HROA Europe, Awards, Human Resources, HR Transformation, Conference

Quality and depth of 2006 HROA Award winners proves that HR transformation has come of age

07 Nov 2006 | (News)

Issued: 7th November 2006

NEWS RELEASE

Quality and depth of 2006 HROA Award winners proves that HR transformation has come of age

Winners of the first HROA Europe Annual Awards were hailed last night (6th November) as some of the most visionary and influential professionals and businesses currently contributing to the advancement of HR transformation.

Speaking at the HRO World Europe cocktail reception in Brussels in front of specially-invited guests and members of the HROA Europe Board, Philippe Gluntz, Chairman of the Board, said: “Through their vision and action, all of our nominees have helped to transform human resources processes in some of the leading corporations throughout Europe.”

He also paid tribute to those who had missed out on winning. He explained that the judges had only made their final decisions at the very last minute due to the exceptional quality and depth of this year’s nominations.

Nominations and voting for these prestigious industry awards is conducted by the HROA Europe members. Each year this means that only those professionals and corporations that have made a measurable difference in the HRO marketplace within the last 12 months, or who have achieved widespread recognition for recent contributions, can be nominated.

Richard Crespin, Executive Director of HROA, explained that each of the 2006 winners had demonstrated clear leadership and an ongoing commitment to the advancement and improvement of HR transformation. In each case, he said they had also fully lived up to the values and mission of the HROA Europe.

International manufacturer of leading food, home care and personal care brands, Unilever, were declared winners of the HROA Practitioner of the Year Award 2006. Crespin explained that Unilever had overcome many challenges in implementing its global HR BPO contract, not least the exceptional scope of the project, which covered 100 countries and 200,000 employees. He said, “The Unilever deal also validates the trend that many global companies now consider HR BPO an important part of maximising their performance.” Other nominations in this category were: UK Armed Forces Personnel and Administration Agency (AFPAA), BT; Norwich Union (Aviva) and Proctor and Gamble. Reg Bull SVP Global HR Transformation at Unilever accepted the award.

In a particularly strong category, the HROA Europe Provider of the Year Award 2006 went to Accenture HR Services. Their win acknowledged Accenture’s far-reaching involvement with many leading multinational clients including BT, Caja Madrid, Unilever, Thomas Cook and Telecom Italia. The other nominations in this category were ACS, Arinso, Hewitt, IBM and Xansa. Christian Marchetti, Managing Director, accepted the award from Philippe Gluntz on behalf of Accenture.

Tim Palmer, HR Practice Lead, accepted the award for HROA Europe Advisor of the Year 2006 on behalf of the leading international outsourcing and insourcing advisory firm.  In presenting the Award, Crespin explained that EquaTerra’s advisory work on the Unilever deal in particular had taken best practice HR outsourcing to a new level. He remarked that EquaTerra’s strength is in linking strategy to delivery, and making sure the balance between supplier and client is built upon the “art of what’s possible.”

Competition for The HROA Europe Shared Services Center of the Year Award 2006 became a head to head between Standard Life Shared Services Center and AB Volvo Gothenburg. It was won by the Standard Life Shared Services Centre, which operates as a profit center with zero margin. The Center also achieved capital self-sufficiency within its first 12 months. It also stood out for its commitment to passing savings back to its revenue-generating business units and its use of reward and recognition schemes based on group performance.

The final award of the evening was the HROA Europe Special Award of the Year 2006. This award is made entirely at the discretion of the HROA Europe Founding Members. It recognises the outstanding contribution of one individual or corporation whose efforts to further the cause of HR transformation are deemed exceptional.

The award was made to SAP in recognition of their role in changing the rules of HR BPO with their innovative pricing approach. Crespin explained that the SAP standard was fast becoming the de facto standard in Europe and had been adopted by most service providers. The award was presented to Christian Baader, VP Business Process Outsourcing.

- ENDS

Editor’s notes:
- HRO World Europe is the largest and most comprehensive HR transformation conference in Europe. It brings together more than 350 senior executives from over 20 countries to exchange views and experiences on how to transform human resources activities within complex organisations. It is organised by SharedXpertise.

Media contacts:
Sarah Watts, Tel +44 1273 773002 or +44 7968 417518
Jesper Lillelund, SharedXpertise, Tel: +32 2 777 9671 Mobile: +32 478 223711

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