Quantum Connections, an employee connection and performance platform for business leaders seeking to measurably improve employee engagement, productivity, and retention, has been awarded a Silver Stevie® Award in the 2025 American Business Awards® for Innovation of the Year in the Business Service Industries category.
The award recognizes the company’s Connecting At Work™ program and the development of the Net Connected Score™ (NCS), an employee performance metric grounded in the science of human connection. Together, the program and score give organizations a scalable, measurable way to improve connection, collaboration, and productivity by equipping teams with practical dialogue-based tools and actionable data.
Connecting At Work introduces a structured, dialogue methodology that helps leaders and employees build one-to-one connections that foster psychological safety, empowerment, and appreciation—all of which contribute to a culture of high-performance. NCS builds on this foundation with a one-question metric developed from a nationwide study of more than 12,000 employees across 49 industries, conducted by Sentient Decision Science. The research confirmed that when employees feel seen and heard by their direct supervisor, measurable business outcomes follow.
“In today’s complex workplace, the relationship between employees and their direct supervisors represents the crucial intersection where human need meets organizational success,” said Dennis S. Holland, CEO of Quantum Connections. “We’re honored by this award and proud that our work is now equipping businesses with actionable data along with the essential dialogue skills and tools needed to optimize their workplace cultures and the performance of their teams.”
Stevie Award judges praised Quantum Connections for creating a program that, “represent(s) an extraordinary innovation in business services . . . applying proven relationship science (the Hendrix/Hunt dialogue methodology) systematically to foster workplace connection and psychological safety.” One judge added, “The combination of real-world training, scientific rigor, and practical business outcomes is highly distinctive. This is a thoughtful, mission-driven innovation that blends emotional intelligence with business performance.”
Another judge highlighted the business relevance of the NCS, saying it is “a novel approach to improving workplace dynamics through relational competency training and a new measurement tool. The emphasis on practical skills and the potential impact on business outcomes are commendable.”
The American Business Awards are the premier business awards program in the U.S. and are open to organizations of all sizes and industries. More than 3,600 nominations were submitted this year, and winners were selected by more than 250 professionals worldwide.
Holland concluded, “When we invest in fundamental human connection—particularly between supervisors and their teams—we’re unlocking the full potential of our people and our organizations.”
This is the second Stevie® recognition for Quantum Connections in the past year, following a Bronze Stevie® Award from the International Business Awards in late 2024 for the Connecting At Work program.
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