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Nominees for this award will have made a significant contribution that has had a big impact on the operation and/or the colleague or customer experience in the last 12 months. They may be colleagues working in a support team, such as a coach, trainer, quality analyst, performance analyst, hr business partner, IT business partner, finance business partner or communications lead, or someone that was seconded to deliver a project within the contact centre. Equally it may be a Team Leader or equivalent, or more senior, who has done something significant outside of their day-to-day role that deserves recognition. 

This award recognises an outstanding individual who works in a non-customer facing management role providing significant support to the contact centre. Nominees may have responsibility for business continuity, communications, complaints, data and insights, employee experience, IT or project management, partnership management such as outsourcers, quality assurance, resource planning, risk and compliance or training. They will have strong leadership, technical expertise, and demonstrable commitment to service excellence, and have actively driven improvements in the last 12 months.

This category is open to Team Managers that have been working at this level for less than 12 months and already had a demonstrable impact. Nominees are evaluated based on quantitative results (such as performance metrics and team milestones) and qualitative factors (such as feedback from team members and cross-functional partners). They will be responsible for a team of frontline colleagues, with typically between six and fifteen direct reports who interact with customers. The Team Manager will report directly to the Contact Centre Manager or equivalent and excel in their role on a daily basis delivering all their key performance indicators.

Nominees will be responsible for leading a team of frontline colleagues. They will typically have between six and fifteen direct reports who interact with customers. The Team Manager will report directly to the Contact Centre Manager or equivalent and excel in their role on a daily basis delivering all their key performance indicators. They will have demonstrated key leadership skills in the last 12 months that have had an impact on the team and/or the team’s performance.

Nominees will be responsible for a team of frontline colleagues and have responsibility for delivering a sales target. They will typically have between six and fifteen direct reports and operate with strong sales ethics of fairness, honesty and integrity. The Team Manager will report directly to the Contact Centre Manager or equivalent and excel in their role on a daily basis delivering all their key performance indicators. Nominees can work in an inbound, outbound or retention sales department. They will have demonstrated key leadership skills in the last 12 months that have had an impact on the team and/or the team’s performance.

Nominees will have driven change and innovation across their contact centre operation or the wider organisation in the last 12 months as part of their core responsibility. They will manage a project team either within the contact centre operation or with representatives from many areas of the business to deliver business improvement, this could involve the use of AI. They will be able to demonstrate a robust methodology for identifying, prioritising, implementing, and monitoring business improvements and be able to show clear examples of improvements that have been delivered and the impacts realised across colleague, customer and business performance metrics.

This award recognises nominees who are responsible for driving a customer-centric culture with a focus on improving customer experience and being the voice of the customer at every opportunity. As a contact centre leader, they will have personally initiated, led, and implemented significant developments in the organisation’s customer experience in the last 12 months. They may have delivered improvements through raising awareness internally, improving processes, systems, or engagement with their organisations customers. Nominees will be natural customer-centric individuals who recognise the impact that a good customer journey has on all elements of the balanced scorecard.

Nominees will have operational responsibility for running a UK-based contact centre, including leading teams and delivering the operating plan. They will demonstrate strong leadership, have created a high performing team and ensure a healthy colleague culture. They will be succeeding in all their key performance indicators and have achieved exceptional outcomes in the last 12 months.

For Directors or Heads of Function with strategic responsibility for the contact centre, this award recognises those who have planned and implemented significant change in the past three years. They will be forward-thinking and able to demonstrate innovation in their approach to strategy, management, and delivery of customer experience through the contact centre, and have a track record of delivering excellence with evidence of the impact on colleagues, customers, and business results. Nominees will have a passion for empowering and inspiring their team and will demonstrably champion the contact centre within their business and the wider industry.

Nominated teams will be providing operational support to customer-facing teams within the contact centre. This could include business continuity, communications, complaints, data and insights, employee experience, IT or project management, partnership management such as outsourcers, resource planning, risk and compliance or training. They will be recognised by their internal customers as experts in their field, will have delivered outstanding support to colleagues and able to demonstrate the impact they have had on the contact centre’s performance in the last 12 months.

For customer-facing teams providing specialist customer services e.g. bereavement, debt recovery, fraud, retention, social media, vulnerable customer support etc. They will have a good understanding of the customers’ needs and will be working closely with the contact centre and wider organisation and have demonstrably improved the overall customer experience in the last 12 months. They will be recognised by their colleagues as experts in their field and will be leading the way with the specialist service that they provide.

Nominations are invited from teams who are managing the organisations customer complaints whether they are through telephony or back office departments. They will have a good understanding of the customer issues and have processes in place to analyse data. They will be working closely with others to reduce complaints by using insights to drive improvements across the contact centre and wider organisation and have proven their impact on the overall customer experience in the last 12 months.

