2011 Winners

Personnel Today Awards 2011 winners

Nearly 900 HR professionals gathered at the Park Lane Hilton on 23 November 2011 for the 13th annual Personnel Today Awards, hosted by comedian Jack Dee.

With a total of 19 awards, including two new categories, and an additional award for the overall winner, we take a look at the shortlists for each category, who won the award, and what the judges had to say about the winners. Additional photos can be viewed in HR Space.

HR Director of the Year
sponsored by Pinsent Masons

The shortlist:

Capgemini – Frances Duffy
Hermes Parcelnet – Paul McCormack
Marks & Spencer – Tanith Dodge
Paul UK – Esther O’Halloran
Royal College of Nursing – David Cooper
Tesco Retailing Services – Therese Procter

HR Rising Star Award

The shortlist:

ATS Euromaster – Richard Byrne
Networkers International – Lauren Sills
Tesco Retailing Services – Lillian Pyburn
University of Cumbria – Paul Boustead

And the winner is...

David Cooper from the Royal College of Nursing

And the winner is....

Lillian Pyburn from Tesco Retailing Services

The judges' comments: “This entry showed a sound repositioning of the HR function, with strong metrics. David Cooper achieved results in a challenging environment and gained external recognition.”

View more information on the engagement strategy that won Cooper the HR director of the year award.

The judges' comments: "One of the youngest managers within the organisation, our winner has successfully redesigned the recruitment process. Measurable results have shown the positive impact this centralised project has had on the cost and the quality of new hires."

HR Team of the Year
sponsored by HR Performance

The shortlist:

Hastings Direct
Hutchison 3G UK
IHG
Olympic Delivery Authority
Ramsay Health Care
Tesco Retailing Services

And the winner is...

IHG

HR Impact Award

The shortlist:

Essex County Fire & Rescue Service
HCLIBS
Lancashire County Council
McDonald’s Restaurants
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Tesco Retailing Services

And the winner is...

McDonald's Restaurants

The judges' comments: “This was a major programme across a substantial organisation – including take-up of HR services by franchises who had not done previously.”

The judges' comments: Our judges were particularly impressed by the adoption of an apprenticeship programme and the true business benefits this created.

Award for Talent Management
sponsored by A&DC

The shortlist:

BUPA International
Hays
Premier Foods
Randstad
Standard Life
Tesco

And the winner is...

BUPA International

Award for Health at Work
sponsored by Constructing Better Health

The shortlist:

Capgemini
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square
Marks & Spencer
Pennaf Housing Group
Royal College of Nursing

And the winner is...

Royal College of Nursing

The judges' comments: “Huge organisational challenges spurred BUPA International to create a programme to accelerate the development of the leaders, with some impressive initial results.”

The judges' comments: “A good reduction in absence and evidence of improvement in engagement in a challenging context.”

View more information on the Royal College of Nursing's winning health at work programme and the overall engagement strategy that won HR director David Cooper the 2011 HR director of the year award.

Award for Managing Change

The shortlist:

Amey
Arts Council England
Broadway Homelessness
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Sedgefield Borough Homes
The Co-operative

And the winner is...

The Co-operative

Award for Reward & Benefits

The shortlist

Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cisco
City & Guilds
E.ON
IKEA
Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies UK

And the winner is...

IKEA

The judges' comments: "The approach was well-structured, well-communicated, well-planned and well-executed as well as well-measured.”

The judges' comments: “IKEA had a very focused objective of improving maternity return rates, which was addressed following a detailed investigation of causes through an innovative, comprehensive programme of measures that has proved to be extremely successful.”

Employer Branding Award

The shortlist:

Asda
Azzurri Communications
McDonald’s Restaurants
Moneysupermarket.com
Paul UK
Tesco Retailing Services

And the winner is...

Azzurri Communications

Award for Workplace Diversity

The shortlist

Barnardo’s
Co-Operative Group
Johnson Controls Automotive (UK) Ltd
Olympic Delivery Authority

And the winner is...

Co-operative Group

The judges' comments: "It is fascinating and warming to see how much HR has contributed to a significant business challenge.”

The judges' comments: "This was a very strong plan of action that could be replicated by many other employers. It had a positive impact on the creation of jobs, on staff engagement, and it brought financial benefits to the business."

