The CIPD People Management Awards are back – and it’s their 25th birthday. With everything 2020 threw at the people profession, entering this year represents a golden opportunity to look back on what you and your teams have achieved and share your outstanding work with your peers.
The 2021 awards have also seen some changes to reflect the constantly evolving nature of people practices. Brand new this year are four categories: best flexible working initiative, best organisational development initiative, best people analytics initiative and best community initiative. And if that doesn’t convince you, we asked a handful of previous victors what being crowned a winner has meant to them...
“The win has given our staff a morale boost and a great sense of pride. The title has provided us with out-of-sector recognition and as a result has allowed us to showcase our position as a leading and responsible employer in the south. It has also encouraged us to do even more in this area for the benefit of all individuals within our organisation, something that has become even more important following the ongoing repercussions of the pandemic.”
– Duncan Short, director of resources at VIVID Homes
Winner of best health and wellbeing initiative in 2020
“Winning provided an amazing boost to morale, especially during the challenging times of 2020. As a team we were really proud of the achievement, but that pride spread across the whole organisation. It was something we could all celebrate.
“While we had great feedback about the programme internally, the award helped the wider business recognise just how much work had gone into it and how special it was. It’s also enabled us to gain more interest in it externally and it’s been a real career-defining moment for staff.”
– Chloe Marsh, head of communications and engagement at RH Group
Winner of best L&D initiative (public/ third sector) in 2020
“Winning the PMA was a huge honour – particularly being recognised among so many other fantastic organisations. It gave us that extra boost as a company, in terms of profile and esteem but also confidence within the marketplace. And it was also a real chance to showcase the work we’ve been doing and to celebrate the outcomes we’ve achieved in partnership with our clients and collaborators.
“We can’t recommend applying for this award enough. Put in an application – you’ve nothing to lose. And we found working on the submission process itself to be a really positive experience.”
– Rob Baker, founder of Tailored Thinking
Winner of best HR/L&D consultancy in 2020
“We didn’t think our work, though impressive, was the stuff of awards, but we entered anyway. Winning was totally unexpected – to be awarded by your peers is one of the best endorsements possible. Being the overall winner too boosted our morale and gave us a new-found sense of pride. Several years on, the team now has a level of confidence it didn’t have before, and I have also twice been invited to judge the awards, which is an honour, and I’ve learned something new each time.”
– Janet King, former HRD and deputy CEO of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Winner of best employee engagement initiative and overall winner in 2016
“Our participation gave us the opportunity to benchmark our mentoring initiative and receive external, professional and objective feedback on our approach. Receiving this important recognition motivated us to strive for further improvements, while taking a moment to celebrate the success, together with our passionate and committed team. Our people felt pride winning the award, we celebrated together and saw even more internal interest in the initiative.”
– Marina Vulovic, senior executive learning expert at the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company
Winner of best coaching and mentoring initiative in 2020
“Winning the award was one of the few good things to come out of 2020. It has instilled me with additional confidence, raised the profile of my work as an HR business partner and made me proud to be part of the HR community. I would encourage anyone who is thinking about applying, or questioning their ability, to look at the application criteria and go for it.”
– Lisa Morgan
Winner of the Michael Kelly outstanding student award (advanced level) in 2020
“The biggest benefit of entering the awards was that it gave us an opportunity to see in black and white exactly what we had achieved. When you are constantly busy and progressing you rarely have an opportunity to look back and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Looking at our entry we could see the enormity of the journey we had completed, the major milestones we had hit and crucially just how well we had all performed during some difficult times.”
– Natasha Griffin, head of talent and people development at Hyperoptic
Winner of HR/L&D team of the year in 2020
For more information and to download an entry pack, visit cipdpmas.co.uk. Early-bird entries close on 25 March, and the final deadline is 29 April
