On a quest to win Singapore Business Awards?
Milly Bones
Principal Consultant, Boost
Which are the best Singapore awards to enter?
One quick search for Singapore Business Awards comes up with loads of fantastic-sounding award programmes, but which do you choose? How do you know what’s right for your business, and which Singapore awards should you enter if you are looking for a credible win?
For many Singapore businesses, entering business awards is a fantastic opportunity to showcase their business success and celebrate the hard work their teams put in. From Singapore Bank Awards and Singapore Finance Awards to Singapore Tourism Awards and awards for HR, Marketing and Tech, here Boost Awards’ expert, Milly Bones delves into the various awards in Singapore to find out which could help you find the recognition you deserve. Should you need further help contact our Boost Awards APAC team who will be happy to discuss your needs further.
Lots of awards in Singapore, where should you start?
This is the hardest step for most of our clients that we write award entries for. It may sound simple, but the biggest award tip I can give you is really think about your achievements. What is your story? What are you trying to celebrate? Who do you want to impress? The next important thing to consider is which region is right for your entry? For awards in Singapore, there’s a multitude of different awards programmes for a wide variety of sectors, from Singapore-specific awards, as well as Singapore categories in many of the Asian and APAC banking awards.
Once you’ve honed in on what you want your award win to say about your business, you can start to pick which awards to enter. Here’s some of the most popular:
Singapore Business Review National Business Awards
The SBR National Business Awards – famed for recognising exceptional homegrown Singaporean companies – nominations are open to outstanding companies headquartered in Singapore with excellent projects, initiatives, products and services.
You can submit up to three entries in different categories and judges are looking for an outstanding project or service, or innovative internal practices and strategies. There’s lots of industry categories on offer here, from Education and Financial Services to Food & Beverage, General Insurance and IT Services. You can view the extensive category list here.
Your entry will be scored based on three key judging criteria:
- Uniqueness and Innovation – Did the project introduce new or cutting-edge innovation?
- Effectiveness and Impact – Did the project achieve its objectives and targets? What measures have been used to assess its success? What was the impact on your company and industry? If the project is a solution provided for a client, what is the overall feedback of your client?
- Dynamism – Is the project flexible to changes and progressive opportunities?
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore (HQ in Singapore)
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-national-business-awards/
Process: Online written entry
Singapore Business Review International Business Awards
A sister programme to the National Business Awards above, the International counterpart launched in 2014 to celebrate foreign companies operating in Singapore – so any company can enter these regardless of where they are headquartered.
The process and categories follow the same format as the National Business Awards, so again you can take your pick from many industry categories, including Accounting Services, Automotive Services, Tourism and Financial Technology.
Be sure to keep an eye on the judging criteria, and make sure you make the showcase your project’s uniqueness and innovation, impact and dynamism to score maximum judge’s points.
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore (HQ outside of Singapore)
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-international-business-awards/
Process: Online written entry
Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards
Alongside the National and International Business Awards, SBR run the Technology Excellence Awards. These prestigious Singapore tech awards celebrate Singapore’s leading companies in technological Innovation. Winners here will be leading the technological revolution and digital journeys within their industries. To win these awards you will have to demonstrate that you have pioneered ground-breaking IT products and solutions, or be an organisation boasting innovative technology initiatives that made an impact on your business.
Again, there’s a lot of different categories up for grabs which you can view here. For these awards, there will be one winner per tech category and its corresponding industry, i.e. “AI – Manufacturing”, “Digital – Travel Services”, “Robotics – Logistics”, etc.
Industry categories include Brokerage, Engineering and Investment Banking and you can take your pick from Technology categories including Big Data, Computing and Fintech to IoT, Web Services and AI.
