HR and L&D excellence takes its place in the spotlight at this year’s awards
With more entries than ever before and a best-ever attendance on the night itself, the 2015 CIPD People Management Awards proved a true celebration of everything that’s great about HR and L&D.
More than 1,000 of HR’s best and brightest gathered at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel to celebrate the achievements of the organisations and individuals shortlisted for the awards. The glitzy ceremony was hosted by radio and television broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, who presented the 18 winners with their prestigious awards.
“This has been another fantastic year for showcasing how organisations of all kinds are developing more diverse and innovative approaches to people management and development that are creating lasting business impact and value,” said Peter Cheese, CIPD chief executive. “It’s encouraging to see how HR teams are responding to the changing demands and challenges that we are all facing.”
We’ve profiled four of the worthy winners, who reveal why their initiatives were named best in class at this year’s awards. You can read the full list of winners below, or view pictures from the night on the awards website: cipdpmas.co.uk.
“Diversity should be the norm in business”
Best diversity and inclusion initiative: Northern Rail
Many HR directors would be delighted to be named a diversity champion, but Northern Rail’s Adrian Thompson says: “There’s still room for improvement.”
Thompson spearheaded a five-year transition to move the railway operator away from its ‘white, male and pale’ heritage to truly reflect its customers. The ratio of female staff had risen 5 per cent to reach almost 23 per cent by 2014, with notable increases in the number of BAME job applicants. “It’s very traditional here in the railways – we have employment conditions that date back to the 1940s, and at our most recent board meeting we discussed how it would still take years for half the workforce to be female,” says Thompson.
“I hope the award continues to raise the profile of inclusion and diversity, to help it be seen as an activity that is part of normal business, rather than something special. After initial scepticism, diversity is now a routine conversation in this organisation.”
Northern Rail introduced diversity ambassadors, an inclusion charter and e-learning on unconscious bias. It reached out to local schools and colleges, and targeted advertising on Asian TV networks to encourage candidates from previously untapped audiences.
“It’s a completely new way of recruiting”
Best recruitment and talent management initiative: Virgin Money
It was billed as “the world’s most creative job interview” and while it might have left many candidates quaking in their boots, Virgin Money’s attention-grabbing approach to recruitment has brought benefits beyond the winners’ podium.
The challenger bank took over a disused east London warehouse as part of its quest for “creative entrepreneurs” to drive its growth. Hopefuls chasing the two vacancies had to give a half-time talk to an England football team, negotiate a smoke-filled room and talk their way past a poker-faced bouncer.
It was a long way from a comfortable chat in the corner office. “Recruitment has been given a real platform – enabling us to showcase how it can be done differently,” says Virgin Money’s head of resourcing, Joanne Hannant. “We’ve since come up with a way of applying this approach to recruit for greater volumes of people in customer service roles.” After three successful pilot recruitment events, Hannant received the green light to roll the approach out nationally next year.
“There will be 15 activities that are experiential, not competency-based, and very difficult to prepare for,” says Hannant. “We’ve had excellent feedback from hiring managers. This was a different way of recruiting from the word go.”
“Sometimes you have to take risks”
HR/L&D professional of the year: Sarah Richards, Jaguar Land Rover
“When I first came here, the training was good. But staff told me they read theory in a book in their own time. What they really wanted was a safe environment to learn through experience,” says Sarah Richards, Jaguar Land Rover’s head of L&D.
It was the immersive and innovative training that resulted from this revelation that saw Richards named as HR/L&D professional of the year in an online vote of CIPD members. Managers ditched the textbooks to hold disciplinary conversations with actors playing the parts of staff, complete with realistic case notes and even CCTV footage of alleged misconduct.
Using her background in psychology, Richards aligned a skills development portfolio with the business’s talent strategy. ROI has passed the 600 per cent mark and the ‘experiential learning’ has already delivered £2.4 million in savings, with 93 per cent of courses rated excellent.
“Confidence is often the missing piece in learning – just giving employees the knowledge that they can do something,” says Richards. “Staff have immediately brought what they’ve experienced back to the workplace, and it’s really put L&D on the map. We knew we were taking risks, but sometimes you have to. We wanted this challenge.”
