Nomination
By you, a team member, a peer, or even a customer, nominations are the doorway to participation in the programs.
To be eligible for consideration, companies must meet the following criteria:
- Have a minimum of 10 employees
- Must be in business a minimum of 1 year
- Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business or government entity
- Be a publicly or privately held business
- Temporary, seasonal, 1099 employees, independent contractors, consultants, interns, and volunteers are not counted in the number of employees or included in the survey process
- Submit a Scoring and Analysis Fee if applicable
FONA is proud and grateful to be among the best and brightest for so many years. This program creates an exhilarating sense of competition, challenging us to answer the question: What matters most to our incredible people? We thank you for keeping us sharp, and keeping us focused on our most important asset: our people. Jennifer Kluge and her organization have made a difference in tens of thousands of lives and workplaces, including FONA. Thank you for helping us strive for new ways to do more --- and do it better and faster -- for our people, our customers and our stakeholders.
Being part of the Best & Brightest program has helped us maintain our position as an employer of choice and helps us not only attract but retain top talent. It’s a proud moment when you can say you’re a Best & Brightest Company to Work For!
The assessments and reporting have shown us where our weaknesses are. We are now improving our communication skills within the organization and have learned you can never do too much of it.
Scoring and Analysis Fees
Why is there a Scoring and Analysis Fee to participate?
Each application is scrutinized, scored and feedback is shared with both winning companies and those that did not make the winners list. Company data is analyzed as well as each employee survey by participating companies. To keep the integrity of the program, a third party partner is used to score each application. As a service organization, it is expensive to process hundreds of companiesâ data and their respective employee surveys without a fee applied. All nominated companies that pay this fee receive a complimentary overall assessment report that contains feedback and benchmark scoring data. There are also options to purchase in-depth comprehensive reports with detailed data to help participants and their executives improve their overall operations. As a service organization, these comprehensive reports are significantly less expensive than private firms that offer survey services.
Crystal Fees
What are they?
Crystal fees only apply to winners that do not participate in the awards gala and educational symposium. Once you agree to participate in the Best and Brightest Program, it is expected that all winners participate in the education and awards gala. Better Business, Richer Lives and Stronger Communities is more than a tagline. We do this through education and winning companies sharing their best practices and engaging with other winners to make the local community stronger. As a result we require winners to attend local awards galas that include educational opportunities to raise the bar of excellence, hence Better Business. We strongly encourage event day participation. For those companies that do not participate in the awards gala, we charge a fee of $160 to ship their award crystals to them. Companies that decline to participate in the educational awards gala forgo their opportunity to be an Elite Winner as they are refusing to share their success with the business community which is part of the programs key mission. We encourage nominated companies that were not selected to attend to learn more about the practices of winning firms. Educational sessions will be provided along with opportunities to understand your scores and how to improve them.
Ethical Conduct on Logo Usage
- Only the Best and Brightest approved winners and their marketing and advertising representatives may use the winner logo. Winning companies are eligible to use the logo for up to one year from the date of winner acknowledgement.
- The logo is not to be altered in any way and must include the winning year.
- The logo must appear in original colors, Pantone (PMS 2597 purple) and Pantone (PMS 130 gold), CMYK, RGB, black or white only.
- When presenting your company as a Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® winner, the Best and Brightest team must be notified of publications or articles the information in which it will appear.
- Logo use on marketing pieces must be tasteful and non-demeaning.
- When addressing or referring to the event, award or program for media relations or marketing purposes, use consistent language related to the program. The title of the program must be used as seen here: âBest and Brightest Companies to Work For®.â Truncated versions are not acceptable.
- Violation of this policy may mean disqualification as a Best and Brightest Company and could lead to litigation.
