2022 HRO Today Association Awards Category Definitions

Are your customer satisfaction scores higher than those of your competitors and others in the industry? Are candidates talking about the positive experience they had applying for a job with your company and the process that followed, whether they got the job or not? Tell us about your candidate experience and how it boosts your reputation and makes it easier for you to attract the best! Tell us how you did it and made it right for your company and the candidates!

A positive Employee Experience breeds happy employees, which not only builds a stronger work culture, but also impacts business performance. Tell us about your best talent management programs, showcase your employee experience success stories and key retention strategies to ensure job satisfaction and that make your company a great place to work!

How is your company utilizing technology differently, more efficiently, and in ways that make the lives of your employees and/or customers happier? Showcase your latest technology advancement, upgrade, or unique solution that uses or enables technology to work more efficiently and successfully on one or more areas of the Human Resource function. This can be a standalone private labeled technology developed for use within your company or a new technology that you’ve taken to market for the entire industry.

This award recognizes a partnership between an organization and an (outsourced) HR Services and/or HR Technology Provider OR a collaboration across two businesses that results in a positive outcome from a business, financial, and/or philanthropic standpoint. Nominations should discuss the successful results as an outcome of the partnership. Why/how did the partnership come to be? What have you been able to do differently because of the partnership? Please share any process improvements, key metrics, and/or customer stories.

Note: Because this award recognizes a “partnership”, it is expected that finalists in this category have representation from BOTH partners at the awards program.

Over the past few years, the responsibility of business leaders has shifted from an economics-only focus to one that incorporates social responsibility, creating an expectation that companies will deliver an open, inclusive space not only for consumers but for workers as well. Human Resources works to ensure Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is top of mind throughout their organization. Whether it be candidate selection, customer experience, employee engagement or the office environment itself, efforts to ensure a fair and comfortable experience to satisfy a wide breadth of interests, behaviors and beliefs for all. What DEI activities are you undertaking that stand out as a success within your office, company, and/or the industry?

This award allows you to share the many successes, accomplishments, and achievements you have worked hard to reach throughout the last year. Whether you are a new start-up or a Fortune 500 company, privately held or publicly owned, a small family business or a company with a long-standing reputation, we know great things come in all shapes and sizes! Whether focused on 1-2 strategic priorities, a new project or a myriad of improvements and enhancements, we want to hear the story that tells us why your human resources team is #1!

This award recognizes forward thinking, innovation, or a breakthrough idea, resulting in improved employee and/or customer satisfaction, better business performance, and/or an advancement for the industry. This award recognizes a new and creative solution, process or product that really made an impact at your organization and may just be considered a game-changer within the Human Resources industry!

This award recognizes the Recruitment (Talent Acquisition) Team of an organization that has demonstrated significant success and/or growth within managing the talent acquisition process, which may include sourcing, candidate experience, employer branding, candidate selection, interviewing, offer process, onboarding processes, and more. The proof is in the numbers! Please be sure to include data points, as well as key performance indicators and team goals to support your success story.

This award recognizes forward thinking, innovation, and creative solutions, as well as ideas generated and/or implemented by an individual. The HR Excellence Award is award is about someone who did something great: an event, accomplishment, big project, innovative idea, big success, etc.

This individual creates an inspiring vision of the future and effectively motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision, and/or demonstrates extraordinary treatment of their employees resulting in positive business results. The HR Leadership award is about a person’s leadership traits, ability to mentor, lead people, inspire and/or a thought leader or someone thought of as an expert.

Simply put, HR Excellence is about someone who did something great. HR Leadership is about someone who IS great.