What set the winners of the 2001 HR Excellence Awards apart from the crowd? By Mark Spears of KPMG Consulting

One question, but nine answers. We asked, What defines HR as a force for excellence within an organisation? The nine winners of the Human Resources HR Excellence Awards 2001 each came up with their own answers. Although they represent a diverse range of industries with a variety of cultures and practices several common themes were identified during the judging process.

The one applied most consistently and perhaps most passionately by the winners was the need to ensure that every HR activity is linked to a clearly articulated business benefit.

Whether developing an HR strategy to drive the employer brand or establishing a balanced scorecard that links tangible metrics to the people aspect of the business, the ultimate objective was the same to demonstrate the functions contribution to the overall success of the business. Accordingly, the HR functions in the winning organisations have earned a seat at the decision-making table and are recognised as key contributors.

The winners demonstrated three additional themes: responsibility for initiating change, commitment to technology and the use of metrics to prove their success.

Successful HR functions always work in a partnership role with the business. The winning organisations are all closely involved in business strategy planning and, in turn, ensure that it is reflected in the HR strategy.

This principle was exemplified by AstraZeneca, the KPMG Consulting Special Award winner, and by CGNU, winner of the HR excellence during mergers and acquisitions award.

M&As have a poor track record of success, yet here are two successes. In the case of CGNU, each expansion has been accompanied by an improved management approach the most recent focusing on achieving quick and effective integration, becoming more customer-focused, rebranding the business and creating an organisation which is a great place to work.

HR teams from both CGU and Norwich Union were at the forefront of the marriage, working as members of the larger merger team; they were involved from the start in the pre-merger due-diligence work to ensure that the people issues were given the attention required. The impact of this input and feedback has been sustained and the HR function enjoys a high level of influence with the new board.

Likewise, the HR team at David Lloyd Leisure (DLL), winner of the best contribution of HR to business strategy award, also finds that HR success leads to strategic influence; at quarterly business planning meetings, HR has an opportunity to lead proceedings and contribute to the planning process.

Yorkshire Electricity, winner of the best employee health and wellbeing award, and West Bromwich Building Society, winner of the excellence in community involvement award, both demonstrate the close link between people issues and business strategy. These organisations have made a concentrated effort to ensure that the principles and goals of the business plan are incorporated into the activities of their HR functions.

At Yorkshire Electricity, it is recognised that business success is largely dependent on the health and wellbeing of their people, and its award-winning programme demonstrates the value these initiatives bring. Similarly, West Bromwich Building Society has realised how important community involvement is to its business and has as a result explored and developed these benefits.

Although critical, the HR partnership is not by itself a recipe for success. The 2001 award winners prove that a partnership will only be successful if everyone involved fully understands the big picture not just their piece of the puzzle. The winners have recognised that initiating change is an essential feature in the new HR organisation.

The critical nature of the people agenda means it is simply not enough for personnel departments to deal with labour negotiations and salary adjustments in isolation from the business. A modern HR department must recognise the needs of the business, how they can contribute to the fulfilment of these needs and therefore prioritise its own activities.

It must also take the initiative in seeking out opportunities to change the way HR itself works, often a difficult challenge in its own right. Astron, overall winner and winner of the excellence in change management award, for example, has developed a culture so responsive to change that the organisation has increased its revenue three times over and nearly doubled its staff without losing a single customer.

Another 2001 winner also illustrating this characteristic is Freeserve, which received the best resourcing strategy award. Freeserve has grown from a staff of 34 to 330 in only two years, survived the separation from its original parent company, been assimilated itself into another organisation and has become a success story along the way.

HR recognised the direction of the business, identified the most effective actions to take and adopted an aggressive and targeted resourcing approach.

The evolution of HR from an administrative function to business partner requires the streamlining and improvement of the HR process an effort that lends itself well to the use of self-service technology.

Xansa, winner of the excellence in e-HR award, has improved HR transactional activities by reviewing HR processes and practices, streamlining them and putting them on the company intranet where employees can update their personal information as well as access details of their employment.

Likewise, law firm DLA, winner of the excellence in learning and development award, is undertaking activities which includes the creation and utilisation of a wide variety of online training programmes. The flexibility of such programmes is not only advantageous to employees, it also leaves the HR team more time to focus on value-added work.

Tangible results are just as important as the process of getting there. Traditionally, performance metrics have been used only to a limited extent and in many cases are excluded entirely. But another clear theme among the majority of this years award winners was the use of balanced scorecards to measure HRs success.

Both DLL and Astron use the results to illustrate the functions contribution to the business. For example, DLLs balanced scorecard embraces five key areas growth and returns, operational excellence, sales and brand, famous service and fit people.

The DLL scorecards fit people entails specific objectives such as developing managers into leaders and achieving and sustaining the capability to deliver the strategies. Tangible measurements are attached to these objectives and often obtained through employee and customer surveys.

Astron too has identified a need for hard data and has introduced employee surveys to measure customer response recognising that although they may see profits and enjoy good customer relations, honest feedback is the only way to accurately gauge their success.

Behaving as a proactive business partner, using technology and achieving results is ultimately how the winners of the 2001 awards have defined HR excellence. As all of this years award winners demonstrate, HR has the potential and the power to create a stronger and healthier working environment which in turn makes their organisation more competitive, more profitable, more robust and significantly more attractive to the working population at large. Whats stopping your HR team?

Further information

For details of how to enter the 2002 HR Awards telephone Sam Graham on 020 8267 4145 or email sam.graham@haynet.com