Success Factors for Entering
ASTD BEST Awards 

The most successful entries

• provide metrics and evidence of strong links between learning activities and business results that are strategically important to the company.
• have an integrated learning function that is
  enterprise-wide.
• are innovative. Successful entries use practices that are innovative in the profession, not just in their particular companies. E.g. using an LMS may be innovative in a company but is now commonplace in the larger workplace.
• show learning’s relevance to organizational goals. 

 The entries

• are clear and concise, but tell their complete story in the open-ended questions.
• answer the entire question, paying particular attention to respond fully to two-part questions.
• answer the question that is asked. If the question asks what impact an initiative had on performance, they do not write about how many people attended a course.
• give examples of the impact of learning on organizational goals, not only on the learning function goals.
• describe a number of initiatives throughout the application, rather than write about the same program in response to multiple questions.*
• provide evidence to support statements (It’s not enough to say “employees can now do XYZ” without data or other measurement.)
• show how learning is linked to organizational strategy and how it supports and gets results for business needs.
• take a systematic approach to showing the effectiveness and impact of learning.
• demonstrate how the learning function leads or is involved in performance improvement.