By Shannon Kleibl, CHRP

With the December 3, 2012 deadline for Professional Award nominations rapidly approaching, there is still time to recognize the HR excellence in our midst.

Sitting down with the Capital Regional District (CRD), winners of the 2012 Award of Excellence: Innovation, we discussed the impact and importance of the BC HMRA nomination process. The CRD’s Chris Neilson, senior manager of HR and Sarah Hood, manager of workforce development and strategies, reflected back on the nomination process and what it meant for each of them, their team and their organization.

What advice would you give those thinking about nominating a person or team for a BC HRMA Award?
Chris: “Make sure you do it!”

Sarah: “My advice…nominate and enjoy the process. It was extremely valuable to us and very rewarding to see what we’ve accomplished!”

Who nominated you and your team?
Sarah: “We received lots of encouragement from people that we knew and from those at BC HRMA. Our CAO and sponsors also encouraged us to put in a nomination.”

What did the nomination mean to you and your team back then?
Sarah: “It gave us an opportunity to reflect on what we had accomplished as a team.  We hadn’t stopped to celebrate and acknowledge this because we were busy moving forward with the program. It allowed us the chance to celebrate ourselves and share this with the HR community.”

What was the process?
Chris: “You have to have a lot of conversations about it upfront: Why was it innovative? Why was it outstanding? You need to ask for a lot of detail and be clear about ‘what’ you are nominating the person or group for – really understand what their struggles were and the details of the accomplishment. You need to talk to the nominee and be committed to the nomination process.”

Sarah: “It was a very valuable process for us. The questions do take some thought to answer, but very rewarding to see it all down on paper.  But, take the time to think deeply – communication is key!”

Since being recognized with the award, how have things changed?
Sarah: “Winning the award was a career highlight! It was also great recognition for the managers who did the actual leadership work. To be recognized is huge—a huge accomplishment!  It is a team award—the HR department and Managers at the CRD. It takes an entire team to make it successful! There has been an impact on management recruitment; if you google the CRD, this award will come up. Employees want to know that their Employer cares for their leaders. [This type of] employment branding [creates a] ‘good employer’ feel.”

Chris: “It brings into the fold the work we’ve undertaken.  It adds credibility with individuals who might not have gone through the process.  It validates all the efforts they have gone through and all the efforts we have gone through – it’s not a ‘fly by night’ experiment. Now, there is much more emphasis being placed on other HR initiatives [at the CRD] – these are being seen as ‘more credible’. Even in the political world, the politicians were enamoured – they heard about it immediately (and not from us!).  It is good that others see the ‘good work’ being accomplished. It makes the team feel good – rejuvenated and regenerated! There are lots of different awards out there, but receiving an HR award from a professional HR organization means a whole lot for us; it says a whole lot too!  You are being recognized. There is value to it.”

Did you see an increase in “buy-in” to the iLead program?
Sarah: “It was a new initiative and to get the buy-in we did was amazing. Amazing to see the ‘take-up’ to it.”

Were there any outcomes you didn’t expect, either from the nomination process or since winning the award?
Chris: “Now our organization says, “What’s next?!”

Sarah: “Yeah…the bar’s been raised.  Now we have to live up to being held accountable.  Our employees are highlighting this. We are making leadership everyone’s business and what it means to be a leader.  The more we talk about it, the more it becomes more of our culture; it is more valued…more recognized.  We are holding each other accountable.”

Do you have any suggestions to help inspire others to nominate?
Sarah: “Celebrate the accomplishment of colleagues and peers.  If you don’t nominate, you won’t have the opportunity to be inspired about what others are doing.  It really is about furthering the HR profession and valuing the process.  We’re not good at ‘tooting our own horn’, so doing it as a team was important.  The nomination process was worth it and doing it was really valuable!”

Chris: “It is really important to put in the effort and time into the nomination process.  If you get an award, great; but, it’s really the process that matters!”

Sarah: “It’s celebrating the HR profession and all the great things being accomplished!”

More information on BC HRMA’s Professional Awards, as well as the nomination forms, can be found at www.bchrma.org.

The nomination deadline for the 2013 BC HRMA Professional Awards is Monday, December 3, 2012 at 9:00am PST.