01
Minimum workforce of 15
Full-time permanent employees on payroll at the time of application. Contractors and outsourced staff are excluded from the headcount.
RequiredCorpmetrix® Best Employer Award · 2026 round
Recognition your people earned for you.
The Best Employer Award is decided by your employees first and verified by our auditors second. No nominations, no paid placement — just a confidential survey of your workforce, an independent review of your people practices, and a score that either clears the bar or doesn’t.
Applications
Open nowFor the 2026 round
Assessment
End of year 2026Measured on the full year's experience
Certification
Certified 2027Valid for 12 months after results
Assessment length
8–10 weeksFrom kick-off to verified score
Why this award
Most employer awards measure the application. Ours measures the workplace.
Employer rankings have a credibility problem. Many are won with a well-written submission and a sponsorship package. Candidates know it, employees know it, and boards increasingly know it too.
The Corpmetrix Best Employer Award starts somewhere else: with the people who do the work. Seventy percent of every score comes from a confidential PEACE® survey of your employees, benchmarked against the regional dataset. The remaining thirty percent comes from an independent audit of the policies, data and practices behind that experience.
Organisations that clear the threshold are certified. Those that don't receive the full diagnostic anyway — so the assessment is useful whatever the outcome.
70 / 30
Employee voice to audited practice
≥ 70%
Minimum composite score to certify
5
PEACE® dimensions scored independently
Eligibility
Five simple conditions to enter the assessment.
Designed to be open to organisations of every size and sector. Certification depends on the score you earn.
02
At least 2 years of operation
The legal entity applying must have been trading continuously for 24 months, so we have a stable base for policy and turnover data.
Required03
A representative response
We need a fair picture of your people, not a hand-picked group. At least 65% of eligible employees need to respond — the same floor for every organisation.
Required · 65% participation04
Leadership sponsorship
A member of the senior leadership team who supports the application and is willing to share the headline results with employees.
Required05
Practices review participation
Willingness to walk us through your people policies and programmes. You choose what to share — we work with summaries and examples, and nothing you consider confidential is required. Everything is handled under NDA.
Required · you decide what to shareSize categories
Small15 – 99 employees
Medium100 – 499 employees
Large500 – 4,999 employees
Enterprise5,000+ employees
Minimum participation
65% of employees
65% of employees
65% of employees
65% of employees
Assessment method
Two independent lenses, one composite score.
Neither lens can carry a weak score in the other — both must meet their own floor.
Lens 1 · Employee voice
PEACE® Employee Survey
A confidential 48-item survey sent to your whole workforce in English and Arabic, via email, SMS, WhatsApp or QR. Responses go directly to Corpmetrix — you never see individual answers.
- 48 scaled items
- 3 open-text questions
- ~12 minutes
- Floor: 65% favourable
70%
Lens 2 · Audited practice
People Practices Audit
A structured review of the policies, programmes and HR data that shape the employee experience — verified by an independent assessor through documents you choose to share, and a leadership interview.
- 9 practice areas
- You choose the evidence
- 60-min leadership interview
- Floor: 60%
30%
Explore what we measure
Purpose
Do people understand how their daily work connects to something that matters?
15%
of composite
Survey measures
- Clarity of organisational mission and strategy
- Line of sight from role to customer outcome
- Pride in the organisation's reputation
- Intention to stay 24+ months
Signals we look for
- Consistent scores across management layers
- Open-text references to customers or mission
- Low gap between leadership and frontline
Scoring
Where your composite score lands.
Every applicant receives their full diagnostic report, whatever the result.
0607085 — 100
Below 60
Development
Not certified this cycle. You receive the full PEACE® diagnostic and a prioritised action plan to work on.
60 – 69
Emerging
Close to the bar. A confidential debrief identifies the two or three gaps that would move you over it next cycle.
70 – 84
Certified
Best Employer Award certified for 12 months, with the full mark and employer-brand kit.
