Vail, Colorado – Distinguished recipients of the Leadership 500 Excellence Awards for 2014 were named today for outstanding achievements in leadership development and programs at the 2014 Global Leadership Excellence Forum being held in Vail, Colorado.
For the past 30 years, Leadership Excellence has identified and recognized the Top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in their yearly ranking. This year’s Top 500 award winners have been published in the April issue of Leadership Excellence Essentials. The publication also features the Top award winners in each category, now available online: www.hr.com/LE_April2014
“Leadership is an art that requires constant practice and focus to master. The firms recognized in the Leadership 500 Excellence Awards program significantly help firms grow and develop their leaders through some of the most impactful programs we have ever seen,” stated Debbie McGrath, CEO of HR.com.
 Awards were presented to the top 3 companies for their remarkable internal programs in each of the following award categories:
 Small Companies (less than 100 employees)
 1st place –  Renaissance Executive Forums
 2nd place – Polaris Global
 3rd place – Powers Resource Center
 Midsize Companies (100 – 999 employees)
 1st place –  Blue & Co.
 2nd place – MidWestOne Bank
 3rd place – Paycom
 Large Companies (1000 + employees)
 1st place – GE
 2nd place – NCR
 3rd place – Humana Inc
 Government/Military
 1st place –  Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
 2nd place – Personnel Board of Jefferson County
 3rd place – Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services
 Non-Profit Organizations
 1st place –  The Leadership Investment
 2nd place – AcademyWomen
 3rd place – Sharp HealthCare
 International Companies (program was deployed outside of the USA)
 1st place –  St. Michael’s Hospital
 2nd place – SingTel
 3rd place – Niagara Casinos
 In addition, selections were made for the top leadership partners and solution providers in the following categories:
 Educational institution (University Business School/Technical Trade School)
 1st place – Florida International University Center for Leadership
 2nd place – Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
 3rd place – Temple University- Human Resources Department
 Leadership partners and providers – Small (less than 5 employees)
 1st place – Brainard Strategy
 2nd place – People Biz	
 3rd place – Schachter Consulting
 Leadership partners and providers – Midsize (5 to 49 employees)
 1st place – Zenger Folkman
 2nd place – Full Circle Group, NA
 3rd place – Align4Profit
 Leadership partners and providers – Large (50+ employees)
 1st place – Development Dimensions International (DDI)
 2nd place – VitalSmarts	
 3rd place – Blessingwhite, A Division of GP Strategies
 International Leadership partners and providers (Most of the work done outside of the USA or HQ outside of the USA)
 1st place – The Secretan Center
 2nd place – Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions
 3rd place – CRG Consulting Resource Group International
This year’s award recipients were selected based on both an application or nomination process as well as voting. The voting was completed by users of the leadership program and was promoted by the nominees as well as through social media campaigns.
Throughout the year, the Leadership Excellence Publication will feature the top award recipients in each category showcasing the unique qualities that made them a Leadership 500 Winner.
 About HR.com and Leadership Excellence 
 HR.com and Leadership Excellence have joined forces to bring 30 years of dynamic, high quality leadership content customized to any organization every month.  HR.com, the largest global social networking and resource site for HR Professionals, is THE ONLY place to earn IHR (Institute for Human Resources), HRCI and WorldatWork credits all at the same time for NO COST.  HR.com is committed to providing a deeper understanding of the HR function for more than 250,000 members by offering  12 Interactive Excellence Essentials monthly e-publications, a groundbreaking Personal Development App for personal coaching on the go, guaranteed pass re-certification prep courses, certification and re-certification credits, 22 Expert Certification Programs, 19 Certificate Programs, 3,500+ webcasts, 230+ virtual conferences, blogs, community networks, industry news and advisory boards. www.hr.com  
 For more information, contact:
 Debbie McGrath, Chief Instigator and CEO
 dmcgrath@hr.com 
 877-472-6648
 www.hr.com/Leadership500 
