2025 Excellence in Practice Award Winners

The Excellence in Practice Awards program recognizes internal talent development practices and initiatives that organizations use to enhance and develop the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of their employees.

AdventHealth

Executive Leadership Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

Partner: C Factor Consulting

To build a pipeline of future executives, the cohort-based program delivers custom curriculum journeys, coaching, and assessments during six multiday intensives that address the company's mission, spiritual integration, and executive acumen. The program has resulted in a decrease in recruitment costs, an increase in talent mobility, and a dynamic learning community.

AIA Group Limited

SPARK Leadership Development Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

Using blended learning, the program equips senior leaders with the essential mindset, skills, and behaviors to drive sustainable business growth. The practice cultivates strategic agility, enterprise-wide collaboration, and an innovation-driven culture to navigate the rapidly changing industry landscape.

American Residential Services

HVAC Maintenance Technician Program

Category: Career Development

The 10-week, multimodality training initiative equips new hires with the necessary skills and knowledge to become proficient maintenance technicians. More than 60 technicians have gone through the program and completed more than 14,000 service calls, generating a significant increase in revenue.

China Telecom

Cultivation Practice for Talents Dispatched Overseas

Category: L&D

The training initiative serves the employees located in the organization's international markets. More than 6,000 people have participated in the program, which enhances professional competencies, overseas culture, foreign language skills, business communications, and security and risk prevention.

Sales Performance Improvement

Category: L&D

Online learning and practical coaching with artificial intelligence—both via a video and live-streaming platform—help enterprises within the organization solve traffic operation and monetization problems without increasing in-store costs or personnel. An enterprise-level matrix creates full-touchpoint interactive marketing and empowers stores to increase sales performance.

CIMC Container (Group) Company Limited

Innovation Talent Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

Cultivating a group of young staff with excellent leadership and management competencies, this practice helps participants significantly improve business-development, team-building, innovation, and change management capabilities.

Cognizant

ADM Role Maturity RoadMap

Category: L&D

A streamlined road map ensures that participants develop skills through group clusters. The initiative helps individuals align with the demands of their current roles while preparing them for future roles. The learning solutions and key milestones enable associates to navigate their career growth.

Automotive Skill Development Program

Category: Performance Consulting/Performance Improvement

Self-learning modules, trainer-led sessions, hands-on practices, assessments, and certifications are components of this blended, end-to-end technical training program. It uses external original equipment manufacturers for their expertise, efficiency, and certification, along with internal trainers and subject matter experts.

Director + Leader Onboarding Program

Category: Onboarding

The program propels newly promoted or hired leaders toward success. By acclimating, assimilating, and accelerating their leadership journey, participants focus on leading themselves, leading others, and leading the business. The journey equips leaders to build key relationships, thrive, and deliver results.

Early Career Talent Bootcamp

Category: L&D

Associates early in their careers take this five-day program to learn the foundational knowledge and professional and leadership development skills that center around five key capabilities addressing 16 topics. The interactive and dynamic learning experience concludes with a final project presentation and has led to a 92 percent retention rate six months postprogram.

External Certification Enablement and Engagement for Data+

Category: L&D

The EXCEED program is a strategic L&D initiative that provides associates with a comprehensive pathway to prepare, practice, and achieve proficiency in more than 60 technical certifications. It's a one-stop learning solution offering everything from prerequisites and preparation materials to practice labs and mock tests, culminating in certification with record completion.

GLIDE on a Learning Cruise

Category: L&D

The integrated talent management program brings together multiple organizational functions to upskill associates and prepare them for diverse roles while increasing bench strength and meeting client commitments. GLIDE addresses skills gaps and uses self-paced study, mentorship, practical labs, and case studies to create an innovative and personalized program.

Compass Group (North America)

Upward: Women in Culinary Leadership Program

Category: Diversity and Inclusion

The 12-week blended learning journey targets women culinarians who are managers or aspire to management. The program includes a personalized assessment; a customized learning plan with application activities, resources, and training; online instructor-led training that culinary leaders and industry experts facilitate; mentorship; self-directed learning; and opportunities to connect with peers and managers to accelerate learning.

DataArt

Tech Skills Mentoring Program

Category: Coaching and Mentoring

This practice-based initiative meets mentees' needs through regular one-on-one guidance with an experienced mentor over a three-month period. With a flexible, participant-oriented approach, the program enhances engineering excellence, upskilling, engagement, and satisfaction.

Datavant

Leadership, Growth and Development

Category: Leadership/Management Development

Integrating personalized learning and performance management to enhance leadership effectiveness and engagement, the program increases participant satisfaction and promotion rates. The comprehensive initiative addresses critical leadership gaps and fosters a culture of excellence and innovation, equipping leaders to navigate business complexities and drive sustainable success.

