CONTACT:

Lorri Freifeld

Editor/Publisher

Training magazine

lorri@trainingmag.com

Excelsior, MN (February 24, 2026)—2026 marks the 26^th year Training magazine has recognized organizations that provide best-in-class employee training and development. At the top of the 2026 Training MVP Awards rankings is Southern New Hampshire University (#1), followed by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (#2); JLL (#3); Panda Restaurant Group (#4); and Hayes Locums (#5).

Training magazine recognized the 2026 Training MVP Awards winners with crystal awards and revealed their rankings during the black-tie Training MVP Awards Field of Dreams Gala held last night during the Training 2026 Conference & Expo at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, FL. Gala sponsors included ELB Learning, Seiko, and Walker-Clay / Sweeter Cards. Gala partners were Awarding You; the Training Hall of Fame; and Brella, Training’s event optimization partner. ELB Learning and Seiko provided special giveaways, including watches, a gift card, and a donation to the winner’s charity of choice.

Training Hall of Fame Inductees and Special Awards

Applied Materials, Inc., and ESL Federal Credit Union were inducted into the Training Hall of Fame after earning a Top 10 ranking for four consecutive years. The Training Hall of Fame now numbers 16 companies.

During the Gala, Training also recognized innovative and successful learning and development programs and practices utilized by some of the Training MVP Awards winners. Best Practice and Outstanding Training Initiative award winners received crystal trophies. They are (in alphabetical order):

BEST PRACTICE AWARD WINNERS

• JLL for AI@JLL
• Limbach Holdings, Inc., for Hearts and Minds Commitment Course
• Michigan State University Federal Credit Union for DEIB Learning Journey
• Panda Restaurant Group for Leading at the Speed of Trust
• Walden Security for Federal Officer Training Program

OUTSTANDING TRAINING INITIATIVE AWARD WINNERS

• Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America for AI Innovation Week
• Blue Sprig Pediatrics for Automate to Elevate: RBT Training Enhancements
• Carilion Clinic for Preparing for a Hospital of the Future
• Johns Hopkins Medicine: Patient Access for Johns Hopkins Live
• LPT Realty for Ascend Initiative University

The Training MVP Awards is the only awards program that ranks companies unsurpassed in harnessing human capital. The Training MVP Awards ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including financial investment in employee development, the scope of development programs, how closely such development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives, and their effectiveness in terms of behavior change and business impact.

Companies that wish to be considered for Training MVP Awards ranking complete a detailed application, which is scored both quantitatively (74 points) by an outside research and statistical data company and qualitatively (53 points) by Training magazine’s editor/publisher and Training Hall of Fame representatives.

“We salute the 2026 Training MVP Awards winners’ remarkable achievements in and deep dedication to employee learning and development over the past year,” said Lorri Freifeld, editor/publisher of Training magazine. “May you continue to dream big, train big, and win even bigger!”

L&D Statistics

Some overall statistics from the quantitative analysis of the winning 2026 Training MVP Awards applications include:

• Some 18 new companies broke into the Training MVP Awards ranking this year.
• The majority of the winners are in the finance/banking and health/medical services industries.
• The mean revenue for winners was $5 billion U.S. and $9 billion worldwide. Representing 5.4 percent of payroll, the mean training budget was $13 million.
• The mean number of employees trained was 70,496. Winners had a mean of 78 full-time trainers and 70 part-time trainers. Organizations had a mean ratio of 898 employees per trainer. Technology infrastructure included: a learning management system (100 percent), talent management system (92 percent), and workforce management system (91 percent).
• Nearly 90 percent offered a tuition reimbursement program. A mean of 6 percent of eligible employees made use of tuition reimbursement programs in the last year. Median spend on tuition reimbursement programs was $207,710.
• Some 99 percent of the winners used employee satisfaction surveys and competency maps. Some 60 percent tied managers’ compensation to the development of their direct reports.
• In terms of measuring training effectiveness, 95 percent of applicants utilized Return on Value, while 92 percent used Return on Investment; 86 percent utilized Balanced Scorecard; and 76 percent used Six Sigma. Some 99 percent used all four Kirkpatrick Levels of Evaluation.

For a profile of each of the companies ranking in the Top 5 of the 2026 Training MVP Awards, additional information about the training efforts of all 91 companies, and details on the programs receiving Best Practice and Outstanding Training Initiative Awards, see the March 2026 issue. The digital edition can be found online later this week at: https://www.trainingmag.com/

Click here to order a copy of the issue or Training MVP Awards merchandise.

2026 Training MVP Awards Winners

1. Southern New Hampshire University
2. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
3. JLL
4. Panda Restaurant Group
5. Hayes Locums
6. Coast Professional, Inc.
7. Walden Security
8. Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
9. BankWest, Inc.
10. Dexian
11. Forvis Mazars, LLP
12. Ascend Federal Credit Union
13. Edward Jones
14. Carilion Clinic
15. ArcBest
16. Shaw Industries Group, Inc
17. Apple Federal Credit Union
18. HD Supply
19. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
20. Personnel Board of Jefferson County
21. Johns Hopkins Medicine: Patient Access
22. First Horizon Corporation
23. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
24. Limbach Holdings, Inc.
25. CBE Companies, Inc.
26. Two Men and a Truck
27. Blue Sprig Pediatrics
28. Greystar
29. Mariner Finance
30. EisnerAmper
31. Gilbane Building Company
32. Western & Southern Financial Group
33. Fisher Investments
34. Hackensack Meridian Health
35. Towne Properties
36. Aptive Environmental
37. Bronson Healthcare
38. PointClickCare
39. Bell and Howell, LLC
40. Premise Health
41. England Logistics
42. CVS Health
43. CCMR3
44. One Nevada Credit Union
45. CNO Financial Group
46. MJHS
47. SavATree, LLC.
48. Sunstates Security, LLC
49. Collective Health
50. International SOS
51. The Summit Federal Credit Union
52. VSP Vision
53. Huntington National Bank
54. LPT Realty
55. BankUnited
56. Ryan Companies, US Inc
57. Northwestern Mutual
58. Zensar Technologies
59. Eurest USA
60. PSS Industrial Group
61. Sovos Compliance, LLC.
62. Kimball Midwest
63. Bright Horizons Family Solutions
64. Discovery
65. Persistent Systems
66. Compass Healthcare
67. CCA Global Partners
68. ConServe
69. Allied Universal
70. Microchip Technology
71. Thermo Fisher Scientific
72. Progress Residential
73. Lumen
74. Penn Station East Coast Subs
75. Fractal Analytics Ltd
76. Trex Company, Inc.
77. iHerb
78. Ferguson Enterprises
79. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
80. LCS
81. Walaa Cooperative Insurance Company
82. Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration
83. Community First Credit Union of Florida
84. Spectrum Business
85. Wolters Kluwer
86. Smartsheet
87. OU Health
88. National Head Start Association
89. Minitab
90. Hertz
91. Insight Global

About Training magazine

Training magazine is the leading business publication for learning and development and HR professionals. It has been the ultimate resource for innovative learning and development—in print, in person, and online—over the last 60-plus years.Training magazine and Training magazine Events are produced by Lakewood Media Group. For more information about Training magazine, visit: www.trainingmag.com; for information about the 2026 Training Conference & Expo, visit: www.trainingconference.com.