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-technology-excellence-awards
Process: Online written entry
Asiamoney Best Bank Awards
A staple of the annual Singapore Bank Awards calendar, the Asiamoney Best Bank Awards are on the hunt for banks that have excelled across a range of core banking activities. From Best Investment Bank and Best Bank for Digital Solutions, to categories for ESG, CSR and diversity and inclusion – wins will go to Singaporean banks across all categories in these regional awards. Previous winners include UOB, HSBC, DBS, Trust Bank and Citi.
Entry deadline: April
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.asiamoney.com/awards
Process: TBC
EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Awards Singapore
Self-styled as a unique global programme that recognises entrepreneurial achievements of individuals that demonstrate vision, leadership, and success – and work to improve quality of life in their communities and countries around the world. The EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award is the perfect award for Singaporean entrepreneurs who see themselves reframing the economy and communities they serve with innovative new angles.
Nominees must either be:
- An owner-manager primarily responsible for the recent performance of a privately held Singapore-based company that is at least two years old.
- A founder of a listed Singapore-based company who is still active in senior management.
The independent judging panel will include past EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ winners, business leaders, government leaders and academia. Judges will be looking for entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact.
Entry deadline: Nominations begin in February/March with a typical April deadline.
Eligible region: International with a Singapore edition
Typical entry fees: Free to enter
Link: https://www.ey.com/en_sg/ey-entrepreneur-of-the-year-singapore
Process: Online nomination followed by on-site interview to gather additional information.
Singapore Business Awards
Running since 1985, and now one of the most prestigious accolades in the business and corporate sectors in the region, the Singapore Business Awards is jointly organised by The Business Time and DHL. There are five categories on offer, from outstanding Chief Executive of the year to the Enterprise Award or Young Business Leader of the Year. The highly coveted Businessman of the Year is open to all regardless of sex, age or race.
These awards seek to acknowledge the vital contribution businesses make to the development of Singapore and encourage and celebrate that vital entrepreneurial spirit.
Entry deadline: July
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/events-awards/singapore-business-awards
Process: TBC
Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore – IBF Awards
A celebration of industry leaders and financial institutions who exemplify professional excellence and thought leadership while contributing to the development of Singapore’s financial industry.
There are four categories on offer here:
- IBF Distinguished Fellow, for industry leaders who serve as a beacon of excellence for the industry.
- IBF Fellow, for industry specialists and veterans who have demonstrated mastery of a profession and exemplify thought leadership and commitment to industry development.
- IBF Inspire Award, for financial institutions who are committed to and have made substantive progress in workforce transformation and skills development across their organisations.
- IBF Advance Award, for financial institutions who have shown good progress in skills development across their organisation and demonstrated the growing commitment in workforce transformation and local talent pipeline building.
Entry deadline: October
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.ibf.org.sg/home/about-ibf/ibf-awards/celebrating-excellence
Process: TBC
The Monetary Authority of Singapore MAS Fintech Awards
A must for FinTech and finance projects, these awards recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies, as well as individuals whose initiatives have contributed significantly to the FinTech ecosystem.
So whether that’s spearheading the use of new technologies in creating new growth opportunities, promoting financial inclusion or enhancing the delivery of financial services, if you believe your business has been instrumental in in transforming FinTech industry practices these awards are for you.
With 16 winners across its seven categories, there are plenty of opportunities to win – with many categories awarding a cash prize for first and second places.
Entries will be judged on five criteria, including impact, sustainability, practicality, interoperability and uniqueness and creativity and categories include Singapore FinTech, Leaders Award, AI and ESG FinTech.
Entry deadline: September
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Process: TBC
HR Excellence Awards Singapore
For more than a decade, the HR Excellence Awards Singapore has celebrated the achievement and innovation n the field of human resources management in Singapore. A showcase of the most effective HR strategies, policies and initiatives that significantly contribute to improving employee engagement, organisational performance, and overall business success.
With over 35 categories covering every area of human resources you will be sure to find the perfect category to help you showcase your success. Don’t miss the Excellence in Hybrid Working, Best In-house Talent Pipeline Strategy or the ever-popular Employer of the Year, Excellence in Employee Engagement and Excellence in Learning and Development categories.
