HRD speaks to the judges of this year's prestigious awards
HR leaders have been at the forefront leading businesses through the pandemic as our world of work evolved.
From mental health support to redundancies, no area of HR has been left untouched by the impact of COVID-19.
As a result, this year’s Australian HR Awards entries demonstrated industry leaders’ ability to do great work under more pressure than ever.
Judge Suellen McCaffrey said it was heartening to see the focus on employee wellbeing at a time of great uncertainty.
“You could see there was a very strong reliance on the HR team to be leading people through this period of time where it’s not the norm,” she told HRD.
“It was encouraging and inspiring to see in the responses all the things organisations were doing that are well-rounded and treated people as whole human beings.”
Read more: Australian HR Awards - second round of finalists announced
As GM people and group services at SGCH, McCaffrey said she was most impressed by the HR teams providing clarity and a sense of calm as they reacted to an everchanging work landscape.
In judging the submissions, she focused on the overall nature of initiatives and how they integrated with the business.
“I always look for the breadth of things HR professionals are implementing, the way they’re connecting to the strategies and what measures they have around the outcomes they’re achieving,” she said.
In many of the success stories, the entries demonstrated strategies implemented before the pandemic which went on to become a vital tool for employees.
Initiatives around health and wellbeing were one of the key driving factors, something McCaffrey said was reflected in this year’s entries.
“You could see the difference that having a strong focus on people brings to a situation like this,” she said.
“It enables organisations to work, lead and support their people through changes.”
Read more: Australian HR Awards go virtual for 2020
Fellow judge Simone Cook, director people and performance at City of Canterbury Bankstown, said the biggest shift in submissions was a greater focus on wellbeing over financial performance.
“The HR community have been able to put into place the stuff we want to do, not just the bells and whistles initiatives,” she said.
“That’s been a big shift in focus and now we’re able to focus on what matters.”
Finalists for all twenty categories have been announced after an impressive wealth of submissions.
This year’s Australian HR Awards will be held virtually for the first time on December 3.
Celebrating the best talent among teams, leaders and initiatives across the Australian HR profession, the event promises to be a night of celebration.
