On 10 March, Unique not only secured a place on the Best Workplaces list, but also won the prestigious Special Award for ‘Best Place for Meaningful Work & Employee Impact’.
During the annual Best Workplaces awards event, two special award categories were also announced: the ‘Special Awards’ – ‘Best Place for Meaningful Work & Employee Impact’ and ‘Best Place Throughout the Employee Lifecycle’. Companies that have secured a place in one of the four Best Workplaces™ categories are also in with a chance of winning an additional Special Award.
The first category, ‘Best Place for Meaningful Work & Employee Impact’, recognises organisations that excel in creating meaningful work and tangible impact through their employees. These are workplaces where employees feel their contribution matters, where trust and responsibility are central, and where innovation flourishes through collaboration, initiative and continuous improvement. For Unique, this recognition is the result of an eight-year journey in which they have systematically transformed feedback into a people-centred culture.
The second category, ‘Best Place Throughout the Employee Lifecycle’, recognises organisations that provide a positive, fair and supportive work experience throughout their employees’ entire careers. Here, everyone—regardless of role, background or age—feels equally valued and respected; employees are treated consistently; and collaboration and knowledge-sharing between people at different stages of life and career are central. Bank Van Breda took home this award.
Both Special Awards shine a spotlight on organisations that opt for a people-centred, forward-looking work culture.
Making the Mission Tangible through Career Tracks
A key factor in winning this award is the way in which Unique translates its mission — connecting people with work and organisations with talent — into daily practice. This is achieved primarily through the Career Tracks launched in 2025.
These transparent career paths not only provide employees with clarity regarding growth opportunities and remuneration, but also highlight how each role contributes to the wider organisational objectives. At Unique, impact is deliberately interpreted in a broad sense: appraisals focus not only on results, but also on behavioural development and the active promotion of the company’s values.
‘With an impressive 91% score to the question of whether Unique is a Great Place To Work, the organisation demonstrates that investing in meaningful work pays off — for both employees and business results.’
Bottom-up innovation: The Brainbox and Admin Atlas
Unique distinguishes itself by giving employees an active voice in improving the organisation. To make this process inclusive and accessible, the Brainbox was introduced: a QR code on every laptop that allows employees to easily and proactively submit ideas to improve processes, collaboration or service delivery.
Another concrete example of this is the Admin Atlas. What began as an idea from an employee during her development programme grew into a national knowledge platform that pools and shares administrative expertise across offices. Teams wishing to draw on this shared knowledge have access, via the shared OneNote, to folders and documents full of best practices and manuals. The result: greater efficiency, faster onboarding and more knowledge sharing.
Management assesses ideas not only on the basis of creativity, but also on feasibility and scalability. Follow-up is carried out transparently via national calls, allowing staff to clearly see what happens to their input.
GROW: values as a guide for behaviour and collaboration
Unique’s corporate culture is based on four core values, encapsulated in the acronym GROW: Guts, Result, Ownership, Work Together. These values form the basis for decision-making, collaboration and leadership.
- Guts – Employees are encouraged to step outside their comfort zone. It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you take responsibility and share the lessons learnt.
- Result – Concrete and visible results for employees, clients and candidates are pursued, and successes are celebrated collectively.
- Ownership – Taking responsibility for choices and actions, and working together to foster a culture of trust and honesty.
- Work Together – Success is always a team effort. That is why Unique only presents team awards, which strengthens collaboration and solidarity.
Trust through proximity
Winning the award is also down to the focus on authentic leadership and proximity. Through initiatives such as ‘Dircom in the field’, senior management engages directly with local teams to find out what matters to them. This creates a climate of trust in which employees feel heard and know that their input matters.
With an impressive 91% score to the question of whether Unique is a Great Place To Work, the organisation demonstrates that investing in meaningful work pays off — for employees and business results alike.
Looking ahead: Unique will continue to focus on further digitalisation in the coming years to reduce administrative burdens. This will create even more scope for what really matters: personal relationships with employees, clients and candidates that drive growth and sustainable impact.