Entry deadline: June
Eligible region: All categories are open to HR teams in organisations based in Asia, the Middle East and/or Oceania.
Typical entry fees: SGD 160 per entry
Link: https://awards.humanresourcesonline.net/hr-excellence-awards-sg/
Process: Written entry uploaded online.
Singapore HR Awards
A celebration of Singapore’s human-centred organisations, The Singapore HR Awards gives industry recognition to companies for achieving Gold, Silver and Bronze standards following an assessment of HR practices.
Serving as a regional benchmark for advancing HR practices in Singapore, categories themes include people-centred awards such as Employee Experience and Wellbeing, innovation (technology) awards such as HR Tech and People Analytics and humanise awards including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Key deciding factors for a winner are impact, scalability and transformational, so winners need to ensure that their stories tick these boxes for a chance at winning.
Entry deadline: October
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://shri.org.sg/the16thsingaporehrawards
Process: Written entry uploaded online
Next steps?
Finance, FinTech and HR Awards are some of the most popular award themes for Singapore Business Awards. This gives you a flavour of the breadth and depth of options available to enter. Do you feel like some of these are the awards for you? Maybe you’re already thinking ‘How do I win a Singapore Business Award?’
If so, then why not let us help you plan your award strategy? Or write up your written submissions? We’ve been helping businesses select and win business awards for over ten years. In fact we are the world’s awards experts and have won over 2,000 credible awards! Details of our award entry writing services can be found here.
Conveniently we have colleagues based in the APAC region who would be happy to give you a call to help you double-check your chances of success and explain our pricing options. You can contact our Boost Awards APAC team via info@boost-awards.com.
We look forward to hearing from you and helping you win awards.
Milly.
(C) This article was written by Milly Bones and is the intellectual property of award entry consultants Boost Awards
On a quest to win Singapore Business Awards?
Milly Bones
Principal Consultant, Boost
Which are the best Singapore awards to enter?
One quick search for Singapore Business Awards comes up with loads of fantastic-sounding award programmes, but which do you choose? How do you know what’s right for your business, and which Singapore awards should you enter if you are looking for a credible win?
For many Singapore businesses, entering business awards is a fantastic opportunity to showcase their business success and celebrate the hard work their teams put in. From Singapore Bank Awards and Singapore Finance Awards to Singapore Tourism Awards and awards for HR, Marketing and Tech, here Boost Awards’ expert, Milly Bones delves into the various awards in Singapore to find out which could help you find the recognition you deserve. Should you need further help contact our Boost Awards APAC team who will be happy to discuss your needs further.
Lots of awards in Singapore, where should you start?
This is the hardest step for most of our clients that we write award entries for. It may sound simple, but the biggest award tip I can give you is really think about your achievements. What is your story? What are you trying to celebrate? Who do you want to impress? The next important thing to consider is which region is right for your entry? For awards in Singapore, there’s a multitude of different awards programmes for a wide variety of sectors, from Singapore-specific awards, as well as Singapore categories in many of the Asian and APAC banking awards.
Once you’ve honed in on what you want your award win to say about your business, you can start to pick which awards to enter. Here’s some of the most popular:
Singapore Business Review National Business Awards
The SBR National Business Awards – famed for recognising exceptional homegrown Singaporean companies – nominations are open to outstanding companies headquartered in Singapore with excellent projects, initiatives, products and services.
You can submit up to three entries in different categories and judges are looking for an outstanding project or service, or innovative internal practices and strategies. There’s lots of industry categories on offer here, from Education and Financial Services to Food & Beverage, General Insurance and IT Services. You can view the extensive category list here.
Your entry will be scored based on three key judging criteria:
- Uniqueness and Innovation – Did the project introduce new or cutting-edge innovation?
- Effectiveness and Impact – Did the project achieve its objectives and targets? What measures have been used to assess its success? What was the impact on your company and industry? If the project is a solution provided for a client, what is the overall feedback of your client?
