Last night HR magazine unveiled the 2017 HR Most Influential rankings at an exclusive networking event at Claridge's.
The HR Most Influential rankings, sponsored by Open University Business School, recognise the HR practitioners and thinkers pushing the field of people strategy forward.
This year Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology at UCL, received a Lifetime Achievement Award. It is the highest accolade bestowed by HR magazine on an individual in recognition of their outstanding and exceptional contribution to HR thinking or practice. Winners take their place in the HR Most Influential Hall of Fame.
Furnham explained why he is so passionate about organisations and businesses coming together to make work better for employees: "I had the great misfortune of having poor parents, which means I worked through university," he said. "Some jobs were nice, and some were not nice, but it taught me that work can be difficult and complicated."
He also spoke on the future of work and big data, and the amount of employee information being collected by employers. "Do you remember the manila files that companies used to keep on all of their employees? The thicker it was the more trouble you were. What data do companies have on us now? I've been working at the university for 35 years - what data might they have on me?" Furnham mused.
Herminia Ibarra topped the list of HR Most Influential Thinkers. Accepting her award, she reminisced about the 2015 rankings, where she came sixth. "I remember seeing two headlines at the same time: 'Is it time to blow up HR?', from the Harvard Business Review, and 'We love HR' from HR magazine. Personally I love HR! I'm very pleased and very flattered to be in the top spot on this list," Ibarra said.
The top 30 thinkers are as follows:
1. Herminia Ibarra, Cora Chaired professor of leadership and learning and professor of organisational behavior, INSEAD
2. Mee-Yan Cheung-Judge, founder, Quality & Equality
3. Amy Cuddy, associate professor, Harvard Business School
4. Amy Edmondson, Novartis professor of leadership and management, Harvard Business School
5. Rob Briner, professor of organisational psychology, School of Management, Queen Mary University of London
6. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology, University College London and Columbia University
7. Gervase Bushe, professor of leadership and organization development, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
8. Adam Grant, professor of management, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
9. Simon Sinek, leadership expert and author
10. Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA
11. Vlatka Hlupic, professor of business and management, Westminster Business School
12. Veronica Hope-Hailey, university vice president and Dean of the school of management, University of Bath
13. Patrick Wright, Thomas C Vandiver Bicentennial Chair, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
14. Wendy Hirsh, independent researcher & principal associate, Institute for Employment Studies
15. Michael West, professor of organisational psychology, Lancaster University Management School
16. Susan Vinnicombe, professor of women and leadership, Cranfield School of Management
17. Stewart Friedman, practice professor of management, The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
18. David Collings, professor or HR management, Dublin City University
19. David MaCleod and Nita Clarke, authors, Engaging for Success
20. Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, Emeritus professor of organisational behavior, London Business School and visiting professor, IE Business School
21. Josh Bersin, principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte
22. Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D Dee II professor of organizational behavior, Stanford Business School
23. Perry Timms, founder & chief energy officer, PTHR
24. Erin Meyer, professor, INSEAD
25. Chris Roebuck, visiting professor of transformational leadership, Cass Business School
26. Patrick Lencioni, founder and president, The Table Group
27. Liz Mellon, executive director, Authentic Leadership and Duke Corporate Education
28. Stephen Bevan, head of HR research development, Institute for Employment Studies
29. Elisabeth Kelan, professor of leadership, Cranfield School of Management
30. Matthew Syed, author and journalist
Visit the the HR Most Influential website for profiles of our listed individuals.
