Hundreds of professionals from Northern Ireland’s human resources and personnel development sector attended the recent CIPD NI Awards 2015, view slideshow here.
The awards, now in their third year, reward the achievements of the HR profession and recognise excellence, results and innovation within the sector.
Nijobfinder was official media partner for the event, celebrated with a gala dinner in Belfast’s City Hall last week.
Nine awards were presented on the night with Northern Ireland Association For Mental Health (Niamh) being named as HR Team of the Year in the category sponsored by the Ulster University Business School. Judges said the HR team from the Belfast-based charity deserved recognition for delivering an excellent integration and transformation project following an acquisition.
Christine Swail of People Management Solutions was named Consultant of the Year. The award, presented by principal awards sponsor Brightwater, recognised Christine’s successful delivery of a strategic business initiative for a client which featured a number of people-focused strands.
CIPD NI chair Donal Laverty presented the Chair’s Special Achievement Award to independent HR consultant Stephanie McCutcheon. This award is presented annually to a HR professional who has exemplified the strategic role of HR and who serves as a role model within the profession in Northern Ireland.
The Employee Engagement Initiative of the Year award, sponsored by One4All, was won by Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland. The judges said the company had created a vision for employee engagement underpinned by enhanced work-life balance and a culture of reward and recognition as well as capability development.
It was a double win for the company as it also won the Building HR Capability for the Future prize, sponsored by Worthingtons Solicitors. The judges noted how the HR team has been transformed through a restructure, including adding various specialists to the team, and is now a proactive strategic asset.
The winner of the Health and Wellbeing category, sponsored by Healthshield, was Queen’s University Belfast. The university’s HR team was recognised for creating a holistic wellbeing programme covering the physical, mental and social needs of staff.
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust picked up the Change Management accolade, sponsored by Carecall. Judges noted the trust had demonstrated the ability to implement the “people aspect” of a change management programme for long term organisational improvement.
Newtownabbey-based Henderson Group won the Organisational Learning and Development Award, sponsored by Blaris Training Solutions. The company was praised for introducing an innovative training solution – a business simulation game called Spar Wars – to provide engaging learning opportunities.
Hannah Crossey from Belfast-based Powerteam was named as the Outstanding Student of the Year. She was applauded for undertaking projects for improving employee engagement and for implementing a new payroll system. The award was sponsored by Precise Protect Insurance.
View this and more articles on the Belfast Telegraph.
Caption: Guests and winners at CIPD Northern Ireland Awards 2015 held at Belfast’s City Hall Pictures by Brian Thompson Photography