This category is for teams who are focused on delivering change to the contact centre and have implemented a key change programme in the last 12 months. This may include a small yet impactful change, business readiness, technology enhancement, process improvement or continuous improvement initiatives, through to major transformation projects. The team, which may be a project team with representatives from across the business, will be working closely with the contact centre leadership team to understand how to improve the customer and/or colleague experience and will be able to demonstrate the approach that they have taken to identifying issues and deploying solutions, along with the results that have been realised.

Nominations are invited from organisations looking to recognise their contact centre leadership team for the impact that they have had in the last 12 months. They may be the strategic leadership team with collective responsibility for the contact centre or a middle management team that is responsible for a division of the contact centre. Together they will have created a diverse and innovative culture, driving change, recognising employee value and have a track record of delivering excellence with evidence of the impact on colleagues, customers and business results. They will actively champion the contact centre within their business and in the wider industry.

Nominations are invited from organisations that have delivered activities in the last 12 months that support their corporate social responsibility strategy. This may include supporting local communities and charities or having a committed approach to sustainability and saving the environment. Nominees will be able to demonstrate the impact of their support on the beneficiary as well as on colleague engagement, customers and the organisations brand.

This category celebrates those organisations that have demonstrated a commitment to crafting, delivering, and continually improving a new colleague journey that stands as a model of best practice. Starting with engagement during recruitment, through onboarding and induction training, to ongoing support in the early months, nominees will be able to demonstrate how their new employee experience programme has a demonstrable impact on speed to competency, employee engagement and attrition.

Nominations are invited from organisations that have built a robust apprenticeship programme into their contact centre, demonstrably developing, retaining and supporting the careers of individuals. This award will recognise organisations that excel in designing, delivering, and developing apprenticeship programmes, and can demonstrate the successful progression of colleagues through the programme and beyond.

The Best Approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Award recognises organisations that have gone above and beyond in their unwavering commitment to cultivating environments where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. This award not only highlights the importance of DEIB initiatives but also the positive impact that their DEIB deliverables have on customers.

This award celebrates organisations that support their contact centre colleagues’ wellbeing, such as mental or physical health, psychological or financial support or personal learning and engagement. Their approach will be having a hugely positive impact on the working environment as well as on colleagues. The nomination will be measured against how successful the programme has been implemented, the benefits that are being realised across the contact centre and the impact the programme is having on colleague engagement in the last 12 months.

This category recognises organisations that demonstrate exceptional commitment to fostering a positive, supportive, and inclusive workplace culture. It celebrates innovative strategies and initiatives designed to inspire, engage, and empower colleagues at all levels, resulting in enhanced morale, collaboration, and organisational success. Nominees will showcase programmes that go beyond traditional employee engagement, embracing creative approaches to communication, recognition, wellbeing, and professional development. They will be able to evidence a measurable impact over the last 12 months in colleague retention, satisfaction, and productivity as well as authentic stories of colleagues feeling valued and connected.

This award recognises organisations that are committed to growing the talent in the contact centre. Nominations will radiate total commitment to setting up new recruits to succeed, demonstrate the provision of continuous learning programmes, giving all colleagues the time to develop product knowledge, embed process familiarity and improve soft skills. Organisations will have clearly defined career paths for colleagues to progress through and be able to prove a measurable impact of their approach on teams, the business and on customer experience.

This category will recognise where artificial intelligence (AI) is delivering genuine support for colleagues. From a simple solution that makes the lives of frontline colleagues easier, to applications that support their learning and development, to complex solutions that have changed the way the frontline operates. Nominations will demonstrate success through colleague engagement and feedback, impact on customer experience and a demonstrable return on investment from a programme delivered in the last two years.

Joint nominations with a technology provider are welcome, but providers cannot nominate alone. Recognition goes to the contact centre as the finalist or winner. 

Nominations are invited from organisations that have established an effective quality management framework for their contact centre which encompasses supporting colleagues, delivering great customer experiences and meets business and regulatory requirements. Quality will be embedded in the fabric of the contact centre, with teams demonstrably using the insights to drive positive change for colleagues and customers over the last 12 months.

The award recognises outstanding achievements in the planning, execution, and impact of an organisational change programme within the last two years. Nominations should focus on how colleagues were taken on the change journey, from conception through to delivery and measuring the impact. Organisations will have demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and tangible results in managing change, whether through digital transformation, cultural renewal, business model innovation, process redesign, or other pivotal shifts affecting their operations and stakeholders. They will be able to evidence demonstrable results considering the impact on colleagues, customers and the organisation.

This award recognises organisations that have a true focus on people, providing them with happy and healthy places to work, engaging environments, learning and career opportunities, genuine diversity and inclusion practices, recognition and reward for all and a real sense of community and purpose. They will be able to evidence the culture from across the contact centre and demonstrate the impact that their culture is having on the customer experience, the performance of the contact centre operation and wider business.

To enter the Contact Centre Excellence category, nominees will be a current CCMA Accredited Contact Centre. These organisations will automatically be nominated and the organisation with the highest score will be recognised in this category on the Awards Night. To become a CCMA Accredited Contact Centre, contact mel@ccma.org.uk.