(Alexandria, VA), August 31, 2021—The Association for Talent Development (ATD) honored 71 organizations from around the globe with 2021 BEST Awards. Larsen & Toubro Technology Services, headquartered in Mumbai, India, won the first-place ranking.

IBM, Tata Consultancy Services, TELUS, University Health, and Wipro Limited received ATD’s Best of the BEST Award, which goes to organizations that have won the BEST Award 10 or more times. Companies were recognized August 30 during a virtual awards recognition celebration at ATD’s International Conference & Exposition in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“These 71 organizations are driving impact and solving business challenges through talent development practices, and they are doing it in innovative ways,” said Tony Bingham, ATD president and chief executive officer. “Senior leaders in these organizations understand the critical strategic role learning has, and they are committed to investing in the growth and development of their people.”

ATD’s BEST Award is the talent development industry’s most rigorous and coveted recognition. The global program recognizes organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success through talent development.

The 2021 BEST Award winners are profiled in a special issue of TD, ATD’s flagship magazine.

These award-winning organizations submitted quantitative and qualitative information to ATD about their talent development practices and programs. Applications were assessed in a rigorous blind review by members of the BEST Awards advisory committee comprising a group of experts in the field.

The 2021 BEST Award winners:

Best of the BEST:

16-year winner: TELUS, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

15-year winner: Wipro, Bangalore, India

12-year winner: IBM, Armonk, New York

12-year winner: Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, India

11-year winner: University Health, San Antonio, Texas

2021 Rankings—Top 20:

1. Larsen & Toubro Technology Services

Mumbai, India

2. PPD

Wilmington, North Carolina

3. Novartis

Basel, Switzerland

4. Bell

Fort Worth, Texas

5. Florida Blue

Jacksonville, Florida

6. Sundt Construction

Tempe, Arizona

7. Valvoline Instant Oil Change

Lexington, Kentucky

8. Power Grid Corporation of India

Gurugram, India

9. Visa

Foster City, California

10. Rosendin

San Jose, California

11. Hitachi Vantara

Santa Clara, California

12. Paylocity

Schaumburg, Illinois

13. Busey

Champaign, Illinois

14. Pax8

Greenwood Village, Colorado

15. Plante Moran

Southfield, Michigan

16. Panda Restaurant Group

Rosemead, California

17. WNS Global Services

Mumbai, India

18. BMO Financial Group

Toronto, Canada

19. Western & Southern Financial Group

Cincinnati, Ohio

20. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

A complete list of BEST Winners can be found on the BEST Awards webpage.

Twenty-four companies on this list have been BEST Award winners for three years or more: Apple Federal Credit Union, Asurion, Black Knight, BMO Financial Group, Booz Allen Hamilton, Busey, Cognizant, Consumers Energy, Dish Network, Fisher Investments, Florida Blue, Gilbane Building Company, Hitachi Vantara, ICICI Lombard GIC, Medical Solutions (C&A Industries), Mindtree (a Larsen & Toubro company), Navy Federal Credit Union, Nemours Children's Health System, North Highland, Plante Moran, Ryan, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Western & Southern Financial Group, and WNS Global Services.

More information about the 2021 BEST Award winners can be found in the special best practices issue of TD magazine out now. The application for 2022 BEST Award recognition is now open at td.org/best.

About ATD

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees, improve performance, and help to achieve results for the organizations they serve. Established in 1943, the association was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).

ATD’s members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD supports talent development professionals who gather locally in volunteer-led US chapters and international member networks and with international strategic partners.

For more information, visit td.org.