BC HRMA presents awards at annual conference in Victoria
The best and brightest in the HR field were honoured at the annual conference of the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association (BC HRMA) in Victoria last month.
Award of Excellence – HR Professional of the Year
John Evans, vice-president of human resources and corporate communications for the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA), took home the HR Professional of the Year award.
His nomination was based on his leadership qualities, passion for championing people initiatives and commitment to the HR profession. He is currently responsible for the entire HR function, corporate communications and government relations at BCAA.
Evans beat out three other exceptional nominees: Josh Blair, executive vice-president, human resources, Telus; Catherine Fitzgerald, professor, Faculty of Business, Okanagan School of Business; and Joanna Whalley, manager, people engagement, Westminster Savings Credit Union.
The Award of Excellence — HR Professional of the Year recognizes HR leaders of today. Sponsored by the Globe and Mail, MICA Consulting Partners and Berlitz Canada, this award is BC HRMA’s highest honour for established HR practitioners who have improved their organization’s bottom line, achieved business results, demonstrated leadership or developed innovative programs.
Award of Excellence – Innovation
The Living & Working in Prince George Committee was presented with the Innovation award. The committee, represented by Jacquie Scobie, Cindy Kroeger, Keith Dennison and Christie Ray, also includes Sherry Sethen, Laura Honeyman, Jeff Russ, Garth Frizzell, Leslie Hempsall, Diane Flannagan, Cathy Phillips, Therese Roy, Bev Boyd, Carolyn Rowland and Donna McLaughlin.
This group was nominated for the creation of an innovative volunteer committee to help deal with recruitment and retention issues for businesses in the community of Prince George. They helped create a recruitment and retention plan and provided tools to assist small business owners who wouldn’t otherwise have access to an HR professional.
This Prince George team beat out other exceptional nominees: The Certified General Accountants Association of Canada team and Ledcor Group of Companies team.
The Award of Excellence — Innovation, sponsored by MICA Consulting Partners, the Globe and Mail and Berlitz Canada, recognizes an individual or team who has successfully implemented an innovative or progressive program or project in response to a new or ongoing HR challenge within their organization.
Rising Star award
Meg Burrows, hiring consultant with the British Columbia Public Service Agency, was the recipient of the Rising Star award. Burrows’ nomination was based on her passion for HR, commitment to lifelong learning and her natural leadership qualities.
She takes the lead in a variety of situations, particularly in improving workplace relationships to ensure work gets done efficiently and effectively. Among other accomplishments, Burrows was instrumental in developing and implementing a new service to streamline and improve the hiring of administrative staff within the B.C. government in Victoria.
Burrows had extremely talented co-nominees: Galadriel Jolly, HR consultant, Interior Health Authority; Ruth Mitchell, recruiter, Red Seal Recruiting Solutions; and Anjana Moitra, supervisory consultant, human resources, the Fifth Option Consulting.
The Rising Star Award, sponsored by Toombs, The Province and the Vancouver Sun, recognizes HR leaders of tomorrow. These up-and-comers, in the first five years of their career, are considered to be “lighting the HR community on fire” and hold the future of the profession in their hands. Each of the nominees has made great contributions to their past and present workplaces at a very early stage in their career.
About BC HRMA
BC HRMA is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing professional people practices through professional development opportunities such as conferences, workshops, symposiums and mentorship programs.
The association provides leadership to almost 5,000 members who collectively represent CEOs, directors of HR, consultants, educators, students, HR generalists and small business owners. Established in 1942, BC HRMA is a founding member of the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations and the exclusive grantor of the Certified Human Resources Professional designation in B.C.
