Scottish Living Wage Awards: How to Win and Why to Enter - A Guide for Employers

With less than a week to go until the Scottish Living Wage Awards entries close now is the time to make yourself a coffee, put your phone on silent and write your entry! Still not convinced if these awards are for you? Read on as I share 5 reasons why you should be entering this great celebration of Scottish Living Wage employers, as well as bonus 5 tips to make your entry stand out!

1. Attract and retain the best people

Getting shortlisted for a Scottish Living Wage award shows that your business or organisation is at the forefront of the Living Wage movement and is doing a great job of supporting your employees, in a year where the cost of living has become harder for us all, letting your clients and customers know that you are doing what you can to support your staff will go a long way to separate you from your competition.

2. It lets you see your business or organisation from a fresh perspective

Pulling together the content for your entry will give you time to reflect on achievements over the last year or so that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. Often we are so busy working on the next big rocks that we forget to take time to enjoy thinking about how far we have come.

3. Motivation for everyone

Being shortlisted and potentially winning a Scottish Living Wage award is a great achievement that delivers a feel-good factor for the whole team. This will boost staff morale and help motivation. When staff being see that others outside of the organisation recognise their achievements it's a win-win!

4. Free PR!

A Scottish Living Wage award is a great way to show that you invest in your people and that taking care of everyone in the organisation is a top priority. More than ever employees want to know that the organisation they are working for cares for them and is taking positive actions to ensure they are making the world a better place.

5. A wonderful night of networking and celebrating with like-minded people

With an in-person night of celebration planned at the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, this year’s awards are due to be one to remember. A great chance to spend time with the best of the Scottish Living Wage community while celebrating each other's successes! 

Convinced? Here are my 5 tips for writing a killer entry for the Scottish Living Wage Awards…

1. Keep it simple. Less often is more!
2. Now is not the time for imposter syndrome. You’re great, let the judges know!
3. With lots of entries to read, make yours stand out by being crystal clear.
4. Read the questions carefully and try to answer them fully.
5. Stay within the word count limit. It will help you keep concise and ensure you don’t get disqualified for giving too much information.

Finally, good luck and hope to see you on the night!