Awards and Honours

Guidelines for nominations

CIPS believes it important to recognise and reward the contribution made by its members, not only to the Institute but also to the profession more generally. While that recognition is important at every level of contribution, there are some members who have given outstanding service, often over a period of years. It is the role of the CIPS Awards & Honours Panel to identify those individuals and ensure that their efforts receive the special acknowledgement they deserve.

The Panel welcomes nominations from all members, regardless of grade or location. All current members are eligible for nomination, including those resident outside the UK.

The Awards
A principal award bestowed by the Awards & Honours Panel is the Outstanding Contribution Award. Several Outstanding Contribution Awards may be awarded in any one year.

The panel also awards the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Swinbank Award. Normally, only one each of these awards will be made in any one year.

Very occasionally, exceptional candidates may be considered for nomination for a national honour, such as an MBE.

Criteria for these awards can be downloaded by clicking here.

How to Nominate

All nominations must be submitted using the standard form which you can download by clicking here.

Typed nominations are preferred but you can send in hand written nominations if necessary, to the address at the bottom of the form.

If you wish, you can support your nomination with a testimonial letter from a second sponsor, who may be another member of the institute, employer or business colleague. Please make sure you send in any supporting letter with the nomination.

You can submit a nomination at any time and it will be considered at the next scheduled meeting of the Awards & Honours Panel (next meetings: late January 2007, May/June 2007).

PLEASE DO NOT TELL YOUR NOMINEE THAT YOU HAVE PUT THEIR NAME FORWARD! This raises expectations which may be disappointed.

What happens next
We will acknowledge receipt of your nomination and let you know when the panel is due to consider it. As soon as the panel has made its decision, we will inform you. If the panel decides to make an award, the nominee will be contacted first and invited to accept it before we confirm this to you.

The panel’s recommendations for awards are put to the CIPS Council for formal endorsement. We will then liaise with the successful nominee to arrange a suitable occasion for presentation.

Completing the nomination form

In order to give your nomination the fairest possible assessment, the Panel needs to have a detailed picture of your nominee’s contribution. If you need information such as dates, please contact Easton House. We are limited with regard to the information we are allowed to release to you for data protection reasons, but will try to help where we can.

If you print the form and there is insufficient space for your nomination, please use a continuation sheet. However, nominations should be succinct and we suggest a length of 350 to 500 words maximum.

If you want to nominate more than one person, please use a separate form.

We need your name and contact details so that we can acknowledge receipt of the nomination and let you know the outcome.

In the section headed ‘Nomination’ you should set out the main reasons why you think your nominee should receive an award and show how, in your view, he or she meets the criteria for the Outstanding Contribution Award. The Panel will be looking for evidence of exceptional service over and above that which would normally be expected. ‘Contribution’ means some activity which has enhanced the reputation of the procurement discipline, helped further the work of the institute or benefited the membership and/or the wider community. Simply holding a particular post for several years is unlikely to be enough in itself, so you should state the nominee’s particular achievements while holding that post. You should also describe any problems or challenges that have been overcome in carrying out these activities.

Please tick the award you think is the most appropriate for your nominee. You may tick more than one box.

Section 9, Charitable and Other Activities, is for you to list any voluntary work you are aware of. This might include sponsored charity events, working with the local community or being a trustee. This information is most relevant (and is usually important) in nominating for national honours, should the Panel decide that your nominee meets the relevant criteria. Such activities are not essential in terms of the criteria for the Outstanding Contribution Award, but any evidence of this sort will help to build a picture of your nominee’s wider contribution to society.

Any questions about the awards or the nominations process should be forwarded to awards.honours@cips.org