Award FAQ

To get started, firm representative should complete a quick registration on the Zweig Group website. Registration/entry fee is collected at this time.

Each award has slightly different submission process, specific instructions will be included in the registration confirmation or payment receipt. More details can be found in this awards brochure; our Awards Manager is also available at awards@zweiggroup.com to answer your questions throughout the process.

Zweig Group will not, under any circumstances, disclose the names of firms that apply but do not make the list of winners. Data submitted by firms will be used in defining the overall survey sample set. All information submitted is completely anonymous and confidential. All firms who apply to Best Firms To Work For still receive the results from their employee survey as well as a benchmarking report that indicates areas for improvement.

The Trifecta Award is a convenient bundle for firms to enter the Hot Firm List, the Best Firms To Work For Awards, and the Marketing Excellence Award.

Firms who enter and place in all three awards automatically receive a coveted Trifecta Award.  Challenge yourself and give it a try!

As a part of the registration fee, regardless if your firm places or not, you receive access to Zweig Insights, where you will be able to track response rate and see your firm's employee survey results and industry benchmarks when they become available.

If you’d like to use the BFTWF as your own custom employee survey, you have the option to add your own questions to the end of the graded portion as well. The employee survey results can be used to evaluate where your firm is succeeding and where you need to improve.  You can use your survey results as a promotional tool and aid in recruiting. For firms who place on the list, this ranking and the “Best Firms To Work For” designation is a valuable recruitment tool! Zweig Group also lists winning firm names on our website and press releases, and promotes through various social media platforms.

Customized employee surveys are expensive (usually $3,000-$8,000), the Zweig Group BFTWF Award survey is a much more affordable way to gather employees feedback.
We offer the option for participating firms to upgrade the registration to include up to 10 additional, customized questions to this BFTWF survey. While firms will receive the results to these customized questions, these responses do not count towards rankings in the awards program.  A Zweig Group representative can help you develop questions if you choose to customize the survey.

If you’d like to add more than 10 questions or want a custom report at the end of the survey with more detailed demographic breakdowns and comparisons, email us to discuss options.

When a firm applies for the BFTWF award, a firm representative must fill out a short form on the Zweig Group website, selecting which categories the firm belongs in, and pay the registration fee. If the registrant wants to add custom questions to the end of the employee survey, they are invited to submit these questions at this time. 

The registrant will then be invited to fill out a “Corporate Survey.” The BFTWF Corporate Survey is about workplace practices, policies, and benefits; and should be completed by a firm leader, HR manager, or equivalent representative. The representative is emailed the “Employee Survey” portion of the awards process which must be completed by May 10. We recommend firm leaders email this survey link out to all employees inviting them to participate.

To be eligible, 50% of the firm’s staff must complete the employee survey. Zweig Group keeps you updated on your firm’s participation level to ensure that you meet the requirements by the deadline.

Once these two surveys are completed, they are graded and combined to determine a final score.  After all surveys have been graded and ranked (late May), every firm receives their report.

Firms will be ranked industry-wide as well as by firm size and firm discipline.

All Zweig Group asks is your demographic information, a few questions about how you achieved success, and your growth (revenue numbers).  Placement on the list is entirely based on revenue growth over the previous three-year period. Other data collected is for Zweig Group to analyze correlations and find cool and interesting statistics to share with you.

When a firm applies for this award, a firm representative must fill out a short form on the Zweig Group website and pay the registration fee.  Afterward, applicants are given a link to the short application questionnaire.  Award applicants are asked to provide verification of revenue.

We use your 2014 end of year revenue as your baseline revenue number and then compare the next three years after that, but we will only need your 2018 revenue numbers.

No. Have you ever run a race and achieved a personal best time, but still not placed well? Hot Firm is just like that. Winners vary from year to year based on a multitude of variables including hot growth markets, new firms entering for the first time, declining revenue, etc.

No.  But you’re welcome to submit multiple campaigns in multiple categories.

Beginning in 2019, all entries are submitted online at submittable.com. There is a short survey to complete that provides us demographic data, an information section, and an area to submit supporting material.Each entry will be evaluated by a panel of senior marketing professions. Winners from each category will be chosen and notified that they won. Winners complete their photographic display panels to be displayed at the 2019 Elevate AEC Conference.