From Pasig to Paris: Staff Domain at the 2026 Stevie Awards Gala
by Justin Pavsic, Co-Founder and CEO, Staff Domain
Two awards, two representatives.
From our Ortigas office in Pasig, Philippines, Staff Domain’s Head of People & Culture Emerson Mendoza and Learning & Development Manager Roneliz Flores flew to Paris, France, to collect our Gold and Silver Stevie Awards for Great Employers.
Here is what the gala was for, who else was on the winners list, and what it means for the teams we build.
What the gala honours, and what we won for
The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognise the world’s best employers and the people behind great workplaces. We won in two categories.
Gold: Talent Acquisition & Retention Solution Provider of the Year
This award is for how we came up with a system of our own to find specialists and keep them. Plenty of talented specialists can do the job. Far fewer fit how a particular business works, like its culture and its values. The Grit Filter, our proprietary behavioural assessment tool, checks for that fit alongside technical capabilities. It looks at accountability, communication, resilience, and growth mindset. One judge said the framework “looks beyond technical fit and focuses on traits that matter in long-term offshore success.”
Silver: Employer of the Year (Business & Professional Services)
This award recognises a People and Culture transformation with a measurable impact on employee retention. For Staff Domain, voluntary turnover across our team fell by 46% in a single year, from 2024 to 2025. Far fewer people chose to leave with improvements put into place, including:
- A named partner for every specialist. Each client-facing team member has a People Success Partner who supports their growth and career milestones throughout their time with us.
- Check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days. These structured conversations land when new hires are most likely to leave, so concerns surface early.
- A learning calendar built with our people. We surveyed the whole team on their career goals and built the calendar around their answers, rather than handing down a training plan.
One judge described the shift from human resources to People & Culture as “a genuine operating model change rather than a rebranding exercise.” Another liked “the focus on listening to employees through regular feedback and career conversations.”
We were also certified as a Great Place to Work® in the Philippines for the fourth year running.
Skills get a specialist through the door. Standards decide whether they thrive once they’re in your business. We want to make the case for thoroughness in a market where cost and speed often take the headline.
Who we were named alongside
The ceremony in Paris celebrated winners from around the world. Bank of America, IBM, DHL Global Forwarding, and Tata Consultancy Services were among those recognised, along with Philippine industry leaders including GCash, Globe Telecom, PLDT, and Smart. Australian organisations such as George Capital Finance Solutions in Sydney were also on the list of those recognised.
This year’s competition drew more than 1,000 nominations from 38 nations and territories. More than 160 professionals worldwide judged them. In the 42 Employer of the Year categories, including our Silver win, their ratings were also blended with more than 178,000 votes from the general public.
Staff Domain, an Australian-led firm building embedded teams in the Philippines and South Africa, was judged by international standards and recognised alongside worldwide industry leaders.
What this means if you're building a team with us
Two things are hard to check when you hire through a provider: how people are selected, and whether they stay.
Our Gold win is evidence of how we select. Most hiring problems begin before the first day. A specialist who can do the work on paper but doesn’t fit how your business runs will struggle, and so will the team around them. Our recruiters specialise by discipline, and they build deep knowledge of the market they hire in. On top of the Grit Filter, employment verification, reference checks, social media screening, and criminal record checks are done in-house before any offer is made. Each step answers one question: will this person do well in your business, not only get through the interview?
Our Silver is evidence that people stay, which keeps what they learn about your business inside your team. A specialist spends their first months learning your systems, your clients, your standards, and how your people like to work. That knowledge takes time to build, and it leaves with them when they go. Every departure means a new search, new training, and a gap your customers can see. The programs we have exist for the same reason: people who feel supported build careers here.
Choosing Staff Domain means dedicated team members selected with care, developed, and still in the seat when your business needs them most.
Two prestigious awards in one go are proof that we deliver it.
Why people stay, and what we're building next
Retention is the part of our Silver win that we plan to keep investing in. Our aim is to remain the employer of choice and the smart place to grow for top specialists in the Philippines and South Africa.
In practice, that means engagement activities that bring teams together, meaningful work, and learning opportunities that match each person’s professional goals. It means leadership opportunities for people ready to step up, and a workplace that values its people and its clients.
Each of those serves you as a client. Meaningful work and a clear path to grow give your team member a reason to stay. Leadership opportunities mean the person you hire can grow into a senior role inside your team as your business scales. A workplace that values its clients means your team member sees your success as part of their own.
We have plenty more planned, and we’ll share it as it takes shape.
About the Stevie Awards
The Stevie® Awards, widely recognized as the world’s premier business awards, are nicknamed the Stevies, derived from the Greek word stephanos, meaning “crowned.” The Stevie Awards are conferred through nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
The Stevie Awards receive more than 12,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.
