How to Nominate Faculty and Staff Members for Various Honors

By: Tetiana Hanchar Tetiana Hanchar
Date: Mar 19, 2018
Comment: 0
Category: Awards Management

Are you satisfied with your job? If we were to ask you what the one thing that you love the most about your current occupation is, what would your answer be? For 58% of employees, recognition is their answer. In this post, you’ll discover how to effectively nominate faculty and staff members for special honors and awards. Learn what really makes people happy with what they do!

Honoring staff members

“I would do it no matter what, but it’s nice to know that somebody realizes I’m really giving it my all,” stated LaRavian Battle, a teacher from the Oakland Unified School District, upon receiving an award for her implementation of an electronic learning program.

Whether it’s a large information technology company or a college, moving toward specific goals is the lifeblood of any public or private organization. Shining a light of recognition on your faculty and staff members will inspire them for further successful attainment of their goals.

Here are the key benefits of organizing nomination events for your faculty or staff members:

Increasing retention. The more valued employees feel in their current position, the longer they’ll be willing to stay at that workplace. Clever nominations can keep employee turnover low and can cultivate long-term relationships within your workforce.

Relevant blog: How to retain and reward volunteers

Encouraging growth. Everyone has work tasks, but not everyone is ready to go above and beyond them. Honoring educators and employees for their ambitions is one of the best ways to drive professional growth.

Setting standards. Through nominations, employers hold up role models for other employees and identify the skills that are critical to the success of their organization. Let’s say someone with excellent digital literacy wins the title of “Teacher of the Year.” This event will serve as a great prompt for the other faculty members to work on improving their own digital skills.

The art of successful nominations

The primary channel for gaining recognition for a special accomplishment is the process of nomination. Building a strong nomination packet that can explain why a candidate is worthy of winning an award is the premier prerequisite of success.

Here’s what you need to do to craft a successful nomination package:

Create a value statement that is backed up by research. To win an award, a staff or faculty member should be able to offer a competitive value statement. Tap into the previous award experiences, explore current trends, and build a nomination that resonates with these issues.
Get support. Apart from research, a good nomination should also be backed by influential recommendations and references.
Pay attention to contest criteria. Even with an Oscar-worthy nomination, a candidate won’t be successful if his or her application doesn’t fit into the context of an award.

How to organize an event

The culmination of every nomination process is the organization of an event where the critical decisions are made. Here is a short step-by-step guide to nomination awards organization:

Pick the format. Depending on the type of organization you have, the budget, and the number of staff or faculty members, you can take many directions here. If it’s an annual show, introduce nominations in categories like “Faculty Member of the Year,” “Innovator of the Year,” etc. For monthly awards, you can split workplace achievements into smaller segments and award people for “Weekly Project Implementation” or “New Tool Discovery” for example.
Develop characteristics. Defining characteristics that lead to a candidate’s nomination helps staff and faculty members evaluate their own performance and prepare for an awards event.
Set criteria & submission requirements. If you use a contest management software, provide nominees with clear instructions on how to use it as well as clarify the formalities, such as the list of required application documents (if needed), deadlines, etc.
Clarify the selection process. Once you’re done with submission mechanisms, start developing a plan for winner selection. Ensure that all applicants understand the criteria and the judging process.

How to write a nomination letter

A compelling nomination letter can win you a desired title or an award. To make it shine, you should start by studying language and typical topics in other nomination letters. Check out the major conclusions in relation to gender that the Association of American Medical Colleagues came to when reviewing a number of nomination letters:

Nomination letters for male professionals are usually longer than those written for females.
There are usually fewer words of praise in nomination letters for women.
“Standout adjectives” defining professionalism and high achievements are more characteristic for nomination letters for men.

A good awards event isn’t only about picking the right words to nominate someone but also about the use of reliable evidence and effective examples that certify a value statement. Here’s how you should write a compelling letter of nomination:

Brainstorm worthiness statements. Start by writing down the specific examples of initiatives that a nominee has taken, his or her contributions to organizational success, knowledge and innovation demonstrated in real-life contexts, etc.
Use diverse perspectives. If a nomination package includes several testimonials, ensure that every piece of writing tells a unique story about the nominee. For example, if it’s a faculty member nomination, use one testimonial to demonstrate innovation contributions and the other to note special achievements in their interactions with learners.
Leverage persuasive words. Impactful adjectives and nouns can add value to a nomination letter. Study the most successful words that are used to nominate someone for an award based on the winning nomination letter examples, and make semantics work for your own success!
Keep it short and simple. Don’t confuse effective and sophisticated words. A good nomination letter is one that communicates the strengths of a nominee in the most precise and understandable way.

Conclusion

A well-organized nomination selection process helps both public and private organizations retain the most talented professionals. By choosing the right words for a nomination letter and aligning a nomination package with the goals of an event, you can solidify the efforts of staff and faculty members in the most efficient way.