HR professionals on the top of business success
The Foundation for Human Resources Development celebrated the 10th Malta People Awards in a ceremony at which companies were recognised for the projects and initiatives that have transformed businesses and made the biggest contribution to the way people are engaged, managed and developed on the island. The evening highlighted talent and a passion for enhancing people-management awareness throughout the local business sector with the 19 organisations operating in Malta competing for the awards oozing professionalism and best practice. The wow factor was brought about by the high levels of ambition, competence and vision that the contestants demonstrated through their projects and initiatives.
FTIAS wins top award
FTIAS Ltd carried the night and was awarded the most prestigious award: The Excellence Award sponsored by Castille Resources. The company showed evidence of how their project had contributed to the overall performance of the business. They were credible, factual and were able to measure the impact that the initiative had produced, said FHRD CEO Joe Gerada before presenting the award. Fingers were crossed and a special drum roll resounded through the lounge – echoing the heart beats of most HR professionals – before Castille Resources managing director Matthew Camilleri announced FTIAS Ltd as the stars of the night. A visibly excited HR manager Paul Simonini jumped on to the stage with all his team to collect the award, while managing director Kevin-Jude Paris thanked the company’s 130 employees for “trying to be a family; that is why HR is embedded in our culture”.
The Life Time
Achievement Award
One of the most enjoyable moments of the evening was the presentation of the Life Time Achievement Award, which went to a visibly surprised Jozie Devoy in recognition of her excellent track record in respect of delivering training and consultancy. The award was presented to Ms Devoy by Foundation president Annika Galea. “This person is unique”, said Joe Gerada.
From the outset, the evening was gripped by expectation and excitement, even if the professionals tried to look cool, calm and collected. “We have been working hard for this” was a frequently heard comment from many of the nominees in the room. Needless to say, receiving an award meant that a company stood out from the competition – what better way to demonstrate its calibre to customers, partners, suppliers, shareholders and employers?
Though visibly excited, most of the nominees seemed self-assured and convinced of their exceptional potential. It was their day, it was a day for professional recognition, it was a night for rewarding employees who did not want to settle for good when they could be great – at engaging staff, talent management and getting the commitment to make a company a success.
A fully decorated venue awaited guests, who arrived to the lively rhythm of a violin. Red and silver balloons gave a festive atmosphere to the event, while nervousness and excitement mingled with professionalism and best practices. Tireless work and best intentions for improving the standards of people management showed the high profile of HR among the local business community. In short, FHRD took participants on a journey of human potential and capability, rewarding all those who had made a difference in the workplace. Through this event, the Foundation showed further commitment to its mission, namely to promote excellent human resources management and development practices and to raise the profile of the human resources profession in the Maltese Islands.
Award-winner Jozie Devoy was in charge of giving a touch of glamour as the godmother of the ceremony. Ms Devoy opened the event, describing guests as being like diamonds “shining like stars in the sky”. She said that the Malta People Awards was not a competition among companies but companies were in competition with their own standards of practice. “It is recognition, where a company can achieve a level of excellence in more than one category”, she said. Commenting that she had been involved with The Malta People Awards for the last seven years, the compère of the gala said that she “has seen the HR profile grow and develop and now it is visible and its values are becoming part of the culture of the enterprises. Tonight you will have a level 4(VET) for clapping”, she joked, “as you will have a lot to celebrate”.
HR has moved forward.
FHRD president Annika Galea made the official introductions, acknowledging all the organisations gathered in the hall for the quantity and quality of the submissions presented and encouraging the potential award-winners to seize the moment and show why their company had been rewarded. These awards are the HR’s credit card to use in the board room, she said. In addition, Ms Galea praised the great job being done by local HR professionals in raising the standards of HR practices throughout the islands. “With regard to people, there is no black or white”, she said. She praised the role of HR professionals as the being way forward to achieving success in business. “HR professionals translate concepts into something tangible. Now we are business partners, we are key agents in decision-making, we put social corporate responsibility on the table, giving our companies presence in the media and in the society where they coexist.”
In short, one thing could be seen from the Malta People Awards 2011 – that HR has been moving forward in Malta. Looking at the people gathered in the hall, one could see the drive and commitment in their efforts to achieve recognition in the face of so many challenges. The role of the HR professional is more needed than ever before and this was made quite clear during the Malta People Awards.
The HR professionals raised their voices and made their presence felt, showing leadership and charisma that they are the ones in charge of giving business, meaning the ones who nurture the talents of people of all backgrounds and make their teams successful and competitive.
Joe Gerada also went on stage to thank the assessors for making the event come true. Assessors had been key factors in the event, meeting with companies to evaluate the submissions and drawing conclusions based on the criteria set for each award. To recognise their contributions to the bank of knowledge and HR practices, the assessors were presented with a certificate of competence and commitment.
Mr Gerada captured the raison d’être of the awards when he said that the Awards night is an “acknowledgement of the ability to understand the business objectives, identify the people’s capabilities that give rise to the competitive edge of the organisation and the competence to devise the right strategy to develop, nurture and engage the passion and talent of people that will make the business sustainable and successful”. He also encouraged all HR professionals to use this recognition for their benefit, in their efforts to bring about change and make a difference at their place of work. In view of the fact that the standard of submissions had risen, the CEO announced new challenges for further awards. “The FHRD board has already decided that we need to take the awards a step further, as some companies are looking for greater challenges. We shall not disappoint them and I am sure that the changes will be welcomed, especially if a degree of healthy competition is introduced”, he said.
