2021 results


Best apprenticeship scheme

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

The NHS is undoubtedly one of the organisations that’s had the toughest time during Covid, yet among the turmoil brought by the pandemic, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust still found the time and resources to continue developing its comprehensive apprenticeship programme despite the upheaval. With an estimated 40,000 vaca...

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FINALIST: Audley Group

Shortlist: AIRBUS

Shortlist: Coca-Cola European Partners

Shortlist: Defence Equipment & Support

Shortlist: M Group Services

Shortlist: Sainsbury's Supermarkets

Sponsored by

Best change management initiative

The Co-op

In a bid to not only update its tools, systems and processes, but also to build on its vision of “co-operating for a fairer world”, the Co-op implemented one of its largest investment programmes – Retail Business Transformation (RBT). RBT was a complete end-to-end transformation of the Co-op’s food business and involved replacing 30-p...

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highly commended

Citizens Advice Gateshead

Shortlist: Ofwat

Shortlist: Porterbrook Leasing

Shortlist: St George

Shortlist: Weir Minerals Europe

Best community initiative

The Indigo Childcare Group

When Scotland, like the rest of the UK, was forced into lockdown in March last year, the Indigo Childcare Group knew it had to do something not only to ensure the viability of the business, but to support the majority of families who use its services, but who had now been told to stay at home. Overnight, Indigo saw its daily headcount...

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highly commended

NHS Blood and Transplant

Shortlist: Accenture (in partnership with Cognician)

Shortlist: Q5

Shortlist: Sheffield Accountable Care Partnership

Shortlist: Wigan Council

Best digital/technology initiative in HR/L&D

Shared Services Connected Ltd

With thousands of businesses being forced to shut down literally overnight, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was one of the arms of the government critical to supporting those affected by the coronavirus crisis. In the first week of lockdown, DWP received two million claims, while at the same time dealing with high rates of a...

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highly commended

NHS Scotland Workforce Policies

Shortlist: Applaud

Shortlist: Civica UK Limited

Shortlist: KP Snacks

Shortlist: Platform Housing Group

Shortlist: Stonewater

Shortlist: Worten

Sponsored by

Best employee experience initiative

Severn Trent

Little did Severn Trent know in early 2018, as the company wrote its business plan for 2020-25, that one month before it was due to be delivered, a global pandemic would hit and cause the firm to completely switch up its plans while also keeping employee experience at the forefront of its mind. Employees were involved throughout the pl...

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Shortlist: HCL Technologies

Shortlist: Northumbrian Water Group

Shortlist: Pollinate International

Shortlist: Pure Planet

Shortlist: Scottish Water

Shortlist: TheMathCompany

Shortlist: Trayport

Sponsored by

Best flexible working initiative

The Sovini Group

The pandemic has influenced and accelerated many changes in the world of work, but none more so than flexible working. For Sovini Group, its Bootle head office was the heart of the business, and prior to the Covid crisis, it was the hub of company culture where its 830-strong workforce would collaborate and socialise. However, by Marc...

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highly commended

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Shortlist: Blood Cancer UK

Shortlist: Comply Direct

Shortlist: Pepper (UK)

Shortlist: Philip Morris International (PMI)

Shortlist: South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

Shortlist: Standard Chartered Bank

Sponsored by

Best health and wellbeing initiative - private sector

Northumbrian Water

Like many businesses during the height of the Covid crisis, Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) was faced with a critical challenge. Tasked with the essential work of keeping water flowing to customers during one of the hottest summers on record while in the middle of a pandemic, the HR team knew it needed to bolster its wellbeing provision...

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highly commended

Seetec

Shortlist: Agilisys

Shortlist: Camelot

Shortlist: Elsevier

Shortlist: FreeAgent

Shortlist: Havas Group UK

Shortlist: HCL Technologies

Shortlist: Leek United

Best health and wellbeing initiative - public sector

The City of Edinburgh Council

From the start, the HR team at the City of Edinburgh Council knew that employee health and wellbeing isn’t something to take a ‘broad brush’ approach to. So when the pandemic hit, it knew not only that it had to ramp up its wellbeing efforts to support staff through the difficult time, but also that the support would look different for...

