We are just returning from Dublin and the HRO Today Forum EMEA, our annual conference of sharing best practices as HR executives “lead through uncertainty.” During the event, we also took the time to celebrate HR leaders with our annual CHRO of the Year Awards Gala. Six outstanding individuals were honored and I wanted to share some their accomplishments here.
CHRO of the Year, Non-Profit Winner
Lee Searle
Chief People Officer
ALT21
Lee Searle has a deep connection to non-profit work. In fact, he has mentored more than three dozen non-profit HR leaders. He strives to teach and develop HR practices. Searle has also worked tirelessly in the non-profit sector to promote awareness around domestic abuse. He also led a non-profit that was instrumental in getting people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic and assisted more than 500 people accomplish that goal.
CHRO of the Year, Small Market Winner
Ekaterina Firsova
HR Director
Altenar
Ekaterina Firsova has moved through the ranks at Altenar, starting as a temp in talent acquisition and now she oversees more than 500 employees as HRD. With a workforce located in several countries, Firsova’s approach to change management has been deliberate and effective in rebuilding the organization’s culture and values and driving down attrition and improving engagement. One of the ways the innovative gaming company did this was by gamifying their HR platform to make HR fun.
CHRO of the Year, Mid-Market Winner
Ainura Koshoeva
Former Chief People Officer
Tele2 Kazakhstan
Tele2 Kazakhstan was recently named the top employer in employee happiness in Kazakhstan–a great feat considering they just went through a transition from a pure telecom company to also offering IT services. They reworked their culture and company values, which took a lot of selling on the part of HR. And that is how Ainura Koshoeva started her career. She was in sales and saw the link between HR and marketing. She moved over and didn’t look back. When she arrived at Tele2, there was no real HR function, no centers of excellence, and no strategy. Over the last few years, she and her team created all of that and more.
CHRO of the Year, Large Market Winner
Gina Cruceru
Group CHRO
KMG Rompetrol
At KMG Rompetrol, Gina Cruceru has led the HR team to radically rethink HR. This started during the pandemic and an individualized approach to associates is now part of their corporate DNA. She also has worked to manage a successful diversity and inclusion program, particularly gender diversity, which is a challenge in the energy sector. She established Rompetrol University to retrain existing staff and train recent grads on skills they need in the business world but did not learn at university. All of these programs have been highly successful.
CHRO of the Year, Sustainable Workforce Winner
Tobias Julén
Chief People Officer
Tanium
Tobias Julén was seeking the greater impact of a smaller, more entrepreneurial organization, so he joined Tanium when it had less than 500 employees. Today, it has grown rapidly to nearly 2,000. Julén replaced the HR transactional model with a strategic HR function. He created a modern and rapid growth environment for both HR and the company, overhauling culture and total rewards and implementing dozens of HR initiatives. Today they have very high engagement and below market attrition.
CHRO of the Year, Lifetime Achievement
Winner
Dr. Johanna Wolfbauer
HR Director Business Groups CD Europe and Retail and Americas
Friesland Campina
Dr. Johanna Wolfbauer originally studied management but later received her MBA and her PhD in strategic management. She started her career in HR as a consultant and coach at the Center for Strategy and Leadership. She moved into senior corporate roles for Danone before joining Friesland Campina. Wolfbauer has led the transformation of the company’s recently established professional business unit, helping to improve engagement and cultivate a strong company culture. Her leadership initiatives were recently expanded with a much larger geographical purview. She managed this while overseeing a massive reorganization and realignment. Yet, Friesland Campina has seen increased employee engagement by 10 points, a tribute to proactive communication and great HR programming.
Next year, we’ll be in Lisbon, honoring the innovation of another group of impressive HR leaders. Hope you’ll join us!
Until next time,
Debbie Bolla
SVP/Editorial Director
