Organisations and businesses from across Wales have been shortlisted for their high-quality HR and people development practices in The CIPD Awards in Wales 2024.
The CIPD, the professional body for HR and the people development, will celebrate the most prestigious individuals and organisations in the HR and people profession across the country at its annual awards ceremony. This year’s gala dinner will take place at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday the 15th of March.
With more entries this year than ever before, 80 businesses, teams and individuals have been shortlisted across nine categories. The shortlist showcases a range of organisations, both large and small, across many sectors during a year that has seen budgets squeezed to the limit and recruitment challenged with skill shortages across almost every sector.
Finalists for 2024 include: Bridgend College, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, BBC Cymru Wales, Tiny Rebel Brewery, The Menopause Team, Bangor-based Adra Housing Association, Ogi, the Football Association of Wales and non-profit organization Awen Cultural Trust.
Commenting on this year’s awards, head of the CIPD in Wales, Lesley Richards, said: “We feel so privileged to be hosting the CIPD Awards in Wales again to celebrate those who have supported our organisations and have helped us continue to improve HR and people development standards across the country. The quality of the nominations we’ve received this year is amazing, it’s fantastic to see so many businesses and organisations re-entering as well as new entries. We had a record number of entries this year, making the competition stronger than ever before.
“We know that this year has added pressure to the roles of HR and people professionals across Wales as the skills shortage has impacted every industry. We want this year’s awards to recognise the hard work of those who have adapted to these challenges and have used it as an opportunity to strengthen our workforce and help improve the working lives of people across Wales. This year’s shortlist reflects some incredible examples of how HR and people development can respond to the changing needs of organisations and improve practice – good luck to all of the finalists!”
The awards will be judged by recognised industry professionals including: Stephen Layne, deputy director of Fair Work, Welsh Government; deputy chief executive and director of Workforce and Organisation Development, Health Education, and Improvement Wales, Julie Rogers; Chris Stokes, Head of HR for Coastal Housing Group; Lydia Stirling, people director for Welsh Rugby Union; Chief People Officer for South Wales Police, Mark Stevenson; Fiona Armstrong, group chief people officer for Moneypenny; and People and Transformation Director at the CIPD; who will be looking for extraordinary individuals and teams in Wales across HR, learning and people development.
The shortlisted finalists for each category are:
Best Change Management Initiative – Sponsored by Moxie People
- Coastal Housing Group
- HEIW with Aneurin Bevan UHB
- Propel Finance
- SSCL
- UK Space Agency
Best Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative – Sponsored by Monmouthshire Building Society
- Adra Housing Association
- Alcumus
- Bridgend College
- Coleg Gwent
- Dwr Cymru Welsh Water
- Football Association of Wales
- Intellectual Property Office
- KLA
- Office for National Statistics
- Ogi
- SSCL
- Sport Wales
- Transport for Wales
- Wales & West Utilities
- Welsh Ambulance Service Trust
Best External Consultant/Consultancy – Sponsored by Skylite
- Insight HRC
- Choose to Grow
- Resolution at Work
- Healthy HR Consultancy
- Barrow HR
- SME Business Partners (Amy Foat)
Best In House Team – Sponsored by Human Resourcing
- Bridgend College
- Coleg y Cymoedd
- Hywel Dda University Health Board
- Iceland Foods
- Itec Skills and Employment
- Neath Port Talbot Council
- New Directions
- Newport City Council
- Ogi
- Seda UK
Best Learning and Development Initiative – Sponsored by ALS Training
- Alcumus
- BBC Cymru Wales
- Coleg Gwent
- Dwr Cymru Welsh Water
- HR Casework in Partnership with MatchFit
- Newport City Homes
- Ogi
- Resolution at Work
- SSCL
Best Resourcing and Talent Management Initiative – Sponsored by Hoop Human Resources
- Alcumus
- Darogan
- Ministry of Justice
- Ogi
- SSCL
- Target Group
Best Well-being Initiative – Sponsored by SSCL
- ACT
- Awen Cultural Trust
- Companies House
- DVLA
- Freight Logistics Solutions
- Gower College Swansea
- Intellectual Property Office
- Itec Skills and Employment
- JG HR Solutions Limited
- Monmouthshire Building Society
- Mudiad Meithrin
- Pobl Group
- Swansea Bay University Health Board
- The Menopause Team
Rising Star of the People Profession – Sponsored by Cardiff Business School
- Cerys Davies – Amber
- Dan Blyth – Hywel Dda UHB
- Hannah Scrivens – ONS
- Jessica Davies – DVLA
- Joe Lofts – Transport for Wales
- Lucy Miles-Colwell – Neath Port Talbot Council
- Lucy Young – Tiny Rebel
- Phil Hawkins – Creditsafe
- Robyn Mort – Neath Port Talbot Council
- Samantha Francis – DVLA
Excellence in HR leadership – Sponsored by Hugh James
- Cathryn Sims – Creditsafe
- Genevieve Nock – New Directions
- Hannah Hallett – Coleg Y Cymoedd
- Lisa Hand – Ogi
- Rebecca Cooper – ACT
- Rebecca Legge – Tiny Rebel
The 2024 CIPD Wales Awards sponsors include: Welsh Government, Skylite, Monmouthshire Building, ALS Training, SSCL, Cardiff Business School, Hugh James, Moxie People, Human Resourcing, Paul Harris and Hoop Human Resources.
The CIPD Wales Awards will take place on Friday 15th of March 2024 at the Cardiff City Stadium
