The search is on to find exceptional firm

David Spicer, senior lecturer in organisational change at Bradford University School of Management, said the industrial unrest at troubled airline British Airways showed what could happen if companies and staff see their relationship flounder.

Dr Spicer, who takes over as head of the university's human resource management and organisational behaviour group on August 1, will sit on the Best Company to Work For category.

He said the judges would be looking for businesses which could emulate the practices of WorldEvents, the global event management firm which picked up the category prize last year.

The Cleckheaton firm, which manages events, including conferences, product launches and roadshows for large blue chip companies including the NHS, Procter and Gamble and Chanel, was praised for its focus on training and incentives.

"WorldEvents were excellent in terms of explaining to the company what was happening.

"There are a lot of firms that do good things but we are looking for firms that do something exceptional. The recession is about being realistic.

"What is the company doing to keep people involved and keep them committed? One of the first things to happen in a recession is that engagement goes down."

Dr Spicer also said good businesses should treat their staff as stakeholders, rather than just employees who were "hired and fired".

He said the bitter cabin crew dispute at BA, which is estimated to have cost the airline more than 150m, showed what happened when staff felt they were left out of the discussion over major changes to a company.

"The issues at BA show a real breakdown between employees and employers. A lot of difficulties stem from that.

"I would be interested to see what firms are doing to build and strengthen their partnership models in the current climate."

There is also evidence of a link between how firms treat their staff and their long-term success, said Dr Spicer, who holds degrees from the universities of Bristol, Stirling, and Plymouth.

The next big issue about which businesses should think is talent pipeline, he added.

It is about developing the talent and planning succession management. If they don't think about that now it will give them a problem in future."

How to enter excellence awards

Companies have until June 29 to enter this year's Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, is the guest speaker at this year's ceremony, which will be presented by Jon Culshaw, the impressionist.

The main categories are Young Business of the Year, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward; Companies with a turnover under 10m, sponsored by Yorkshire Bank; Companies with a turnover between 10m and 50m, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Companies with a turnover of more than 50m, sponsored by DLA Piper.

The other categories are Best Company to Work For, sponsored by Bradford University School of Management; Yorkshire Post Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by O2; SME Manufacturer of the Year, sponsored by the Manufacturing Advisory Service; Innovation of the Year, sponsored by Drax, and Exporter of the Year, sponsored by thebigwordGroup.

Enter online at www.yorkshirepost. co.uk/excellence