HR Leadership & Management Awards: celebrating the people at the heart of businesses

The HR Leadership & Management Awards 2018 was celebrated on March 8th, with teams and individuals from all over the country recognised for their hard work and contributions in the HR sector over the last 12 months.

With 19 categories being decided on the night, Helen Tynan, Irish director of People Operations at Google, was one of those honoured, receiving the award for HR Leader of the Year.

Speaking afterwards, Helen said; “I’ve been fortunate to work with great companies – culminating with Google – and throughout my career I’ve learned from great people. I’m privileged to work in a profession that has a direct impact on people, helping them to be their best, and has a positive impact on the business. To be recognised for something I love doing is the icing on the cake.”

The award for Overall Excellence in HR went to KCI Manufacturing. “Entering the HR awards presented us with an opportunity to showcase our transformational journey with best in class HR practices. We are extremely proud of our team. The level of employee engagement and the methodology developed have been instrumental in the success of our transformational journey and are excellent examples of our company’s core values of A Will to Win and One Acelity,” explained their senior HR manager, Helen Fahy.

Meanwhile the Dalata Hotel Group were over the moon to win the HR Team of the Year. head of HR at Dalata, Dawn Wynne, said; “We are delighted to have won this award which demonstrates our commitment to our people across the Group. It is a very exciting time here at Dalata as we continue to expand in Ireland and into the UK. Over 800 jobs will be created over the next three years and our HR team has been busy implementing structures that ensure we attract and retain the best talent. We look forward to welcoming and working with our new colleagues.”

The event attracted sponsorship from seven different companies, including Laya Healthcare, with their head of sales, Patricia Hyland, explaining why they’re involved; “At Laya Healthcare we recognise the innovation and dedication of HR teams across the country, especially the progress being made in relation to health and wellbeing and empowering team members to look after their everyday health. We were delighted to support the 2018 HR Leadership & Management awards.

Morgan McKinley were also a sponsor of the event. Their operations director, Olivia Galvin said; “In Morgan McKinley we place great importance on acknowledging both individual and company contribution and believe that great achievements lead to great opportunities for all. The HR awards are a superb opportunity to showcase the achievements of passionate and hard-working individuals and we believe by helping to make these awards possible, we provide inspiration to others in their drive for success.”