Discovery

Business Boost: Flash Sales

Category: L&D

Through short, sharp, and targeted learning content, the program systematically builds learning into daily functions without any major time commitments. The practice drives engagement and creates an environment of growth, thus solving a major business need and having a positive impact on the sales force, clients, and the organization.

Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited

Integrated Capability Development Framework

Category: Managing the Learning Function

The program develops safe and efficient plant operations and processes through an end-to-end framework for technical talent development. It increases productivity, reduce losses, enhances safety, and promotes a learning culture.

Equinix

Sales Onboarding for Accelerated Ramp

Category: Onboarding

SOAR is a five-month onboarding initiative that infuses culture, productivity, networking, and sales enablement. The program starts on all new hires' first day and includes a role-specific 30 Day Start Kit, virtual and in-person workshops, weekly reinforcement lessons, practice and coaching opportunities supported by peer-to-peer learning, artificial-intelligence tools, and customized content.

EY

Diversified Staffing Group In-Residence Program

Category: L&D

Through a combination of work experience and structured learning, the initiative grows today's tax professionals to be tomorrow's leaders. The program's three main pillars (experience, learning, and coaching) offer a comprehensive and innovative best-in-class tax L&D model.

GF Securities

Building a Leading Wealth Management Business

Category: Performance Consulting/Performance Improvement

The training and performance improvement counseling program targets employee performance gaps and capability enhancement through overseas training, practical training, and establishing professional standards.

Corporate Culture Training and Promotion Project

Category: Diversity and Inclusion

The cultural study and promotion project has established and implemented operational norms along with company culture and values. The three-tier corporate culture curriculum system benchmarks individuals practicing company core values.

KPMG

Taxila: The Partner Development Initiative

Category: Leadership/Management Development

The leadership development initiative combines immersive learning, one-on-one mentoring, and coaching to senior leaders. The ecosystem inspires learning that leads to organizational success.

LifeNet Health

LevelUp Leadership Development Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

The virtual program prepares high-performing individual contributors for leadership positions. Participants discuss articles, complete e-learning courses, and consume podcasts or videos in geographically diverse, cross-departmental teams. The initiative continues to successfully increase retention, promotion, and lateral rates.

Mediatek

New Manager Development Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

NMDP reflects a corporate goal to transition the organization from a market follower to a technology leader by tackling two challenges: lack of managerial leadership to meet new business demands and managing cultural integration postacquisition. The three-phased initiative includes components such as pre-reading, workshops, postworkshops, and a practicum.

Moxa

Sales Management Excellence

Category: Sales Enablement

The practice enhances global sales representatives' expertise in key selling strategies, equipping them with essential skills and tools for effective customer collaboration and long-term success. The training program includes a five-stage selling process, consultative selling, a sales call simulation, presentation of account and opportunity plans, objection handling, and strategies for engaging with diverse customer styles.

North American Bancard

LevelUp Leadership Certification

Category: Leadership/Management Development

Partner: Aha! Leadership

The comprehensive program gives newly hired and first-time, midlevel managers fundamental leadership concepts that align with the company's core values and competencies. The experience entails self-instructed lessons that focus on tactical management training, instructor-led workshops on leadership and competency development, and practical application.

Novartis

Talent Scouting

Category: Integrated Talent Management

The initiative proactively attracts, engages, and prepares diverse leaders for critical roles, augmenting traditional recruitment methods. Through strategic planning, data-driven decision making, and active candidate engagement across multiple channels, the program reduces time to hire, improves quality of hires, enhances employer branding, and increases diversity.

PETRONAS

Innovation Engine

Category: Integrated Talent Management

The holistic practice builds a sustainable culture of innovation to drive business outcomes. The program emphasizes that individuals build capability outside the classroom and brings intentional focus to activating innovators in their current context.

Reliance Retail Limited

Building Leaders for Tomorrow

Category: Leadership/Management Development

The Leadership Academy equips leaders across all levels to be role models of the company's cultural ethos and work practices. L&D grounded the initiative in the organization's leadership archetypes that reflect ideal leader behaviors. The development journey includes programs tailored to different organizational bands. Results include people-first mindsets, an innovation culture, and enhancement in hypercollaboration.

Nurturing a Coaching Culture

Category: Coaching and Mentoring

To enable managers and leaders to engage in a developmental relationship with their team members, the program uses a coaching-on-demand technology platform to connect employees and certified coaches. The goal is to create behavioral changes such as higher empathy, structured thinking, active listening, self-reflection, and increased psychological safety.

Salesforce

Global Leadership Coaching Center of Excellence

Category: Coaching and Mentoring

Partners: BetterUp, Center for Creative Leadership

The program accelerates performance, personal growth, and stronger employee engagement through one-on-one coaching, skill-building training, and learning practice. The initiative provided personal leadership and executive coaching to more than 14,600 leaders, built coaching skills for more than 5,300 managers, and trained more than 270 internal coaches.

