Enter the Personnel Today Awards 2008
HR is making a difference in organisations of all shapes and sizes. Now is the time to celebrate its positive influence by entering your team into the Personnel Today Awards 2008. The search is on for the leading lights of HR, so if your HR department has done something extra-special to improve the organisation it serves, enter the Awards without delay. All shortlisted teams will be guests of honour at a magnificent gala Awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House – an event universally acknowledged as the highlight of the HR calendar. Miss it, and miss out.
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Categories
HR Impact Award
This Award recognises an HR professional or team that has added value to their organisation through an innovative, clever or determined solution. The winning intervention should show HR at its most creative and flexible. Entries should provide evidence of: speed of reaction; thinking “outside the box”; clear communication; a sophisticated understanding of the business drivers; and measurement of the benefits. Entrants should include how they spotted the problem or opportunity, communicated a vision of the solution, got 360-degree buy-in, and implemented the solution. Include testimonials from people who have benefited from the intervention.
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HR Director of the Year Award
This Award is for an individual HR director who can demonstrate outstanding leadership. Entries should explain the contribution the HR director has made both to their own team and to the organisation as a whole. Candidates must demonstrate that they have developed an effective HR team and present evidence of their contribution to the business. Past winners have submitted testimonials from across the organisation and its customer base to back up their entries.
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Award for Talent Management
This Award recognises organisations that have adopted a proactive approach to talent management and succession planning. With career opportunities and development being top of the wish list for today's most ambitious employees, employers need to be creative in order to attract and retain the best. The judge will look for imaginative organisational talent reviews by the HR team working in conjunction with others in the business. Entries should explain what action has been taken to identify and develop key employees. Finalists will be clear about how talent management is aligned with their HR strategy and organisational goals.
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Award for Excellence in HR Through Technology
This Award recognises the effective use of technology by HR teams to bring about business benefits. Entries should explain what changes have been implemented, why they were necessary and how technology has facilitated this. Evidence should be provided of the impact technology has had on helping to achieve strategic objectives. The judge will not be looking simply for the most ‘whizzy’ new software installation, but rather how HR has taken advantage of the opportunities that IT brings.
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Award for Diversity in the Workplace
This Award is not just about demonstrating a diverse workforce and the measures taken to achieve it, but also proving the value and business benefits of a cross-cultural, gender and age mix. Having a clear equal opportunities policy is a given, and this must be augmented by a measurable action plan with stretching targets. The judge will expect to see a complementary recruitment policy that encourages applications from under-represented groups, and a meaningful diversity training programme. Strong links to local communities and consideration of flexible working to accommodate minority groups will also be rewarded.
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Award for Excellence in Business Partnering
This Award is for organisations that can prove they are aligning HR and business strategy. HR professionals are increasingly exhorted to become strategic partners, and entrants will need to show how this role helps their organisation improve customer service, boost competitiveness, reduce costs, speed delivery and drive product innovation, where relevant. The judge will be looking for an explanation of the scope and nature of the business partner role, how it was introduced and how it is integrated with other HR functions, for example shared services (whether in-house or outsourced). Provide evidence of strong communication and include testimonials from across the business.
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Award for Innovation in Recruitment and Retention
This Award recognises effective approaches to selection, recruitment and retention of employees at all levels from school leaver and graduate to senior positions. The judge will look for successful examples of developing and motivating staff and for innovative ways to attract the right applicants to the organisation. Relevant to this category are new methods of recruiting, measuring and assessing capability and performance, career management, succession planning and competency testing. The judge will look for evidence of organisations gaining competitive advantage from the strategies.
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NEW Award for Delivering Business Improvement Through People
This award is aimed at teams who have led demonstrable improvements in business performance in their organisation through effective people policies. Entrants will be given credit for investing in human resources approaches that deliver tangible business returns and maximise staff potential to deliver service and business improvements. The judge will be looking for examples of how the organisation has developed performance management systems to measure and support its improvement plans. Entrants will also be credited for providing evidence that leadership/management competencies and expectations are clearly and consistently understood, championed and practised by managers, inspiring and leading employees.
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Award for Best HR Strategy in Line with Business
This Award is aimed at HR teams that can demonstrate they have achieved genuine strategic status within their organisations. Entries should explain the business strategy and the contribution of HR to meeting objectives. The judge will look at the HR team's own strategy, how this was devised and implemented, the involvement of senior staff and what results have so far been achieved. Entries should explain how the team identified priorities and how HR has measured the benefits.
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Employer Branding Award
Creating a distinct employer brand is a high priority for many organisations. Employees are encouraged to be more creative, selective and empowered and are choosing to build relationships with organisations that treat them as intelligent partners. Successful employers of choice work hard at creating an identity for themselves as accessible, flexible organisations. This Award recognises employers that have made a major effort in this area. The judge will look for a clear explanation of how the employer brand was created and is being maintained. Evidence should be provided of the benefits it has brought to the organisation, such as its impact on recruitment, retention and staff satisfaction levels.
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Employee Engagement Award
This Award aims to attract entries from high-performing organisations that are unlocking discretionary effort from their staff through effective employee engagement. Entrants will be able to identify what it is about the organisation, its job functions and its managers that makes people love to work there. The judge will be looking for evidence of respected leadership, exceptional levels of communication, and a strong sense of community that centres on shared values. Include measurement data, (eg employee attitude survey results, staff turnover rates, absence levels etc) to prove the value of your organisation’s high levels of staff motivation.
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Award for Excellence in Training
This Award looks for training interventions that have significantly benefited the business or organisation, particularly if the trainers involved have developed new approaches. The judge will want to see evidence of improved performance and gains in employee skills and capabilities. Entrants should show how training has boosted motivation and helped focus staff on key organisational objectives. The judge will look for well designed and delivered training programmes.
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Award for Reward and Recognition
Entrants into this category will demonstrate how they use reward and recognition in a strategic way, aligned to their organisational objectives. They will show how their reward and recognition policy relates to specific market and competitive pressures, how they maximise staff appreciation of the package, and how they measure its impact. The judge will be looking for a ‘wow’ factor, built-in flexibility to cater for employee diversity, a clear communications plan and evidence that reward and recognition is making a positive difference to the organisation and its staff performance.
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NEW Award for Health at Work
This award is for organisations who can demonstrate how specific employee health, fitness or wellbeing initiatives are making a positive impact on performance. Entrants will need to show how they are making a real difference to the lives of their employees, who are healthier, happier and more productive as a result. The judge will be looking for evidence of the organisation's commitment to staff welfare and the benefits enjoyed by both the employees and the organisation. This may be in terms of a positive impact on staff satisfaction, motivation, or productivity.