- Dynamism – Is the project flexible to changes and progressive opportunities?
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore (HQ in Singapore)
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-national-business-awards/
Process: Online written entry
Singapore Business Review International Business Awards
A sister programme to the National Business Awards above, the International counterpart launched in 2014 to celebrate foreign companies operating in Singapore – so any company can enter these regardless of where they are headquartered.
The process and categories follow the same format as the National Business Awards, so again you can take your pick from many industry categories, including Accounting Services, Automotive Services, Tourism and Financial Technology.
Be sure to keep an eye on the judging criteria, and make sure you make the showcase your project’s uniqueness and innovation, impact and dynamism to score maximum judge’s points.
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore (HQ outside of Singapore)
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-international-business-awards/
Process: Online written entry
Singapore Business Review Technology Excellence Awards
Alongside the National and International Business Awards, SBR run the Technology Excellence Awards. These prestigious Singapore tech awards celebrate Singapore’s leading companies in technological Innovation. Winners here will be leading the technological revolution and digital journeys within their industries. To win these awards you will have to demonstrate that you have pioneered ground-breaking IT products and solutions, or be an organisation boasting innovative technology initiatives that made an impact on your business.
Again, there’s a lot of different categories up for grabs which you can view here. For these awards, there will be one winner per tech category and its corresponding industry, i.e. “AI – Manufacturing”, “Digital – Travel Services”, “Robotics – Logistics”, etc.
Industry categories include Brokerage, Engineering and Investment Banking and you can take your pick from Technology categories including Big Data, Computing and Fintech to IoT, Web Services and AI.
Entry deadline: January
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: Free to enter, though winners are obliged to book a winner’s package.
Link: https://sbr.com.sg/event/sbr-technology-excellence-awards
Process: Online written entry
Asiamoney Best Bank Awards
A staple of the annual Singapore Bank Awards calendar, the Asiamoney Best Bank Awards are on the hunt for banks that have excelled across a range of core banking activities. From Best Investment Bank and Best Bank for Digital Solutions, to categories for ESG, CSR and diversity and inclusion – wins will go to Singaporean banks across all categories in these regional awards. Previous winners include UOB, HSBC, DBS, Trust Bank and Citi.
Entry deadline: April
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.asiamoney.com/awards
Process: TBC
EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Awards Singapore
Self-styled as a unique global programme that recognises entrepreneurial achievements of individuals that demonstrate vision, leadership, and success – and work to improve quality of life in their communities and countries around the world. The EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award is the perfect award for Singaporean entrepreneurs who see themselves reframing the economy and communities they serve with innovative new angles.
Nominees must either be:
- An owner-manager primarily responsible for the recent performance of a privately held Singapore-based company that is at least two years old.
- A founder of a listed Singapore-based company who is still active in senior management.
The independent judging panel will include past EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ winners, business leaders, government leaders and academia. Judges will be looking for entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact.
Entry deadline: Nominations begin in February/March with a typical April deadline.
Eligible region: International with a Singapore edition
Typical entry fees: Free to enter
Link: https://www.ey.com/en_sg/ey-entrepreneur-of-the-year-singapore
Process: Online nomination followed by on-site interview to gather additional information.
Singapore Business Awards
Running since 1985, and now one of the most prestigious accolades in the business and corporate sectors in the region, the Singapore Business Awards is jointly organised by The Business Time and DHL. There are five categories on offer, from outstanding Chief Executive of the year to the Enterprise Award or Young Business Leader of the Year. The highly coveted Businessman of the Year is open to all regardless of sex, age or race.
These awards seek to acknowledge the vital contribution businesses make to the development of Singapore and encourage and celebrate that vital entrepreneurial spirit.
Entry deadline: July
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/events-awards/singapore-business-awards
Process: TBC
Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore – IBF Awards
A celebration of industry leaders and financial institutions who exemplify professional excellence and thought leadership while contributing to the development of Singapore’s financial industry.