Employee Engagement Award
sponsored by Harvey Nash

The shortlist:

ATS Euromaster
BAE Systems
Boots Opticians
Broadway Homelessness
DHL Supply Chain
Marks and Spencer

And the winner is...

DHL Supply Chain

Award for Excellence in Public Sector HR

The shortlist

Aylesbury Vale District Council
Birmingham City Council
Broadway Homelessness
LGSS
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Vine HR

And the winner is....

Broadway Homelessness

The judges' comments: "The very specific engagement programme they put in place has enabled them to engage their people, deliver quality service outcomes, development for prisoner workers and business outcomes for DHL.”

View more information on DHL Supply Chain's winning engagement programme.

The judges' comments: “Tackling pay and conditions is a major challenge which has been successfully achieved using a comprehensive programme while maintaining employee engagement.”

Award for Excellence in Learning & Developement sponsored by City & Guilds

The shortlist:

Broadway Homelessness
Elior UK
McDonald’s Restaurants
Northern Rail
Rentokil Initial
SSP UK

And the winner is...

Rentokil Initial

Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

The shortlist

Bank of America
BSkyB
Capgemini
Sue Ryder
Unum
Veolia Environmental Services (UK)

And the winner is...

Sue Ryder

The judges' comments: “A relevant and impactful learning experience, evidenced by hard data.”

View more information on Rentokil Initial's winning learning and development programme.

The judges' comments: “A fantastic story, with such clear organisational and community links. Sue Ryder has delivered a simple programme that has made significant improvements to rehabilitate prisoners and diversify the volunteering workforce.”

Award for Innovation in Recruitment
sponsored by TMP

The shortlist

Amey
KPMG
Northern Rail
SSP UK
Tesco Retailing Services
Words and Pictures (Education)

And the winner is...

Amey

Award for Excellence in HR Through Technology or Social Media sponsored by XpertHR

The shortlist:

Accenture
Co-Operative Group
Getty Images
ITV
KPMG
Unilever

And the winner is...

Unilever

The judges' comments: "The winning entry provided an inspirational case study of how doing small things in the right way can have a huge impact on the local community."

The judges' comments: "Unilever has taken the business need and shaped a technology solution around it which has engaged its staff globally.”

NEW Award for Excellence in Global HR
sponsored by Deloitte

The shortlist:

Barclays Global Retail Banking
Howden
IHG
Royal Bank of Scotland

And the winner is...

IHG

NEW Award for Innovation in Dispute Resolution sponsored by TCM

The shortlist

East Sussex County Council
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Metropolitan Police Service
NHS East Lancashire Primary Care Trust
Surrey County Council
Topshop/Topman

And the winner is...

East Sussex County Council

The judges' comments: “The scale of this challenge and comprehensive nature of solution makes this entry stand out.”

The judges' comments: “There is excellent hard data on impact and good evidence of using expertise to support others to introduce schemes.”

View more information on East Sussex County Council's winning dispute resolution programme.

Overall winner

The shortlist:

The Royal College of Nursing
The Co-Operative Group
East Sussex County Council
Sue Ryder
DHL Supply Chain
Azzurri Communications
IHG
Broadway Homelessness
Rentokil Initial
McDonald’s Restaurants
Amey
Bupa International
Unilever
IKEA
Lillian Pyburn from Tesco
David Cooper from the Royal College of Nursing

Occupational Health Award
sponsored by AXA PPP Healthcare

For the first time, the overall winner of the Occupational Health Awards was presented alongside those for Personnel Today. The category winners were announced earlier this month.

The shortlist

Award for Absence Management - Department for Work and Pensions
Award for Health Promotion and Wellbeing - East Lothian Council
Award for Innovation in Occupational Health - Teaching Team Occupational Health Programmes - London South Bank University
Award for Occupational Health in Construction - Balfour Beatty Major Civil Engineering
The AOHNP Occupational Health Nurse of the Year - Patricia Anne Harris

And the winner is...

Winner of the Award for Workplace Diversity, the Co-operative Group

And the winner is...

Winner of the Award for Health Promotion and Wellbeing, East Lothian Council

The judges' comments: "Our overall winner was selected for its broader purpose rather than simply good HR practice. It involved researching the problem, and creating well-targeted initiatives to address it."

The judges' comments: "The Overall Winner had broken through organisational structures to engage and empower staff while embedding the ethos of healthy working lives."