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The Oscars 2024 did not disappoint. Ryan Gosling brought the house down with ‘I’m Just Ken,’ John Cena got ‘naked’ to present the award for costume design, and Messi - the dog-turned-actor from Anatomy of a Fall - gave a now-viral canine clap to celebrate Robert Downey Jr’s best supporting actor win.
There was even enough time for some awards, with Oppenheimer sweeping up seven Oscars including best actor (Cillian Murphy), best director (Christopher Nolan), and best picture. Poor Things took home four awards including best actress (Emma Stone).
But the star-studded ceremony is more than just a collection of small golden statues and viral moments. It’s a chance for all those involved in film production – actors, directors, editors, animators, designers, choreographers, composers, sound engineers, makeup artists, hair stylists, and so on – to celebrate achievements, recognize outstanding work, and honor the industry’s longest servants.
The Oscars does also face consistent criticism for being an expensive PR machine, with many feeling that it is those with the biggest budgets that accumulate the awards, rather than those most deserving.
Although a touch more glamorous than your bog-standard industry awards night – I don’t believe Al Pacino or Lupita N'yongo are set to present at June’s Business Insurance Break Out Awards – this raises a question worth considering for HR teams and employers.
Is the juice of nominating your workers for industry awards worth the squeeze?
From the joy of winning…
Industry awards like the Oscars are no doubt a brilliant chance to come together and celebrate outstanding work. They offer employees a chance for external recognition and validation that reaches beyond internal rewards programs.
Cillian Murphy described himself as “a very proud Irishman” and as feeling “overwhelmed.” Those who have seen Murphy’s typically reserved demeanor in his media campaign for Oppenheimer will know it was a real show of gratitude, satisfaction, and joy.
Whether employees win the award or are simply nominated, recognition in front of their industry peers can raise employee morale and boost employee satisfaction. Putting employees forward shows how much you value the quality of their work, particularly for workers who may not otherwise put their names forward.
Winning awards or receiving nominations can also add credibility to your workplace. When workers at your organization are being recognized for their work, it presents you as an employer of choice to each industry’s top talent, many of whom may well be in the room at the time. You would imagine Bradley Cooper was frantically texting his agent to get him hitched to Christopher Nolan’s next cinematic masterpiece after lost his 12th straight career Oscar nomination.
…To the art of losing
However, there are some caveats. Whilst some industry awards are free to enter, others are not – and any application does take time and energy to complete. The Oscars are provisionally free for anyone to enter but realistically would cost a bare minimum of several thousand dollars, and previous estimates for studio spending on award campaigns clock in at around $20million to $30million.
An awards evening for customer experience teams or financial directors won’t be quite so eye-watering. But it’s worth remembering that when you pay to enter awards you are only competing against those who have also paid. Many industry awards can be a money-making exercise for the event operator rather than an attempt to review and reward outstanding work. Be careful not to waste time and budget nominating employees for awards that aren’t respected by the industry.
Moreover, when workers are snubbed for awards, it can be demotivating. While Emma Stone’s emotional acceptance speech for best actress showed how much the victory meant, many – including Stone herself – were shocked that Lily Gladstone’s performance in Killers of the Flower Moon did not see her become the first Indigenous American to win an Oscar.
Employees will not be as well-skilled at practicing the ‘gracious disappointment’ face as Cooper or Gladstone, so if you do put forward employees, remember to manage expectations. Check in with them to make sure they do not become disengaged if they didn’t win an award or receive a nomination and show them they are still highly valued and recognized members of the workforce.
And if that doesn’t work, you can always show them Ryan Gosling’s iconic performance and remind them they are ‘Kenough’.
