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The Great Manager Awards

GMA is an initiative of People Business to help organisations create real competitive advantage through its managers. The vision is to build an ecosystem of Great Mangers in the country.

Each year, “Companies with Great Managers” and “Great Managers” are recognized, identified and rewarded.

This program enables the participating organisations to compare & benchmark themselves across the industry

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What makes a great manager?

Assessment Framework

Join us as we commemorate a decade of recognizing the brightest leaders and trailblazing managers who are shaping the future of organizations worldwide.

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Drives Results: A great manager ensures that desired results are achieved for the organisation.

Aligning Organisation Vision: Their actions are aligned to the organisation's plans.

Enhancing People Performance: They are able to drive performance of team members.

Building Team Effectiveness: Align team to common goals, build great relationships and facilitate effective functioning of the team.

Sustaining Individual Credibility: They possess exceptional individual credibility that drives trust and influence.

Benefits of participating in The Great Manager Awards

Enhances Employer Brand

Creates a Culture of Great Managers

Industry-wise Benchmarking

Aspirational Award

Enhances Manager Engagement

Process of The Great Manager Awards

The overall process will culminate into an awards ceremony in the month of December.

The GMA team will provide support needed in communication, survey initiation and guidelines throughout the process.

1

Registration

Confirm the participation and number of managers to be nominated based on the organisation's employee strength.

2

Data Submission

Submit the manager and team member details in the format provided by the GMA team.

3

Communication

Communicate the ongoing study internally with the team members.

4

Survey Initiation & Support

Launch of online GMA survey to team members of nominated managers.

5

Shortlisting & Jury Interview

Shortlisted managers to be interviewed by a member of the advisory panel.

6

Award Ceremony

Recognition at the Great Manager Awards ceremony and other exclusive events.

7

Feedback

Each organisation and nominated manager receives a personalised scorecard detailing survey scores, best practices, and benchmarking.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Great Manager Awards

What is the Great Manager Awards?
The Great Manager Awards (GMA) is India's largest data-backed study recognising managerial excellence, now in its 11th edition. Presented by People Business with The Economic Times as media partner, GMA benchmarks managers across 20+ industries using a 22-statement team-feedback survey — not nominations or peer voting. Over 800 companies, 80,000 managers, and 6 million employee datapoints have been collected over a decade.
How is GMA different from other manager or HR recognition programs?
Unlike nomination-based or paid-certificate programs, GMA is grounded in real feedback from a manager's own team. It uses a statistically robust 22-statement survey benchmarked nationally, followed by independent CXO jury interviews for shortlisted managers. The combination of team data, jury validation, and 10 years of comparable benchmarks makes GMA the only independently verified measure of managerial effectiveness in India.
Who should an organisation nominate for GMA?
Managers eligible for the Hunt for Great Managers category should have: at least one year in the organisation, a minimum of five direct reports, a track record of achieving business results, and established personal credibility as a people manager. Organisations typically nominate high-potential managers and those being prepared for senior leadership roles.
What is the R-OPTI assessment framework used in GMA?
GMA uses the R-OPTI framework to evaluate managerial effectiveness across five dimensions: Drives Results, Aligning Organisation Vision, Enhancing People Performance, Building Team Effectiveness, and Sustaining Individual Credibility. Each nominated manager is assessed against these dimensions through a 22-statement survey completed by their direct reports.
What do participating organisations receive from GMA?
Participating organisations receive: a survey launch for all nominated managers' reportees, individual manager scorecards, organisation-level analysis of the Managerial Effectiveness Quotient benchmarked against 20+ industries, best practices and benchmarks report, 1:1 interviews for managers shortlisted as Great Managers, and media promotion via The Economic Times if the organisation wins.
When do GMA 2026 registrations close?
Registrations for The Great Manager Awards 2026 close on 31 July 2026. The survey and assessment window runs August through December, with the awards ceremony following in early 2027. Organisations are encouraged to register early to allow time for internal coordination of the team-feedback survey.
How many managers must an organisation nominate for GMA?
The minimum number of managers required scales with organisation size: organisations with fewer than 1,000 employees must nominate at least 10 managers; 1,001–2,000 employees require 20 managers; 2,001–4,000 employees require 30 managers; and organisations above 4,000 employees must nominate at least 40 managers. Additional managers can be nominated at INR 12,000 per manager.
What is the investment to participate in GMA 2026?
GMA 2026 participation costs range from INR 1,20,000 for organisations under 1,000 employees to INR 4,80,000 for organisations above 4,000 employees. This covers the full programme including survey launch, manager scorecards, organisation analysis, best practices report, jury interviews for shortlisted managers, and media promotion for winners. Additional managers are INR 12,000 each.

Are you a Company with Great Managers?

Apply for the Awards

Our Partners

TAPMI School of Business — Partner, Great Manager Awards

T A Pai Managerment Institute

Institute Partner

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People Business

Knowledge Partner

HONO — Technology Partner, Great Manager Awards

HONO

Digital HR Partner

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