by a team or department supporting the contact centre/centralised customer unit, eg: IT/Quality/Social Media/Retention/HR. The entry needs to outline the support process, the reasons for implementation, key performance indicators and provide evidence of positive outcomes. It must also include evidence of the impact of the team on the wider objectives and overall performance of the business.
Customer Team of the Year
Open to any team supporting internal or external customers in a sales or service environment (virtual, remote, hybrid or physical) if they are supporting NI business operations. Entries should outline: where the team is based and the impact the team has on customers through evidence against their KPI’s.
Innovative Recruitment
Strategy
This new award will recognise companies that have successfully addressed the organisation's personnel needs with the development of an innovative recruitment strategy. Entries should include details of: the objectives behind the strategy, how the strategy has been developed and implemented, results achieved, lessons learned and any long-term impact on the recruitment plan/needs of the business.
Best Hybrid / Cross Functional Model
This new award recognises how organisations manage people in a physical and virtual world. Entries should include details of how organisations have adapted to and delivered communications with a dispersed workforce and any new technologies or programmes that have been implemented to enable hybrid / cross functional working eg: self-scheduling, remote planning etc.
Technology Innovation
Strategy
This award recognises how an organisation has created a Technology Innovation Strategy for their systems or processes. The category can include CX, digital transformation, workforce planning or any other technology improvement initiative. Evidence will be required of:
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The objectives behind the strategy
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How the strategy was planned, implemented, communicated and monitored
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The impact on customers, staff, operational/business performance
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Overall results and how this fits into the long-term strategy of the business.
Best Environment & Sustainability
This new category considers how businesses have adapted their buildings and programmes to deliver best practice for the environment and sustainability. Entries should outline any measures undertaken to promote the environment and sustainability and include specific programmes to reduce waste eg: locally sourced products, recycling, energy efficiency, community projects and support. It should also outline how the organisation’s objectives, mission and purpose is aligned with sustainability and the impact achieved.
People Engagement
This will be presented to a centre that puts its staff at the heart of the operation. The successful centre shows that front line people are the focus of the business. Entries should include details of:
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Special initiatives to promote employee engagement
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Health and wellbeing practices to support employees – including resilience and mental health initiatives
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Evidence should include KPIs on performance improvement through engagement, plus sickness, absence and retention rates.
Learning & Development Strategy
This award will recognise companies that successfully address ongoing learning and development needs for individuals, departments and whole organisations to see that all objectives are met. The judges will be looking for examples of how L&D affects the company ethos and how talent management is embedded in the company culture.
Best Advice Line / Helpline
This category is for any body or organisation delivering an advice line or helpline for internal and external customers or the public. The category is open to all providers delivering advice, help and assistance or public information. This can include local authorities, health and welfare, police, Covid response line, or any other emergency/non-emergency helpline, public sector information line, shared service centre or service desk. Entries should include details of the advice/helpline’s objectives, delivery and implementation, plus impact and results.
Best Customer Engagement
This award recognises how you deliver exceptional levels of service to your customers and should include details of how you measure customer engagement – targets, performance against targets, KPIs, etc. Evidence can also include details of a multi-channel approach eg: via digital, chat, social, voice and web.
Diversity & Inclusion Strategy
This award will recognise an organisation with innovative strategies, policies or programmes in place that are designed to promote diversity and inclusion. These may include programmes to support the external community (your customers) or internal community (your people) including: race and ethnic origin, vulnerable customers, neuro diverse staff, disability, health, social or economic disadvantage, as well as gender, religious beliefs, age, education, sexual orientation and/or other perceived differences.
Best Outsourced Partnership
This category is for an outsourced contact centre with a highly successful business relationship with their client. To be successful in this category entrants must demonstrate a clear understanding of their client’s aims and objectives and provide evidence of:​
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How they have developed an effective client relationship
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How they've helped the client with the effective delivery of a range of services
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How they've implemented two-way communication channels between the front line and client decision makers.
Customer Centre of the Year
This new category is about how you deliver excellence for your people and customers, whether these are hybrid or physical. This entry should be a business entry for the whole operation. Entries should outline the strategy for customer engagement, people engagement, diversity and inclusion and the environment. The entry may also include any AI, Transformation or Innovation strategies that have delivered an impact on the business.