About

Best practices can be on any aspect of work that your organisation excels at. For example, crisis management, remote working, employee well-being, sustainability, response time, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, teamwork, customer service, branding, social responsibility, governance, future foresight, knowledge management, product development, customer focus or supplier relationships.

For 2026, the International Best Practice Competition (IBPC) will be recognising best practices as follows:

• Winner(s) Certificates for 7-Star Best Practices in any best practice area (this is the pinnacle achievement).
• Winner(s) Certificates for highest Star Ratings in 21 IBPC categories of excellence (winners must achieve at least 5 Stars).
• Winner(s) – Special recognition to the highest Star Rating for Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) – 50 employees or less.
• Pioneer in Excellence Prizes for applicants with the Highest Number of Best Practices rated highly, from 4 Stars and Above, up to 7 Stars.
• Honour of Distinction awarded to organisations achieving three or more International Best Practices assessed at 5 Stars and above.

The IBPC Committee will determine for which categories recognition will be given dependent on how many applications are received in each category. This is currently set at twenty-one categories, but this could be reduced or expanded dependent on the number of applications. The categories are:

1. Leadership
2. Governance
3. Social Responsibility
4. Environmental Sustainability
5. Strategic Planning and Deployment
6. Performance Measurement and Management
7. Customer and Market Focus
8. Design of Products/Services
9. Supplier Relationships and Partnerships
10. Education, Training, Development, and Learning
11. Employee Teams, Empowerment, Motivation, Satisfaction
12. Employee Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
13. Workforce Planning, Recruitment, and Retention
14. Process Management and Improvement
15. Change Management
16. Innovation Systems and Approaches
17. Innovation Projects
18. Management of Assets
19. Risk Management
20. Digital Transformation
21. Automation and Technology

Whilst applicants are asked to record which categories their best practice fits into, it is ultimately the decision of the IBPC Committee to determine the most appropriate category.

For applicants that have submitted three or more Social and Environmental Responsibility best practices, they are also encouraged to apply for the Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) Excellence Award

IBPC Best Practice Certification

The IBPC Best Practice Certification Scheme is used for assessing the applications:

• Role Model, World-Class, Wow! (7 Stars, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★)
• Outstanding at an International Level (6 Stars, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★)
• Excellence at an International Level (5 Stars, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★)
• Excellence at a Local Level (4 Stars, ★ ★ ★ ★)
• Strong Practice (Advanced / Effective) (3 Stars, ★ ★ ★)
• Competent (Professional) (2 Star, ★ ★)
• Deficient (Major Deficiencies) (1 Star, ★)

The IBPC award criteria examines these areas:

Clarity of the Best Practice

What is the best practice? Is the scope/boundary of the practice clear (therefore what is included as part of the practice and what is excluded)? Has the context of the best practice been explained, therefore the challenge or opportunity the best practice is addressing?

Level of deployment

When was the practice designed and implemented? How was it designed and implemented?  Has it been deployed in all targeted areas? How well is it understood and applied by relevant personnel? How many staff and/or customers or suppliers does it affect?

Innovation

What is innovative about the practice? Or which aspect of the practice makes it stand out as a best practice? Does the practice indicate a breakthrough in how the processes, products or services were designed, implemented, operated, or sustained? Is it a new practice, is it a practice that was gradually improved over time, or is it an idea or practice that was adapted from another organisation?

Results

Are results shown indicating performance before and after the introduction/improvement of the practice? Are both non-financial benefits (e.g., increased motivation or satisfaction, reduced staff turnover, greater productivity, less complaints) and financial benefits (e.g., $ saved, $ increase in revenue) reported? Are the results directly related to the best practice (cause/effect)? Has trend data been shown that indicates improvement since the practice was implemented?

Best Practice evidence

Has the practice been validated as a ‘good/best’ practice? For example, was it adapted from another organization through benchmarking or has the practice and its performance been compared against benchmarks/industry norms? Has the practice received any recognition or award or been praised during external audit feedback or have customers/suppliers given favourable feedback on the practice in comparison to the practices of other organisations?

Review/next steps planned

How will the practice be sustained or evolve as necessary? Do you have a system for regularly reviewing the practice and its performance? What lessons have been learnt from implementing the practice? What future improvements are planned?

Enter this Award

Download the entry form and email your completed entry to competition@coer.org.nz 

Entry Fee & Our Services

Refer to our fees and services

Presentation Guidelines

Please refer to the presentation guidelines page for rules and suggestions on preparing your presentation.