And the award went to…
After Mr Gerada’s speech, and building tension among the participants, the exciting part started gathering pace.
People Management Impact on Business Success Award
Sponsored by Go plc, The People Management Impact on Business Success award was presented to Actavis Ltd, Computime Ltd, Medicine Authorities and Pharmacy of Your Choice. This recognition is intended to reward businesses that are transforming the way they manage and develop their people in order to build sustainable organisation performance. GO chief HR officer Michelle Bonnici presented the awards
Employee Engagement Award
In a night when employees were confirmed as being a company’s biggest asset, this category was especially significant. Sponsored by Malta International Airport and presented by its HR executive Jeannette Zammit, the “HR Oscar” went to Alf. Mizzi & Sons (Marketing) Group, Grand Hotel Excelsior, Gozo General Hospital, Medicine Authorities and Pharmacy of Your Choice. This award is intended to acknowledge the HR initiative or system that have made a marked contribution to a culture of employee engagement, good communication flows, accountability and space for personal initiatives that can have a positive impact on an organisation.
Excellence through
Technology Award
Sponsored by Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), its CEO Matthew Gatt went on stage to announce the sole winner in this category – Nectar Group. This company had shown good practice in the use of technology in order to enhance the capabilities of its employees.
Learning and
development Award
This was the most anticipated award, due to the record number of submissions received. Repeatedly the most popular category of all the awards, the tension in the hall went up a few degrees as Joshua Zammit, Division Manager HR & EHS of Actavis, the award’s sponsor, announced the winners. These were Nectar Group, The Westin Dragonara Resort, FTIAS Ltd., Gozo General Hospital, Melita plc, CHI Hotels & Resorts and Corinthia Hotel St. George’s Bay.
Performance and Reward
This award was presented to the winning companies by Arthur Muscat, Farsons Group company consultant and himself the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. The winners in this category were Actavis Ltd, The Westin Dragonara Resort and Nectar Group, which ended up as the organisation with the most awards of the night. In this respect, Nectar Group managing director Roderick Abela took the opportunity to thank his employees for their “great input” while feeling overwhelmed by their success, ,even if it was their first experience at the awards.
Equal Opportunities
The Equal Opportunities Award, sponsored by the Education, Employment and the Family Ministry, was the sixth award in this category presented by the Hon. Stephen Spiteri, Parliamentary Assistant in the Department of Education. Alf Mizzi & Sons (Marketing) Group, Chetcuti Cauchi, Deloitte and FTIAS Ltd. were the four winning companies that stood out for their policies and practices of equality, fairness and accountability in the workplace.
Corporate Social Responsibility
This award, presented by APS Bank marketing manager Patrick Aquilina, was aimed at demonstrating the commitment of companies towards the well being of the community. The winning companies, considered to have made a very effective contribution in this area of growing importance, were Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa, The Malta Police Force and Transplant Support Group (Malta)
The perfect finale
The wow factor flowed across the lounge when FTIAS Ltd was announced as the overall winner. Managing director Kevin-Jude Paris could not believe his ears when he heard that his company had won the Excellence Award “Now I know how Bobby Charlton felt when he lifted the World Cup in 1966. For sure, he was pretty excited and so am I”, he joked – visibly proud. Asked why he thought his company deserved the recognition, he did not hesitate: “I believe we have worked very hard for the awards. I also think that everyone had the same challenges but it was probably something very significant that has made us win the Excellence Awards”.
Joe Gerada said that FTIAS Ltd followed last year’s winners – the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei – clearly demonstrating that a company does not need to be big and strong to win the Excellence Award but did need to be people-relevant and results-oriented. “Size does not matter, but substance does” he said.
Nectar Group, owned by Roderick Abela, was the most awarded company of the night, achieving the Excellence through Technology, Learning and Development and Performance Reward Awards. Expressing himself satisfied with the company’s track record and the results achieved in this year’s Malta People Awards, Mr Abela said that there was “still room for improvement” and that the company would continue striving for “better and greater achievements”.
It was truly a night to remember, a night where employees from their shop floors and offices stood out for their effort, a night where everybody had something to toast. However, this event did not come cheap but through the hard and tireless work of the assessors. Joe Tanti one of the evaluators, praised the excellent organisation of the evening but also wanted to recognise the role of HR as the way forward in order to be successful in business. “Many of these HR people gathered here today are represented at board level and this means that HR is being recognised and valued within the organisations as appropriate”, he said.
Many were the companies that had shone brightly, even if the marathon had taken nearly 11 months. However, as Joe Gerada remarked during the ceremony: “Awardees should not see the award as a sign of completion but as recognition of good practice which is on the way to best practice”. Managers and supervisors become the advocates of this vision and further development in human capital depends on how HR professionals carry themselves with their peers in the company. “HR lives in the hearts and minds, lives in your people, in your staff” was the farewell message from Jozie.
A special Memento Video has been prepared giving highlights of the main events of the evening and is available on Youtube for viewing. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg1mgKViplo).
A link is also available on www.fhrd.org in the latest news section or on our Facebook page.
FHRD would like to thank the sponsors who made this event possible:
Excellence Award: Castille Resources
Awards Sponsors: Actavis, APS Bank, GO plc, Malta International Airport, MITA, Ministry of Education, Employment and Family, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc
General Sponsors: Agenda Bookshop, Outlook Coop, Uniblue, The Malta Business Weekly, The Malta Independent on Sunday, Studio Seven, Quintano Foods
Nuria Garcia Reche is a Spanish journalist with the Foundation for Human Resources Development