A nomination is simply the first step of raising your hand to participate. It can be done by an HR leader, a CEO, or even an employee. Once nominated, the organization must run the survey to actually qualify for the award.

• Step 1: Setup and Strategy: Top Workplaces specialists will connect and collaborate with your team to ensure a successful survey experience. They will help configure your survey schedule and determine which specific awards your organization is eligible to pursue.

• Step 2: Surveying Your Employees: You will deploy a confidential, research-backed engagement survey to your workforce. The survey consists of 25 statements and takes most employees less than 10 minutes to complete. To be considered for an award, your company must achieve a minimum survey response rate of 35% (or at least 30 responses if you have fewer than 85 employees).

• Step 3: Reviewing Your Data: Once the survey closes, you will receive a complimentary, high-level snapshot of your results. This provides immediate, actionable insights to help you identify your culture’s bright spots and blind spots.

• Step 4: Award Determination: Your company’s survey results are compared against the Top Workplaces benchmark, which has been determined through 19 years of research. Organizations that meet or exceed this benchmark are awarded as winners. A single survey qualifies your organization for any eligible regional, national, or industry awards for the next 12 months.

• Step 5: Publication and Promotion: If you win, your company will be featured by prestigious media partners, such as USA TODAY or regional newspapers. You will also receive a media pack and a company profile on the Top Workplaces website to help you promote your award and enhance your employer brand. Participation is strictly confidential, meaning there is no risk to your reputation if your scores do not meet the winning benchmark; only the names of winning companies are made public.

Sure! Here’s a Leadership Guide.

No. There is absolutely no cost to nominate your company, survey your employees, or be recognized as a Top Workplace. If you win, you are not required to purchase anything to accept the award.

We operate on a “freemium” model. While the survey and the award recognition are free, we offer paid packages for companies that want to dive deeper. These include detailed Insight Reports (demographic segmentation, heat maps, and comment analysis) and Employer Branding tools (custom profiles, enhanced media kits, and recruitment advertising). Purchasing these is entirely optional and has no bearing on the scoring of the award.

The process is designed to be low-lift for HR teams.

• Registration: You sign up online (takes about 5 minutes).
• Setup: You upload an employee list (HRIS export) containing email addresses (or mobile numbers for SMS).
• Launch: We handle the rest. We send the survey invitations, reminders, and close the survey.

Energage administers the survey. This is critical for data integrity and trust. We send the unique survey links directly to employees to ensure anonymity. You do not collect the responses; we do.

Timelines vary depending on which regional program (e.g., The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe) or national program (USA TODAY) you are targeting. Generally, there is a specific “survey deadline” date by which your survey must be closed to qualify for that year’s list. Contact your account representative for your specific regional deadline.

We offer flexible surveying options to ensure every voice is heard. For “deskless” employees, we can provide survey links via SMS text message, kiosk links (for shared tablets/computers), or QR codes.

Winners are determined solely by employee feedback. There are no essays, no culture binders, and no executive interviews. We compare your survey score against our proprietary benchmark of over 27 million employee surveys. If your engagement score exceeds the benchmark for your industry and size, you win. It is strictly data-driven.

There are three main differentiators:

• Methodology: Our awards are 100% survey-based. Many competitors require lengthy essays written by HR or charge “application fees” that influence the results.
• Media Partners: We partner with the most prestigious media outlets in the country (like USA TODAY, The Washington Post, etc.), offering you credible, high-visibility recognition.
• No Barriers: We do not charge a fee to enter. We believe recognition shouldn’t be “pay-to-play.”

If you make the list, you receive:

• The Honor: You can refer to you company as a Top Workplaces winner on your website and recruiting materials for one year.
• Media Recognition: Your company name listed in the publication (e.g., USA TODAY or your local partner paper).
• Top-Line Data: A high-level overview of your survey results showing where you stand.

Yes. Even with the free version, you will see your organization’s overall engagement score and how it compares to the benchmark. You will know if you won and generally why. To see the granular breakdown (e.g., “How did the Engineering department score vs. Sales?” or “What were the specific anonymous comments?”), you would need to upgrade to the paid Insights package.

This is a common fear, but remember: Silence is a risk. Your employees already feel this way; the survey just makes you aware of it. If leadership isn’t ready to make big changes, simply acknowledging the feedback (“We heard you”) creates goodwill. Furthermore, participation is confidential. If the scores are low, no one needs to know but you. You treat it as a diagnostic baseline to improve for next year.

None. We only publish the list of winners. If your organization participates and does not meet the benchmark score, your name is never released. It is a completely safe, risk-free opportunity to audit your culture.