85 +
Certified with Distinction
Top-tier certification, eligible for the national ranking and the crystal trophy.
Eligibility check
Find out in 60 seconds whether you can apply.
Indicative only — we confirm eligibility on a short call after you apply.
01How many full-time employees are on payroll?
02How long has the entity been operating?
03Can at least 65% of eligible employees take part?
04Will a senior leader support the application?
05Can you walk us through your people policies and programmes?
The process
From application to certification in six steps.
A dedicated Corpmetrix assessment manager runs every step with you.
01
Day 1
Apply
Submit the online application. We confirm eligibility on a 20-minute call within three working days.
02
Week 1
Kick-off
Agreement signed, survey branded and translated, employee list uploaded securely, communications plan agreed.
03
Weeks 2 – 4
Employee survey
PEACE® survey open for 2–3 weeks across every channel. Live response-rate tracking by department.
04
Weeks 3 – 6
Practices audit
You share the summaries and examples you are comfortable with, then a 60-minute interview with your leadership sponsor.
05
Weeks 7 – 8
Scoring & review
Scores calibrated against the benchmark and reviewed by an independent panel before release.
06
Week 9 – 10
Results & mark
Results debrief, diagnostic report and — if certified — your award mark and brand kit.
The mark
A certification you can put to work.
Licensed for 12 months across careers pages, job ads, LinkedIn, offices and reports.
Primary ribbon
Careers sites, recruitment campaigns and printed collateral.
Light seal
Email signatures, job postings and light backgrounds.
Distinction seal
For organisations scoring 85 or above.
Crystal trophy
Presented to certified organisations — made for the reception desk, not a drawer.
01
Full diagnostic report
Scores by PEACE® dimension, department and demographic, benchmarked against your industry and the regional average.
02
Employer brand kit
Award mark in every format, usage guidelines, press-release template and social assets in English and Arabic.
03
Public listing
A profile on the Corpmetrix certified-employers directory, linked from the annual Best Employer report.
04
Recognition moment
Your certification announced alongside the 2026 cohort, with Distinction winners recognised on stage.
05
Action-planning workshop
A half-day session with a Corpmetrix consultant to turn your results into a 12-month people plan.
06
People leaders community
Access to quarterly roundtables with leaders from other certified organisations across the region.
Stories from certified employers
The best employers don't say it about themselves. Their people do.The first stories from our 2026 certified employers will appear here. Could the next one be yours? Apply for the 2026 round →
Questions
Before you apply.
Is there a fee to apply?
Yes — the assessment is priced by company size and covers the survey, the audit, the diagnostic report and the action-planning workshop. There is no extra charge to use the mark if you certify. Ask for the fee schedule when you apply.
What happens if we don't reach the threshold?
Nothing is published. You still receive the full diagnostic report and a confidential debrief, and you can reapply in the next cycle. Many organisations certify on their second assessment.
Can we see individual employee responses?
No. Responses go directly to Corpmetrix and are only reported for groups of five or more. That confidentiality is what makes the scores credible — and what encourages honest participation.
We already run an engagement survey. Can we use that data?
Not for certification — every applicant must use the same PEACE® instrument so scores are comparable. If you already run PEACE® through the Corpmetrix platform, a recent cycle may count; your assessment manager will confirm.
Can a single business unit or subsidiary apply?
Yes, provided it is a distinct legal entity or a clearly defined operating unit with its own HR data. The certification will name that entity specifically.
Is the survey available in Arabic?
Yes. The survey is fully bilingual, and employees choose their language. Additional languages are available for multinational workforces on request.
How long does certification last?
Twelve months from the date results are issued. To keep using the mark, you reassess in the following cycle.
Apply now · 2026 round
Start your assessment.
Three short steps, about four minutes. An assessment manager will contact you within three working days to confirm eligibility and schedule your kick-off.
Prefer to talk first? Contact the award team →