Learn more about the finalists for our Talent Acquisition Leader of the Year awards.
By the Editors
In today’s competitive work environment there is no asset more critical to an organization than its talent. But what about those leaders who are driving the initiatives that are attracting and retaining such high performers? HRO Today’s Talent Acquisition Leader of the Year awards, sponsored by Cielo, saw the need to recognize the hard work of these individuals.Here’s the incredible group of nominees.
CATEGORY: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Sabine Bell
Human Resources Manager
Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Sabine Bells leverages three unique programs to attract the best in culinary talent: a culinary apprenticeship program that provides chefs with workshops and seminars; a peer-to-peer learning series that allows employees to share their skills; and a leadership passport program that affords leadership training.
Carolyn Burke
Assistant Vice President Talent Acquisition
MAPFRE Insurance
Carolyn Burke overhauled MAPFRE Insurance’s acquisition and recruitment strategy by designing an internship program, implementing an employee referral bonus plan, launching a diversity initiative, introducing new technologies, and expanding social media sourcing strategies.
Nick Mailey
Vice President, Talent Acquisition
Intuit
In his role as Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Nick Mailey completely rebuilt how Intuit assessed and hired talent within the scope of 12 months. He also tackled Intuit’s early career organization head-on.
Lisa Manegold
Vice President, Staffing
National Express/Durham School Services
As Vice president of staffing, Lisa Manegold’s recruitment processes has helped reduce shortages for National Express/Durham School Services and her approach to succession planning has improved retention.
Michael Spear
Director, Talent Acquisition and Development
Gategroup Airline Solutions
Mike Spear developed a long-term labor forecasting model to ensure proper resources are aligned across the business. The result is an analytic and predictive modeling tool that determines what labor is needed and at what time.
Yvette Stortz
Global Vice President of Talent Acquisition & Mobility
Schneider Electric
Yvette Stortz has transformed the talent acquisition function for Schneider Electric by creating a global alignment, organizing an executive recruiting team, driving efficiency, and building a comprehensive employee value proposition.
CATEGORY: INNOVATION
Chris Brabec
Vice President, Talent Acquisition
Western Union
Chris Brabec has transformed the recruiting function at Western Union with a globally scalable staffing model that allows flexibility and provides a focus on tool optimization to more efficiently deliver clearly defined recruitment strategies to the business.
Kelly Glass
Global Head of Recruitment
Royal Bank of Canada
Two of Kelly Glass’s key initiatives were sourcing to support talent acquisition and a recruitment marketing function. Royal Bank of Canada’s approach to sourcing directly identifies passive talent, manages the talent pipeline, and places candidates in hardto- fill roles. The recruitment marketing function has utilized social networks and executed targeted campaigns.
Charlie Hall
Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition
MasterCard
Under Charlie Hall’s leadership, the global talent acquisition function has been fully transformed by the implementation of key initiatives including: developing a strategic talent acquisition framework; adding key leadership positions; designing an employees as ambassadors program; initiating a diversity program; and leveraging employer branding.
Patricia A. McDonald
Vice President Human Resources, Intel Talent Organization
Intel Corporation
Patricia A. McDonald drove innovation in Intel’s recruiting processes by implementing an innovative strategy of red carpet events for experienced hires to help decrease time to hire by connecting talented external diverse candidates with top organizational leaders.
Della Sabessar
Global Head of Experienced Talent Acquisition
Credit Suisse
One of Della Sabessar’s most successful initiatives for Credit Suisse was launched to reengage talented professionals, primarily women who had a break from the workforce, to facilitate a transition back. Real Returns offers mentoring, technical training sessions, and leadership speakers, and placed 50 high-performing women into the organization.
Kevin Stakelum
Talent Acquisition Director
Humana
Being a veteran himself, Kevin Stakelum has offered access to meaningful roles and careers for veterans at Humana, while providing connection to education and resources that empower them. Humana is now seen as a top veteran employer and won the Secretary of Defense, Freedom Award for their work.
Ravi Subramanian
Director, Talent Mobility and Acquisition
PG&E
While at CHC Helicopter, Ravi Subramanian was instrumental in leading process efficiency within the talent acquisition function globally by establishing a scalable model and tracking efficiency and effectiveness metrics around quality of hire, time to fill, attrition, retention, and candidate pipelines.
CATEGORY: NON-PROFIT
Naomi Cramer
Vice President, Talent and Organizational Strategy
Banner Health
As Vice President of Talent and Organizational Strategy for Banner Health, Naomi Cramer has developed key talent strategies, standardized the recruitment process, and improved efficiencies leading to an improvement in overall staffing.
William J. Dwyer
Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Compliance Officer
Children’s Specialized Hospital
William J. Dwyer increased employee engagement by recruiting a diverse group of employees from various sites to create corporate values. Those values: compassion, integrity, excellence, innovation, teamwork, and most importantly fun, grew out of that effort and are embodied throughout the organization.
Valerie Egan
Talent Acquisition Strategist
Girl Scouts USA
Since process and methodology were lacking in regard to talent acquisition at Girl Scouts USA, Valerie Egan designed and documented processes for each step: opening a vacancy, approvals, job evaluation, and escalation. She has also introduced new technology and sourcing strategies.
Heather Grier
Director of Talent Management
McLeod Health
Heather Grier’s ‘Hire Smarter’ project has made a big impact at McLeod Health by creating customized behavioral competencies, leveraging pre-hire behavioral assessments using ‘cut scores’, and training 100 percent of directors and more than 300 other hiring managers in behavioral selection.
Holly Thauwald
Chief Human Resources Officer
Aspiranet
Since in today’s talent market benefits are often seen as a competitive differentiator, Holly Thauwald renovated Aspiranet’s benefits program, which doubled the enrollment for medical coverage and decreased the turnover rate significantly.