“We see everyone in the business as a leader”
Overall winner/best employee engagement initiative: RHP
“I feel like I should say what we do is really complex,” says David Done, chief executive of RHP. “But it’s actually very simple – we believe passionately in something and we employ people who share that passion.”
Done is understandably humble about the achievements of the 15-year-old housing association, which owns and manages more than 10,000 properties across south west London and Surrey. But even in a sector known for its people-centricity, RHP stands out for the sheer authenticity of its employees – you can’t turn a corner in its immaculate Teddington headquarters without running into another cheery greeting – and the simplicity of its mission to deliver world-class customer service.
The move to new offices five years ago was the catalyst for RHP to rethink the way it worked. For Amina Graham, executive director of corporate services, that meant cultural fit became paramount: “We never compromise on it. We get really good technical people here who don’t fit with our service style. We just won’t take them.”
RHP’s new priorities are seeded at the recruitment stage. Caretakers are interviewed on housing estates, where they can interact with real clients. All candidates make one-minute videos, and meet a panel of their peers before their hiring is confirmed.
HR interventions extend into every corner of the business, from a programme of external speakers and a range of tailored benefits to ‘Fix It Fridays’, where staff are empowered to use their initiative to do something that will benefit customers. And the results just keep on coming: RHP has achieved IIP Gold status at the “very highest level”, customer satisfaction reached 97 per cent in 2015 and levels of engagement with leaders and the organisational mission are best-in-class.
The ‘iamrhp’ skills framework underpins everything the organisation does. But it isn’t a top-down initiative. Like everything at RHP, it is co-created, says head of engagement and communications Chloe Marsh: “A lot of people would have turned to a consultancy to develop their skills framework, but we did it ourselves – not just HR or comms, but looking throughout the business for people with the right abilities.”
Graham adds: “Nothing here is scripted. If we want people in our call centre to behave in a particular way, we need them to feel ownership of it. We make it important to them – and when it’s done really well, we celebrate it.
“It’s always troubled me how quickly smart people can become institutionalised and stop questioning the status quo. But we see everyone here as a leader, and we encourage them all to have a point of view.”
The winners in full
Overall winner/best employee engagement initiative: RHP
Highly commended (employee engagement): Dorchester Collection; Parkdean
Best change management initiative: Bourne Leisure
Highly commended: Bord Gáis Energy
Best diversity and inclusion initiative: Northern Rail
Highly commended: Essex Police
Best employee relations initiative: Vaultex
Highly commended: Islamic Relief Worldwide; United Biscuits
Best learning and development initiative: ABB
Highly commended: Learningzone/Bank of Ireland/Accenture
Best recruitment and talent management initiative: Virgin Money
Best reward and benefits initiative: Ovo Energy
Highly commended: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Best health and wellbeing initiative: NATS
Highly commended: Bentley Motors
Best youth employment initiative: Chelmsford City Council
Highly commended: XPO Logistics, Logistics Solutions UK
Best use of technology: Pizza Hut Restaurants
Highly commended: Tata Consultancy Services
Michael Kelly Outstanding Student Award – intermediate and foundation level: Alice Rees, Warwickshire County Council
Highly commended: Liz Kennedy, Argos
Michael Kelly Outstanding Student Award – advanced level: Alexander Taylor, Harrison Catering Services
Highly commended: Jennifer Swanson, Argyll and Bute Council
HR/L&D professional of the year: Sarah Richards, Jaguar Land Rover
Best HR/L&D consultancy: Achieve Breakthrough
Best HR/L&D supplier: MSB Consultancy
Highly commended: NKD with Tesco
HR/L&D team of the year – third sector/social enterprise: Islamic Relief Worldwide
Highly commended: Queens Cross Housing Association
HR/L&D team of the year – public sector: Department for Work and Pensions
Highly commended: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
HR/L&D team of the year – 250+ employees: Bord Gáis Energy
Highly commended: Skanska UK