The best in HR honoured at CIPD Wales Awards 2021

CIPD Wales, the professional body for HR and people development, has recognised the top talent in Wales at its 2021 Awards ceremony.

The CIPD Wales Awards, now in its fourth year, returned with a hybrid virtual and in person ceremony after being cancelled last year because of the pandemic.

The awards saw two exceptional individuals and eight organisations take home the industry’s most coveted accolades, recognising the efforts and resilience of teams from across Wales during a period that tested the sector to its limits.

Throughout Wales, there are thousands of people employed in the people profession, with HR and leadership development covering all sectors and industries. The 2021 Awards recognised some of Wales’ top businesses and organisations including: North Wales-based social housing provider Adra, ITV Cymru Wales, Wales and West Utilities and General Dynamics Mission Systems UK.

This year’s winners were selected by a judging panel of top HR and business professionals, including: Director of HR & Corporate Services for Welsh Government, Peter Kennedy, UK HR Director at Airbus Operations LTD, Nicola Montgomery, and Executive Director of Workforce and OD at the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Claire Vaughan.

Lesley Richards, head of CIPD Wales, said: “After an extremely challenging couple of years for everyone, we were thrilled to be able to finally host the fourth CIPD Wales Awards ceremony. We have witnessed some fantastic successes within the industry during the pandemic and have seen organisations introduce and embrace new working models at rapid speed and HR and people management teams have been at the heart of this for the benefit of workforces across the country.

“There has never been a more crucial time to spotlight those individuals and teams that worked tirelessly throughout the global pandemic to ensure HR and people development continued to provide its service. The individuals, businesses and organisations celebrated at this year’s awards have shown how they can adapt and capitalise in difficult, unforeseen times and deserve a huge congratulations.”

This year, the awards saw Barry-based Sparkles Cleaning Services Wales and West beat off exceptionally strong competition from large UK-wide organisations to take home the award for Best Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, demonstrating HR best practice within a small organisation and a dedicated commitment to doing the very best for its people.

Two individuals were celebrated at the awards Amy Maidment from Principality Building Society winning the Rising Star of the People Profession award. Cardiff University’s Professor Edmund Heery was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the HR sector in Wales following a career in employment relations spanning 40 years.  Over the past ten years, Professor Heery’s research has focused on the role of civil society organizations in shaping the world of work, examining the workplace programmes and policies of many charities, NGOs and campaigning bodies including Stonewall, MacMillan and Amnesty International. Most recently, he was a key part of the Welsh Government’s Fair Work Commission, which produced far-reaching proposals for the reform of the Welsh labour market in 2019.

The 2021 CIPD Wales Awards were sponsored by: Hugh James, iungo Solutions, Western Power Distribution, Welsh Government, HR Spectrum, Talk HR, SSCL, Hoop Human Resources, Human Resourcing and Cardiff Business School.

Peter Cheese, chief executive of CIPD, said: “There has never been a more important time to celebrate the work of the people profession and the Wales winners are some of the best examples of great work and people centric practices we have seen.

“Things learnt during the pandemic will put people at the front and center of business agendas, standing them well for years to come. HR has never been better positioned to support workforces across Wales as we enter a new, more flexible, engaged and promising era of work.” 

The winners of the CIPD Wales 2021 awards are: