Description
This award recognises a high-performing support team that enables operational excellence through expertise, collaboration and service. These teams play a critical role in supporting frontline colleagues, improving organisational performance and delivering positive outcomes for customers and the wider business.
This category is open to teams working in support or back-office functions, including administration, resource planning, finance, learning and development, quality, change, audit, compliance, HR, IT, risk and other specialist support areas.
It is also open to leadership teams responsible for delivering performance through others, including groups of team leaders or operational leadership teams.
The nominated team should describe the most significant contribution they have made during the previous 12 months and demonstrate the difference it has made through their support, expertise and overall contribution to organisational success.
The winning team will have demonstrated outstanding achievement against some, or all, of the following criteria:
Achievement & Contribution
• Delivers exceptional performance and consistently achieves or exceeds objectives.
• Demonstrates a clear contribution to operational performance, service delivery or business success.
• Identifies opportunities to improve processes, efficiency or effectiveness.
• Challenges existing ways of working to create greater value for the organisation.
Impact
• Delivers measurable improvements for customers, colleagues and/or organisational performance.
• Demonstrates positive impact through improved efficiency, productivity, quality, compliance, engagement or service outcomes.
• Provides evidence of sustained results and business value.
• Clearly demonstrates how the team's work has supported organisational objectives.
Collaboration & Teamwork
• Works effectively with frontline, back-office and specialist teams to achieve shared goals.
• Builds strong relationships and acts as a trusted partner to colleagues across the organisation.
• Shares knowledge, expertise and best practices to support the success of others.
• Creates a positive, inclusive and high-performing team culture.
• Demonstrates a genuine commitment to colleague wellbeing, engagement and development.
Innovation & Differentiation
• Introduces new ideas, approaches or ways of working that improve performance or outcomes.
• Adopts best practice and learns from other teams, organisations or sectors.
• Goes beyond expected standards to deliver meaningful results.
• Acts as a role model for professionalism, collaboration and continuous improvement.
The strongest entries will demonstrate not only exceptional support and service, but also measurable impact, strong collaboration and a clear contribution to customers, colleagues and organisational success.