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Shortlist: Blood Cancer UK

Shortlist: Canal & River Trust

Shortlist: Magenta Living

Shortlist: North Kesteven District Council

Shortlist: Stonewater

Best HR/L&D consultancy

Kamwell

Elsevier had no wellbeing strategy when Kamwell started working with the firm in 2019. Employee engagement was low, and rising pockets of burnout and stress across parts of the organisation meant Elsevier needed to wholeheartedly commit resources into changing the workplace culture and the wellbeing of its staff if it was going to meet...

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highly commended

Let's Talk Talent

Shortlist: Cirrus

Shortlist: MatchFit

Shortlist: PSI Services (PSI)

Shortlist: Rainbow HR

Shortlist: The TCM Group

Best HR/L&D supplier

Ceridian

Harnessing the power of data and intelligence to make smarter decisions is key to any successful HR operation, and helping organisations do precisely this is Ceridian’s bread and butter. Its flagship cloud HCM platform Dayforce is designed to take the pain points out of human capital management and enable people professionals to make i...

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highly commended

McCrudden Training

Shortlist: Development Beyond Learning

Shortlist: Natural HR

Shortlist: Premier Partnership

Shortlist: RPFT

Best inclusion and diversity initiative

Police Now

The murder of George Floyd, followed by the Black Lives Matter movement last year, highlighted the need for a representative police workforce, particularly in the UK. Police Now’s key objective is to attract, recruit and train graduates to be detectives and police officers and diversify its workforce, and the events of 2020 demonstrate...

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highly commended

News UK

Finalist: News UK

Shortlist: Advanced

Shortlist: BALFOUR BEATTY

Shortlist: Foxtons

Shortlist: Fujitsu

Shortlist: O2 in partnership with Cielo

Sponsored by

Best L&D initiative - private sector

Boots UK

With outlets on most UK high streets as well as a thriving online operation, Boots is arguably the most well-known wellbeing, beauty and pharmacy retailer in the country, racking up millions of customer interactions every week. But after it slipped from 12th place to 99th place in the Institute of Customer Service’s rankings over four ...

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highly commended

CDE Global

Shortlist: Boots UK

Shortlist: CDE Global

Shortlist: La Fosse Associates

Shortlist: Novartis

Shortlist: TSB

Shortlist: Yodel in association with Cirrus

Best L&D initiative - public/third sector

Police Now

A diverse group of neighbourhood police officers and detectives, given the highest levels of support and knowledge, can change lives. The Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 exposed failures of the police force globally, and highlighted the need for a representative policing workforce. Charity Police Now, which supports recruitment in ...

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highly commended

Department of Health and Social Care

Shortlist: European Patent Office

Shortlist: Ministry of Justice and MatchFit (collaboration)

Shortlist: Sheffield Accountable Care Partnership

Shortlist: University of Edinburgh

Best organisational development Initiative

Karbon Homes

No matter how big or small, change is never easy in an organisation. However, when a business is faced with a three-way merger and a complete restructure, the sense of belonging can be jeopardised. As phase three of its merger was approaching, the Karbon Homes team identified cultural integration as its number one priority. Its workf...

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highly commended

NHS Employers & NHS England and Improvement

Shortlist: Ministry of Justice and MatchFit (collaboration)

Shortlist: PA Consulting on behalf of Sellafield

Shortlist: St. James's Place Wealth Management

Shortlist: Xenergie Consulting & Boston Scientific

Sponsored by

Best people analytics initiative

People Matter

Winner: Intelligent Wellness Analytics, People Matter Rapid transformation in a business, paired with a global pandemic, is a recipe for increased pressure, stress and a risk of poor mental health and burnout. This was the case for Experian’s UK Group HRD, who had limited data or insight into employee mental wellbeing during a process ...

