HR Excellence Awards 2010: Give your team the recognition they deserve

As we start to move out of recession, engaging staff will be of utmost importance, particularly as workloads are likely to increase before recruitment does. But how have you developed and motivated your staff in the past 12 months? What did you do when budgets were cut? What strategies have helped your employees' health and wellbeing?

Since their launch in 1995 the HR Excellence Awards have established themselves as one of the top events in the sector. This year we are adding some new categories and redefining others. Our new workplace diversity strategy award recognises the impact the successful implementation of diversity policies has on culture and reputation. And following our introduction of the most people-focused CEO or MD award in 2009, we have tied up with Best Companies to analyse employee views on their CEO or MD, including ability to inspire, create strong values and engage with their workforce.

We will also announce the HR Director of the Year and HR Gold Award at the ceremony on 30 June 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

HR will explain the categories over the coming months, in the magazine and at www.hrmagazine.co.uk. But for more information and details of how to enter please go to www.hrexcellenceawards.com

AWARD CATEGORIES

- Best talent management strategy

Entrants should give details of how their organisation defines and spots talent, where responsibility for managing talent sits, how they deliver appropriate development opportunities and how they monitor and measure the success of implementation and outcome.

- Most successful change management programme

This category covers organisations that have completed a successful people-focused change programme. Areas that will be assessed include making the business case for change, its communication, implementation and measurement.

- Most effective benefits strategy

Entrants should provide evidence of a leading-edge benefits strategy that clearly aligns with business needs. The entry should give information on the communication of the strategy to employees, employee take-up and how it has benefited the organisation.

- Most effective use of internal communications

The communications strategy can be part of an ongoing process or related to a one-off event or development in the organisation. Judges will award high marks only for entries with measurable (rather than purely anecdotal) evidence of an effective communication process.

- Outstanding employee engagement strategy

Judges will look for a well-thought out strategy linking employee engagement to the heart of the business. This can include motivation programmes that have made a significant difference to an organisation's performance. Entrants should provide details of the strategy itself, and demonstrate how it measures improved engagement.

- Most effective recruitment and retention

Judges will look for evidence of innovation and bottom line contribution through enhanced recruitment and improved retention. Entries should be presented in the form of a business case study supported by relevant metrics.

- Best learning and development strategy

Judges will look for those that invest effectively in the development of their people across an entire organisation. Entrants should include details about the business need, what the strategy entails and how it was communicated to the workforce. Evidence of the benefits brought will score highly.

- Health and wellbeing award

This will go to the organisation that provides the most compelling evidence that its strategy for health and wellbeing created a clear and measurable return on investments made in this area.

- Best use of CSR in HR

Judges will look for an organisation that has embedded corporate social responsibility throughout the organisation, in particular through its people. Entrants should demonstrate the role HR has played in the strategy and execution of CSR initiatives and how CSR is making a difference to through measurable results.

- Most innovative use of technology

Judges will look for an organisation that has used technology to move HR forward. It could be via software and analytic systems, online recruitment or e-learning. The highest marks will go to those that provide evidence of return on investment.

- Best HR strategy in a company under 1,000 employees

This category is specifically for SMEs whose lesser resources are counter- balanced by imagination and flexibility. The judges will look for great people practices from any organisation without full-time support from an HR function or consultant.

- Best public-sector HR strategy or initiative

This award recognises outstanding HR in the public sector and is intended to take into account the specific circumstances facing public sector HR teams. Entrants must evaluate the performance of these strategies against intended aims.

- Best third-sector HR strategy or initiative

This award recognises outstanding HR excellence in the third sector and is intended to take into account the specific circumstances facing third-sector HR teams. Entrants must evaluate the performance of these strategies against intended aims.

- NEW: Best workplace diversity strategy

Judges will look for clear evidence of a diversity strategy or initiative that has made a significant difference to an organisation's performance. It could be a workplace flexibility strategy, eldercare scheme or another initiative to encourage gender, race, age, sexual and disability equality. Entrants should provide details of the scheme, and evidence of its results including impact on culture and reputation.

- NEW: Best HR team

This award recognises HR teams for their work within the function and their business partnering with other functions. Entrants should give evidence of clear links between operational and financial performance, metrics and evidence of satisfaction.

These awards are announced on the presentation evening and are not open to entry:

- Most People-Focused CEO

Working with Best Companies, HR will analyse employee views on their CEO or MD, including ability to inspire, excite and create strong values to find the Most People-Focused CEO or MD in both private and public sectors.

- HR Director of the Year

Readers will decide who has made the most effective contribution to development of HR strategy in 2009-2010 from a shortlist developed by the HR team and industry experts.

- HR Gold Award

The prestigious judging panel will choose the organisation that has most impressed them from all the winning entries to the 2010 HR Excellence Awards.

What the judges are looking for

Every entry must demonstrate the following:

- A clearly defined vision and goal

- Creative approach, originality and differentiation

- A strongly developed business case showing how the initiative or people practice is aligned to the organisation's priorities

- Senior -level commitment

- Tangible evidence of the impact of the project with measurable and quantifiable results, particularly financial impacts

- How you intend to build on your efforts in the future

- Why you deserve to win an HR Excellence Award

For the HR Excellence 2010 Awards, initiatives or strategies entered should include demonstrable results from the period January 2009 to March 2010. Initiatives or strategies developed and implemented prior to this period are eligible provided the impact was measured during the past year.