Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award Judging Criteria
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We strongly recommend reviewing the scoring rubric below and FAQs before beginning a nomination.
Tips for your nomination:
- We strongly suggest including metrics to clearly demonstrate the impact of your work to the judges. As an example, this might include year-over-year web traffic or email open rates.
- Where possible, please specify how the individual has met strategic targets or how the work has contributed to meeting organizational goals.
- When referring to visual communications (i.e. rebrand, website redesign, social media campaign, educational video, etc.), please include graphics and/or screenshots if possible.
- For larger documents or reports, please limit attachments to the most relevant sections (ideally 10 pages or less).
- Testimonials or letters of recommendations from peers or fund leadership are strongly encouraged.
- As a reminder, nominees are judged based on work completed in the past 12 months.
About the NCPERS Rising Star Award
Is there a junior staff person or a new team member who has gone above and beyond? Nominate your organization’s Rising Star! This separate award category is meant to honor staff who have been with their organization (or within the industry) for five years or less and have demonstrated exceptional potential and growth in their role.
For the Rising Star award, however, judges can consider work performed during the 5-year or less the individual has been with their organization.
Public Pension Communicator of the Year Awards: Judging Criteria
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Core Criteria
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Example
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Score (1=low; 10=high)
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Demonstrated exceptional leadership skills
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Nominee has provided mentorship and/or served as an excellent team player; successfully works with staff to meet organization’s mission and better serve its members; Nominee collaborates externally to advance the fields of communications or member services in the public pension community.
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Superior creativity and innovation to improve organizational communications and/or member experience
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Individual successfully implemented creative solutions to improve organization’s communications or address a problem/gap; continually strives to improve communications initiatives, customer service, and/or the member experience in order to meet (or exceed) organizational objectives.
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Positive impact on the pension & its members (and/or the public pension community)
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Individual’s work has had a demonstrably positive impact on the public pension community (members, public perception, and/or staff).
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| Supporting Criteria (Optional) | Example | Score (1=low; 5=high) |
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| Going above and beyond given the individual’s role at the organization | Nominee has exceeded expectations of their role, demonstrating a drive to push their organization’s communications to a new level. They may have taken on new responsibilities or shown initiative to continue to improve. | |
| Progression of skills, professional development | Individual has learned new skills to elevate the organization’s capabilities, demonstrated a progression of skills, and/or sought out professional development opportunities. | |
| Support or recognition from peers and/or leaders | Individual has earned recognition from peers, fund leadership, and/or external organizations. |
Other factors considered by judges may include:
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Resources available (i.e. size of team and/or budget available)
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Relevant organizational challenges (i.e. staff turnover)
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Experience levels (i.e. a junior vs. senior staff member)
Please be sure to review our FAQs here before submitting your nomination. Please direct any questions to communications@ncpers.org.