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highly commended

SUEZ recycling and recovery UK

Finalist:

Shortlist: Advanced

Shortlist: Philip Morris International

Best resourcing Initiative

Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare

Over the last 18 months, care homes have faced the challenge of not only needing to maintain stringent infection control measures but also manage a multitude of workforce issues, including national staff shortages and workers needing to self-isolate. Added to this, Sunrise Senior Living and Gracewell Healthcare were experiencing incre...

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highly commended

NHS England and NHS Improvement

Shortlist: Department for Work and Pensions

Shortlist: Ocado Group supported by Aon's Assessment Solutions

Shortlist: Sainsbury's Supermarkets

Best reward or recognition initiative

Essex County Council

When Essex County Council (ECC) replaced its performance pay scheme with Essex Pay – a single rate system based on the job role and zones that aligned with external market rates – in 2019, it hoped it would overcome the disparity in pay and become competitive with other local authorities. ESS also brought in a social care capability fr...

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Shortlist: Highways England & Xexec

Shortlist: Target Group

Shortlist: Version 1

Best SME people management initiative

Shoreham Port

On paper, a workforce with an average length of service of eight years, a retention level of 92 per cent and several members of staff who are the second or third generation of their family to work there might seem ideal. But in practice, this can in fact mean the culture is “static”, with said workforce being “highly resistant to chang...

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Shortlist: Leek United Building Society

Shortlist: Strong Life Care

Shortlist: Suzuki GB

Shortlist: The British Academy

Shortlist: The Collective

Best talent management initiative

Network rail

Network rail

The role of a signaller in the rail sector is safety critical. Fail to get this right and train companies are unable to provide a safe and reliable railway. Yet line managers consistently battle with high turnover and vacancy gaps for these roles, and there is a lengthy recruitment time that impacts operational delivery including negat...

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highly commended

Sky

Shortlist: BPP

Shortlist: Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Shortlist: Ofcom

Shortlist: Rosatom Corporate Academy

Shortlist: Sainsbury's Supermarkets

Michael Kelly outstanding student award - advanced level

Ryan Hollingshead

When Hollingshead was first recruited as HR manager at Tiffin Sandwiches in September 2019, he was joining a newly formed HR department. The transactional HR function had historically fallen to the managing director, and Hollingshead was met with a workforce that had little to no understanding of his purpose. Knowing he had to add valu...

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Shortlist: Hayley Xerri

Shortlist: Naomi Smyth

Michael Kelly outstanding student award foundation/intermediate level

Khaji Kushumbayev

“People matters” was the leading principle for Khaji Kushumbayev, an HR generalist at Eradah Capital, a start-up digital Bank in Dubai, during his project. As a part of his 5UIN assignment, Kushumbayev was required to review an area of HR practice and present a business report with recommendations for improvement, supported by reliabl...

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Shortlist: George McNeilly

Shortlist: Jennifer Sargent

Shortlist: Jessica Leigh Jones

People team of the year - private sector

The Co-op

The Co-op Hire to Retire team has had an unparalleled role in coordinating the organisation’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, supporting its frontline colleagues across its stores, depots, funeral homes and more. From furlough to Test & Trace, the team has been fundamental to implementing government guidance as it evolved throughout t...

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highly commended

Abcam

Shortlist: AIRBUS

Shortlist: Circle Health Group

Shortlist: Foxtons

Shortlist: Pepper (UK)

Sponsored by

People team of the year - public sector

Cayman Islands Government

The Cayman Islands civil service was already three years into a five-year plan to become a world-class organisation when 2020 hit. In January of that year, the Caribbean island – a self-governing British Overseas Territory – was hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and the threat of a tsunami. While the earthquake left the country shaken,...

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Shortlist: Magenta Living

Shortlist: Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust

Shortlist: Stonewater

2021 results