Samaritan Health Services

Career-Con

Category: Career Development

The month-long event highlights career development programs and resources in efforts to promote employee retention and satisfaction. The event is accessible to all staff regardless of job type and includes in-person events, virtual engagement activities, drop-in learning sessions, scavenger hunts, and coaching.

Siemens, China

Foster a Culture of Skill-Based Learning

Category: L&D

The practice equips employees with critical skills through diverse learning events, platforms, and community support, ensuring staff remain relevant and resilient in a rapidly changing environment. The holistic approach has significantly boosted engagement, skills acquisition, and overall organizational performance.

Sinopec Management Institute

Strategic Talent Development Program

Category: L&D

The three-year training initiative helps the organization develop a reserve of talent by establishing criteria and conducting a skills inventory, accurately identifying key staff for development. The long-term, capability-oriented, learning-and-practice-centeric program drives advancement and learning transfer in employees.

SolarEdge

Company Certification Program

Category: Customer Service Training

The initiative guides more than 370,000 installers across the world on their journey from onboarding to certification, while preventing common installation mistakes. It has a digital format and focuses on cultivating experts through real-life examples and challenges.

SprintRay

The Leadership Sprint

Category: Onboarding

The intensive, six-month onboarding program integrates newly hired and promoted directors and above into the company culture, builds essential relationships, and aligns with strategic goals. The essential techniques include regular feedback, coaching, and structured assessments.

Sungrow

Comprehensive Executive Advancement Program

Category: Leadership/Management Development

The program targets high-potential executives and senior managers from diverse global operations. The nine-month experience enhances leadership capabilities through a blend of personalized learning paths, practical application, and continuous feedback.

Thai Oil Public Company Limited

5 Happiness: Holistic and Fully Online Well-Being Program

Category: Diversity and Inclusion

The initiative focuses on five dimensions: physical, mental, financial, social, and cultural well-being. It creates a positive, thriving, and satisfying work environment where employees feel supported and work-life balance improves.

T-Mobile

Career Ride-Along

Category: Career Development

The internal mobility program provides frontline employees with a hands-on, multiday experience at the company's headquarters. It encompasses job shadowing, engagements with leadership, and tailored developmental sessions as approaches to growing careers, fostering discovery, and building confidence.

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited

Beer Brewer Class

Category: Career Development

The project provides a platform for high-performing and highly capable technical employees to enhance their skills through learning and exchange, while outlining comprehensive career development paths. It offers knowledge and skills training via blended learning, comprehensive process tracking, and coaching.

Universal Beijing Resort

Universal Way

Category: Customer Service Training

Partner: UMU

The practice transforms correct understanding into concrete service behaviors through the 70-20-10 learning theory, social learning, and an evaluation. It enables participants to correctly understand the service models and standards of the theme park industry, exhibit service behaviors that align with the standards, and unify team service behaviors across different service scenarios.

US Customs and Border Protection

Basic Import Specialist Training Course

Category: Integrated Talent Management

BIST uses instruction from subject matter experts, case study examination, and performance-based learning to shift the organization to a more agile posture with less processing time and greater flexibility. The initiative requires learners to demonstrate competencies and empowers specialty upskilling in onboarding and performance management modules.

Crawl, Walk, Run Initiative

Category: Change Management

The training model aims to shift the organization's philosophy to align with leadership policies on workforce care, resiliency, and training. The goal is twofold: Decrease the loss of potential workforce personnel due to high testing failure rates and ensure the best possible outcome for those trainees when they successfully pass their required training.

Fentanyl Detection Canine Course

Category: L&D

The initiative upskilled frontline canine teams in detecting, safely seizing, and executing emergency responses to fentanyl contamination, overdoses, and illegal trading. The practice also upskilled instructors in safely handling training aids and providing emergency responses during training exercises, resulting in no injuries and a yearly increase of fentanyl seizures at US ports of entry.

Versant Health

Customer Service New Hire Training

Category: Onboarding

The six-week hybrid program comprises instructional activities, call simulations, and a nesting experience. Customer service representatives develop skills around organizational goals and objectives, processes and procedures, medical terminology, technical systems, and exceptional service.

ZoomInfo

Go-to-Market Onboarding

Category: Onboarding

The 90-day program combines a one-week boot camp with role-specific paths using diverse training methods that align to a skills framework. The regimen uses clear milestones and mixed modalities to continually build muscle memory and transform new hires into peak performers.

ZTE Corporation

Improving Effectiveness of Compliance Training for All Employees

Category: L&D

The initiative adopts a dynamic person-course-scenario matching mode to deliver tailored compliance training to a global workforce. It significantly improved business efficiency, enhanced the company's brand image, and ensured business security and continuity.