Are Awards Still Relevant in 2025?

When diaries are busy and budgets are tight, it can be hard to see the strategic relevance of awards, but coming together to celebrate success, give praise for outstanding achievements, behaviour, or dedication, and create a shared experience all goes towards creating thriving teams that achieve their goals.

Here’s why we love creating awards events with impact…

1.They provide recognition and validation

When everyone is working hard it can be difficult to make time to celebrate success and give each other a pat on the back for achieving collective goals and ambitions. Whether you are organising your internal event or entering external awards, these celebrations provide opportunities to say thank you and show that hard work, innovation, creativity, and showcasing company values have been noticed and appreciated. Knowing that good work has been noticed and valued boosts morale and creates a culture of healthy competition which will drive the whole organisation forward.

2.Create shared memories

As remote or hybrid working patterns have become an established way of working, there are fewer chances than ever for teams to come together to get to know each other, create shared memories, and get the chance to see what is happening across the whole organisation. Bringing people together for an awards celebration often gives a unique insight into what other teams or individuals are working on and can instil a real sense of pride about being part of a talented and ambitious business.

3.Marketing and PR opportunities

Winning an award is not only a morale boost for your team – it can also provide an opportunity to talk about your work, your vision, and your values to a wider audience. By strategically entering awards that align with your business goals (for example sustainability, innovation, business growth), you can help future customers, stakeholders, and employees understand what is important to you and how they align with that story. Internal awards give people a positive opportunity to showcase where they work to their personal networks and can create substantial buzz on social media too.

4.Networking and profile building

How often do you get stakeholders, potential clients, industry leaders, or partner organisations all in the same room? Hardly ever! Awards events offer unparalleled networking opportunities and allow you to authentically showcase what you are most proud of.

5.Inspire and energise your team

A little bit of competition isn’t always a bad thing! Seeing where colleagues have gone above and beyond in their project delivery, being a team player, or showcasing company values is a powerful way of inspiring the whole organisation. By recognising and celebrating success you are communicating what is important to you as a business and can inject energy and inspire excellence in the coming year. An energised team with a collective vision is a powerful thing and awards encourage everyone to push for continuous improvement and avoid stagnation.

6.A chance to reflect

It can be tempting to always look ahead to the next big project or opportunity, but entering or creating awards provides an opportunity to strategically reflect on what has gone well, gather results and data, and tell a real story about your success. By going through the process of writing an award entry or creating categories for internal awards, you really have to focus on the information that is most interesting or relevant, how you are documenting the process, and what success looks like to you as a team or a business.

7.Attracting and retaining talent

Recruitment and retention of talent are one of the major issues facing UK businesses in 2025, and organisations that make a conscious effort to say thank you, recognise achievements and create moments of inspiration to boost morale are much more likely to retain their best talent. Awards are goldmines for content too and creating an authentic way to showcase the people that work for you, your culture and the calibre of the work you’re delivering will put you in the best position possible to attract future talent.

To speak to the team at BeaconHouse Events about organising an awards event or to chat through your staff engagement plans email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk or give us a call +44 (0)191 691 3456.