Activ Absence Sponsor HR Manager of the Year Award

James Devine, Deputy Director of HR and OD at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital was named HR News’ first HR Manager of the Year at an awards presentation in the Heronston Hotel in South Wales.  Activ Absence was proud to sponsor the first HR News HR Manager of the Year Award.

The event saw some of the UK’s best HR Managers past and present and some of the best HR leaders in South Wales.  Leader Mark Hendy also announced the launch of a new South Wales HR network which is due to take place on 20 April at Miskin Manor.

Editor Lisa Baker said:
"It's been a fantastic first year for HR News, and I really want to thank Activ Absence for their support.  Directors Adrian and Richard supported us from the word go, and as the workload has expanded,  they've been generous enough to let me manage the site in work's time."

Of the award itself, Lisa added:

“Choosing a winner from a group who span a range of industries and experience levels was hard.

“How do we choose between a young lady who, with no experience, set up an entire HR Department from scratch, like Mikyla Wollaston from Glanvilles, or a nominee who received ten separate nominations from across her workforce like Rachel Davison from Turnitin?   Katrina from CM Downton juggles multiple locations and a mobile workforce… and Michael Arkins from Fleetmatics manages a global workforce that has grown massively in a short space of time.

“Robey from Age UK and Sue from Tros Gynnal Plant work for charities.  Don’t underestimate how hard that is – they are miracle workers who manage both staff and volunteers from diverse backgrounds and a huge range of abilities.  That takes more juggling and more patience than other HR roles – and they have to do it on a tighter budget.

“We’ve also got Yvette and Michael who work in the Learning and Development areas of HR.  Yvette was coming today, but had a client emergency so can’t make it – she’s doing what she does every day, putting her people first.

“Michael also inspired several nominations from his team – I know he’s a great teacher because in the short time I’ve known him he’s taught me a great deal about Newcastle United and football in general!”

HR News set out to engage and inform HR Managers, and HR managers in turn engage people from the most junior right the way up to speaking at board meetings, inspiring leadership and motivating people at all levels.  Presenting the award, Lisa continued:

“I am sorry that there is only one award today, but I’m proud to award it to James Devine, Deputy Director of HR and OD  of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

“James received a very warm nomination from his superior, HR Director Ali Mohammed.  The praise in the nomination was exceptional, but so is the winner and their entire team.

“Despite having over 5000 staff, their team are a big family, led with support, leadership and encouragement.  James and Ali have built a team on the principle that good leadership creates future leaders.  I’m confident that James will go back and celebrate this well deserved awards success with his team.”

Adrian Lewis, Commercial Director for Activ Absence said:

"Working with HR News over the last 12 months has been fantastic, its been great to watch their readership grow from just a few loyal subscribers to over 7,000 at last count!  

"We're looking forward to see growth continuing, and the site continuing to thrive.  When we started HR News wanted our 'brand name' to sponsor the new site, now HR News is a brand in it's own right and we are proud to be associated with them."