Oh what a night! For those of you who attended the Personnel Today Awards last week, you’ll know what a great time was had by all. The Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane was packed out with 1,300 human resources (HR) people, who gathered to applaud the very best in the profession.
The theme was winter ball, and the event was certainly the coolest in the HR calendar. Of course, it was about much more than the party. The glitz of the event provided a sparkling backdrop for the real stars of the night: the 13 teams who scooped the most prestigious awards in HR.
It was great watching the reaction of the winners: some were open-mouthed with shock, some shouting and cheering, while others were jumping for joy. You can see their reactions in our special awards coverage starting on page 8, and there are even more photos online (www.personneltodayawards.com).
A major theme in this year’s awards was employee engagement: not just having happy staff as an end in itself, but how an engaged workforce can boost the bottom line. It was notable that more awards entries used metrics to link HR’s efforts with profit, sales and reduced staff turnover – all measures that really matter to chief executives.
The finalists in our awards were all HR teams that live company values, who embed a positive working culture, and who get the very best out of their employees. They are the ones who have the energy and the vision to turn problems into opportunities. They provided evidence of their effectiveness across functional and operational boundaries, proving that HR professionals have truly evolved into business partners.
It’s interesting that Google’s Liane Hornsey, who we interview in this issue, says that HR is not a glory function, because there was plenty of glory on display last week.
At Personnel Today we are delighted to give recognition to the teams exhibiting and delivering best-practice HR. Very well done to you all.
