O.C. Tanner’s Breakthrough Awards celebrate organisations and leaders who elevate and inspire leading workplace cultures.

*2025 submission deadline: May 17, 2025

2024 Breakthrough Award Winners

Chevron

Breakthrough Award for Unified Recognition

See how Chevron refined their recognition programs and processes to ensure all employees feel appreciated in a unified way.

AAA - Auto Club Group

Breakthrough Award for Elevating Culture

See how ACG’s recognition platform and strong Champions network inspire greatness and elevate the employee experience.

Navy Federal Credit Union

Breakthrough Award for Perpetual Improvement

See how NFCU raises the bar by weaving recognition into every enterprise strategy and honoring employees at every stage of their journey.

“Through collaboration with our business partners and O.C. Tanner, we’ve been able to drive the necessary tools and change required to manage appreciation and recognition more effectively.”

—Karey Stanley-Boyd, Head of Global Recognition Programs, TD Bank

Past Breakthrough Award Winners

Logos from past Breakthrough Award winners

What qualifies as a breakthrough?

Your breakthrough achievement may have been in “Elevating Culture.” Or perhaps you made great improvements in “Improving Employee Satisfaction” or with “Onboarding and Adoption Success.” Your breakthrough can be for any of these, or for another initiative that helped to elevate workplace culture.

Whatever the focus, your breakthrough qualifies as long as it touches all five of our award criteria, which includes:

What to expect

  1. Complimentary tickets to attend the next Influence Greatness conference with your team to accept your award during the Breakthrough Awards Ceremony.
  2. Participate in a breakout session at the next Influence Greatness conference to share your Breakthrough Award story.
  3. Collaborate on a case study with O.C. Tanner that highlights your Breakthrough Award story.
  4. Join an O.C. Tanner webinar as a featured guest the year following your award.

Submit your breakthrough story

O.C. Tanner’s Breakthrough Awards recognise and celebrate the extraordinary efforts of innovative organisations to improve workplace culture. Award recipients showcase stellar employee experiences that elevate, inspire, and fuel both personal and organisational success.

To apply for a Breakthrough Award, you must be a client of O.C. Tanner.

Submission deadline for 2025 is May 17, 2025.