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This award celebrates an organisation which develops new or innovative ways to build its workforce, recruiting local talent through pathways from school or further and higher education, by upskilling and reskilling its current workforce and by attracting talent to the area to fill skills gaps.

The winner will be contributing positively to its workforce and wider community by developing skills, unlocking potential, and creating opportunities for emerging and existing talent. This might look like:

• Strong partnership working with other organisations on workforce development and on building a successful skills pipeline
• Demonstrating a strong commitment to influencing young people to stay in the area and take advantage of local opportunities eg through work tasters or school engagement
• A commitment to apprenticeships or other pathways to work for young people
• Creating meaningful opportunities for learning, growth, and career development
• Fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where talent can thrive
• Creating and measuring impact on the progression or success of individuals or teams
• Describing how challenges have been overcome and how the approach has evolved over time
• Measuring the business and wider community benefits of the approach

The judging criteria are as follows - a strong nomination will make reference to how the organisation is meeting these criteria.

1. Development of new or innovative ways to build the workforce, including pathways to work for young people including school, college and university leavers
2. Commitment to upskilling and reskilling the current workforce
3. Evidence of attracting talent to the area to fill skills gaps