The BEST Awards recognize organizations that use talent development as a strategic business tool to get results.
, /PRNewswire/ — The Association for Talent Development (ATD) honored 61 organizations from around the globe with 2026 BEST Awards. Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.—a three-time winner based in Istanbul, Turkey—won the first-place ranking.
Busey, Florida Blue–GuideWell, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Infosys Limited, Tata Consultancy Services, TELUS, University Health, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, and Wipro Limited received ATD’s Best of the BEST Award. This award honors organizations that have won the BEST Award 10 or more times.
Companies were recognized May 18 during an awards reception at the ATD 2026 International Conference & Exposition in Los Angeles, California.
“In recent years, research, technology, and business acumen have transformed the talent development field, and ATD has evolved its awards programs and the criteria for recognition to meet the definitions of what ‘best practice’ means,” said Tony Bingham, ATD president and chief executive officer. “These BEST organizations are solving organizational and workforce challenges through talent development practices and doing so in innovative ways.”
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. This year, ATD saw an increase in the strategic adoption and implementation of AI within applicants’ learning organizations, as well as a heightened focus on addressing skills gaps and future-readiness.
Be sure to read about the 2026 BEST Award winners in a special section of the July/August TD magazine.
Organizations seeking consideration for a BEST Award submit quantitative and qualitative information to ATD regarding their talent development practices and programs. Applications are assessed through a rigorous blind review by members of the BEST Awards advisory committee, comprising experts in the field.
The 2026 BEST Award Winners
Best of the BEST:
21-Year Winner: TELUS, Vancouver, Canada
20-Year Winner: Wipro Limited, Bengaluru, India
17-Year Winner: Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, India
16-Year Winner: University Health, San Antonio, Texas
14-Year Winner: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Mumbai, India
13-Year Winner: Infosys Limited, Bengaluru, India
12-Year Winner: Florida Blue–GuideWell, Jacksonville, Florida
12-Year Winner: Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Lexington, Kentucky
10-Year Winner: Busey, Champaign, Illinois
Top 20 Winners:
- Turkcell, Istanbul, Turkey
- Kuveyt Türk, Istanbul, Turkey
- Peach State Truck Centers, Norcross, Georgia
- Teknasyon, Istanbul, Turkey
- Panda Restaurant Group, Rosemead, California
- DataArt, New York, New York
- Fisher Investments, Plano, Texas
- Limak Cement, Ankara, Turkey
- Plante Moran, Southfield, Michigan
- Tiger Analytics, Santa Clara, California
- NEQSOL Holding, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Fabletics, El Segundo, California
- Limbach, Warrendale, Pennsylvania
- Prudential Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong
- Eurest USA, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Genpact Limited, New York, New York
- Apple Federal Credit Union, Fairfax, Virginia
- Charles Schwab, Westlake, Texas
- Eksim Holding, Istanbul, Turkey
- Northwest Federal Credit Union, Herndon, Virginia
You can find the complete list of this year’s BEST Award winners here.
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 known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).
ATD’s members come from more than 100 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, international member networks, and with international strategic partners.
For more information, visit td.org.
SOURCE Association for Talent Development (ATD)
