We had some great news this week here at ESS, as we found out that we have been shortlisted for not one, but two awards in The Learning Awards 2019! To say we’re a little bit pleased with ourselves is the understatement of the year!

We’re absolutely thrilled!

We even broke out the champagne. 

OK, OK, we know we haven’t won yet, but these awards are the premier event in the learning industry calendar, so the fact that we’ve been shortlisted is cause enough for celebration. And we’re going to take it.

So what are The Learning Awards all about then? Well, we’ll tell you…

What Are The Learning Awards? 

The Learning Awards, now in their 23^rd year, have become THE awards event of the learning sector.

Held at the distinguished (and very posh) Dorchester Hotel in London, this year’s event – which took place in February of this year and celebrated the achievements of 2018 - was hosted by TV personality (and official beautiful person) Tess Daly, who did a fantastic job of bringing some star glitz and glamour to the occasion.

The Learning Awards are the creation of the Learning & Performance Institute, a company that has been committed to raising the profile of workplace learning around the world since 1995. What’s more, the Judging panel for the awards is headed up by Nigel Paine, a world-renowned expert in learning in the workplace, so it’s fair to say this event knows what it’s talking about when it comes to workplace learning.

In 2018, awards were won by some big name companies, such as BT (who won the Internal Learning Solution of the Year award) and Specsavers (who won the Learning Team of the Year award), and the awards were sponsored by the likes of Microsoft (who sponsor the Learning Technologies award) and Ernst and Young (who sponsor the Learning Provider of the Year award), so this is no minor awards ceremony.

And as you can tell if you watch the video of the 2018 Learning Awards, this is a big deal, so we’re super proud to have made it through to the awards finalists.   

What Have ESS Been Shortlisted For In The Learning Awards? 

As we’ve already mentioned, we’ve not just been shortlisted for one award this time, but two.

As a business, Essential Site Skills has been nominated for the Learning Provider of the Year award. Presented to an enterprise that provides learning services to external clients, this award is a biggy.

According to the entry criteria for the award;

“Candidates should demonstrate consistent high quality and innovation. In particular, the judges will be seeking clear differentiators from other entrants to the award, evidence of innovation, value for money, business impact and client endorsement, as well as a strong proposition in response to the challenge ‘why this year?’

In 2018, the winner of this award was EF Education First, and previous winners have included Mind Gym and Growth Engineering, so the bar has been set very high!

Obviously, we’ve got everything crossed this the award will go to us in 2019, but the other awards finalists are The Alzheimer’s Society, APT Training and Consultancy, Media Zoo, Mind Gym (again!) and Sponge, so if we don’t win we know we’ll have been beaten by a worthy opponent.

The second award we’re up for is actually for an individual employee, rather than the business as a whole; Michael Harcourt has been shortlisted for The Rising Star award.

According to the LPI’s website, the criteria for this award is as follows;

“The Rising Star Award is presented to an individual (employed or freelance) working inside a learning organisation or for an external provider, who has shown exceptional promise and made a significant impact. The individual will have spent less than 5 years in the Learning and Development industry. In particular, the judges will be seeking evidence of creativity, innovation and rapid progress as a Learning Professional. The individual should be able to clearly respond to the challenge ‘what differentiates you from other Learning Professionals at a similar stage in their career’? The submission can be self-written or written on behalf of a nominated individual.”  

In 2018, this award was won by Danielle Kennedy, and other nominations for the 2019 Rising Star award include Amy Chapman of Vanquis Bank and Sarah Davies of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust.  

Again, Michael is clearly in great company with this award, however, the fact that he’s even made the shortlist makes him a Rising Star hero in our eyes; we’re incredibly proud of him and of what he’s achieved. So, whilst we’ve got everything crossed that he’ll win, he’s our winner regardless.

When are The Winners Of The Learning Awards 2019 Announced?   

As they are every year, the winners of the 2019 Learning Awards will be announced in a swanky ceremony at The Dorchester on Park Lane in London, in February 2019.

We don’t yet know any further details, such as who will be hosting the event this year, however we do know that it will be a star studded evening and will give everyone in the learning sector the chance to let their hair down for the night.

We’ll certainly be buying ourselves new frocks and dickie bows in honour of the black tie event!

In the meantime, we’ll just have to keep everything crossed, and hope we’ve done enough to win at least one, if not both, of our awards. At the very least, to be perfectly honest, we’re just chuffed to bits to have been considered, let alone made the finalist shortlist!

Get In Touch

If you’d like to find out more about The Learning Awards, or what we did to deserve them, then you can get in touch with ESS directly by filling out the contact form on the website. Alternatively, you can pick up the phone and give us a ring on 0115 8970 529 to speak to one of the team.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for top-quality (and already award winning) training for your staff, then please browse our website to view all the courses we have available.

And wish us luck for February 2019!