There are four categories on offer here:
- IBF Distinguished Fellow, for industry leaders who serve as a beacon of excellence for the industry.
- IBF Fellow, for industry specialists and veterans who have demonstrated mastery of a profession and exemplify thought leadership and commitment to industry development.
- IBF Inspire Award, for financial institutions who are committed to and have made substantive progress in workforce transformation and skills development across their organisations.
- IBF Advance Award, for financial institutions who have shown good progress in skills development across their organisation and demonstrated the growing commitment in workforce transformation and local talent pipeline building.
Entry deadline: October
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://www.ibf.org.sg/home/about-ibf/ibf-awards/celebrating-excellence
Process: TBC
The Monetary Authority of Singapore MAS Fintech Awards
A must for FinTech and finance projects, these awards recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies, as well as individuals whose initiatives have contributed significantly to the FinTech ecosystem.
So whether that’s spearheading the use of new technologies in creating new growth opportunities, promoting financial inclusion or enhancing the delivery of financial services, if you believe your business has been instrumental in in transforming FinTech industry practices these awards are for you.
With 16 winners across its seven categories, there are plenty of opportunities to win – with many categories awarding a cash prize for first and second places.
Entries will be judged on five criteria, including impact, sustainability, practicality, interoperability and uniqueness and creativity and categories include Singapore FinTech, Leaders Award, AI and ESG FinTech.
Entry deadline: September
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Process: TBC
HR Excellence Awards Singapore
For more than a decade, the HR Excellence Awards Singapore has celebrated the achievement and innovation n the field of human resources management in Singapore. A showcase of the most effective HR strategies, policies and initiatives that significantly contribute to improving employee engagement, organisational performance, and overall business success.
With over 35 categories covering every area of human resources you will be sure to find the perfect category to help you showcase your success. Don’t miss the Excellence in Hybrid Working, Best In-house Talent Pipeline Strategy or the ever-popular Employer of the Year, Excellence in Employee Engagement and Excellence in Learning and Development categories.
Entry deadline: June
Eligible region: All categories are open to HR teams in organisations based in Asia, the Middle East and/or Oceania.
Typical entry fees: SGD 160 per entry
Link: https://awards.humanresourcesonline.net/hr-excellence-awards-sg/
Process: Written entry uploaded online.
Singapore HR Awards
A celebration of Singapore’s human-centred organisations, The Singapore HR Awards gives industry recognition to companies for achieving Gold, Silver and Bronze standards following an assessment of HR practices.
Serving as a regional benchmark for advancing HR practices in Singapore, categories themes include people-centred awards such as Employee Experience and Wellbeing, innovation (technology) awards such as HR Tech and People Analytics and humanise awards including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Key deciding factors for a winner are impact, scalability and transformational, so winners need to ensure that their stories tick these boxes for a chance at winning.
Entry deadline: October
Eligible region: Singapore
Typical entry fees: TBC
Link: https://shri.org.sg/the16thsingaporehrawards
Process: Written entry uploaded online
Next steps?
Finance, FinTech and HR Awards are some of the most popular award themes for Singapore Business Awards. This gives you a flavour of the breadth and depth of options available to enter. Do you feel like some of these are the awards for you? Maybe you’re already thinking ‘How do I win a Singapore Business Award?’
If so, then why not let us help you plan your award strategy? Or write up your written submissions? We’ve been helping businesses select and win business awards for over ten years. In fact we are the world’s awards experts and have won over 2,000 credible awards! Details of our award entry writing services can be found here.
Conveniently we have colleagues based in the APAC region who would be happy to give you a call to help you double-check your chances of success and explain our pricing options. You can contact our Boost Awards APAC team via info@boost-awards.com.
We look forward to hearing from you and helping you win awards.
Milly.
(C) This article was written by Milly Bones and is the intellectual property of award entry consultants Boost Awards
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