Let’s celebrate

The 25th year of the NZ HR Awards attracted 500 attendees, who gathered together for the night in Auckland to connect and celebrate success across the HR industry.

Organised by HRNZ, in association with Principal Partners AMP and enable.me, the NZ HR Awards are the pre-eminent accolade for human resources management in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Awards provide the perfect opportunity to reflect on, appreciate and celebrate all the hard work across the profession over the past 12 months, and recognise excellence across numerous award categories.

For a complete list of winners, go here. Special mention goes to the winners of HR Person of the Year, HRNZ Supreme Award winner and the winner of the Outstanding Service Award.

Special Awards

HR Person Of The Year

The HR Person of the Year Award is the individual award winner selected from those who have shown the greatest overall leadership in HR practice. It was a special night for Karli Te Aotonga, who won the Mana Tangata –Leader Māori HR Award and the HR Person of the Year Award. Karli is known as an outstanding HR leader of the future. She is energetic and committed, and her energy brings people together. All of Karli’s work results in tangible improvements in outcomes for Māori in the workplace at a national scale.

HRNZ Supreme Award

The Strand Veterinarian won the HRNZ Supreme Award for the organisation showing the greatest overall leadership in HR practice. Also winners of the Wellness Programme Award, The Strand Veterinarian came away on top, thanks to its hard mahi on its Vet Thrive Six Shield Programme, which helped the company achieve a lower staff turnover rate.

Outstanding Service Award

The Outstanding Service Award was presented to Julia Stones. Julia has led a remarkable journey shaped by resilience, passion for justice and dedication to HR excellence. Beginning her career as a linguist and transitioning to marketing before finding her calling in recruitment, she eventually settled in New Zealand in 2005. Over the next 14 years, she dedicated herself to volunteering with HRNZ, making a significant impact as Auckland Branch President and contributing to various HR initiatives. She also served as an HRNZ Board Director for 10 years. Her commitment to excellence and service has earned her recognition as a Distinguished Fellow of HRNZ.

Individual Award Winners

The Individual Awards recognise leading HR professionals across Aotearoa. These professionals make a meaningful difference, champion change and lead HR best practice.

HR Professional of the Year, Natasha Holloway CMHRNZ (Fliway Group) serves as the General Manager – HR, Safety and Communications. As a vital member of the executive team, she oversees all aspects related to people within the company. Natasha works closely with C-Suite executives and general managers to ensure the company achieves its overall goals. Over her 12 years with the business, Natasha has implemented various initiatives to create a better and safer work environment. These efforts have resulted in reduced turnover, increased engagement, improved safety culture and more.

Mark Lewis, the Head of People and Culture at Connetics and recipient of the Leadership Award, has assumed responsibility for managing the people aspect of the business, including operational HR, talent acquisition and management, and organisational change and development. Upon his arrival, the organisation encountered significant challenges. Mark’s exceptional leadership and expertise in various areas enabled him to empower his team to quickly tackle these challenges, resulting in the stabilisation and growth of a skilled workforce.

Emerging HR Practitioner of the Year Award went to Grace Coffey, the Senior Employee Relations Advisor at Access Community Health. Grace provides strategic advice to senior leadership, oversees professional development for a team of HR administrators, assists with the resolution of employment issues, creates and maintains policies, is a driver for projects within the People Function and holds the role of Union secretariat. Grace is passionate about creating a fair and inclusive workplace for all Access kaimahi.

Letisha White (University of Otago), Student Ambassador in 2023 and current member of the HRNZ committee, is the winner of the HR Student of the Year Award. As an HRNZ Student Ambassador, Letisha organised three impactful events, including ‘Korero with Professionals’, inspiring students to join HRNZ. Her role at the Career Development Centre, along with studies in employment relations, leadership and strategic HRNZ, is equipping her for a career in HR.

MANA TANGATA AWARD WINNERS

The Mana Tangata Māori HR Awards recognise individuals or organisations that incorporate significant bicultural HR practices into their work, enacting tikanga Māori.

Te Whatu Ora – Tū Tangata Tū Rangatira has won the inaugural Emerging Māori HR Award for its Māori Leadership Development programme Tū Tangata Tū Rangatira. This programme combines researchbased examples from both Māori and Pākehā leadership methods to develop its Māori workforce. The programme has surpassed expectations, leading to increased engagement and wellbeing scores, decreased staff turnover, enhanced diversity and awareness internally, and improved engagement with mana whenua and understanding of the communities Te Whatu Ora serve externally.

The Leader Māori HR Award was presented to Karli Te Aotonga. Karli is driven by her commitment to represent and uphold the collective aspirations and values of her whānau, hapū and iwi, viewing it as her born leadership obligation. In her role as Manager Ao Māori Capability at Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga, Ministry of Education, Karli has spearheaded systemlevel change, guiding others in delivering Māori leadership advice to enhance Māori–Crown Relations capability. She has significantly shaped the knowledge base of the HR profession in Aotearoa by co-creating HRNZ’s pilot Transforming HRM programme. Karli has also achieved a Master’s degree and embarked on a doctorate focusing on Māori and indigenous thesis.

ORGANISATIONAL AWARD WINNERS

Flight Centre Travel Group received the Talent Acquisition Award for its innovative approach to address the candidate shortage. The company’s initiative showcased exceptional leadership, thorough problem analysis and solution development. It prioritised diversity and inclusion and devised innovative solutions such as an alumni communications channel, internal career pathways advice, and revamped advertising and interview processes. These efforts led to a substantial increase in their candidate pool and a more efficient hiring process, demonstrating their commitment to innovation, HR leadership and fostering an inclusive workplace.

Coastguard Tautiaki Moana received the Learning and Development Award [Small Organisations] for its Learning Management System, which offers a modern and self-paced learning experience. This system has improved the volunteer experience, leading to better retention and reducing the risk of not having enough trained volunteers for their mission of Saving Lives at Sea. It also helps ensure health and safety and lays the groundwork for workforce planning.

The Learning and Development Award [Large Organisations] went to Tauranga City Council for the implementation of its People Leadership development programme. This initiative aimed to tackle identified organisational and cultural issues that were hindering its ability to deliver transport and housing enablement infrastructure. This programme has resulted in a significant increase in staff engagement, commitment and productivity.

Chorus received the Diversity and Inclusion Award for its DE&I Strategy, which aligns with its refreshed business strategy that is focused on promoting “a diverse, inclusive and adaptive Chorus” and collaborating on the Sustainability Pillar of ‘Thriving People’ as core objectives. These objectives have gained significant traction across Chorus. DE&I initiatives and programmes are well supported and integrated into the company’s Learning and Development programme. Chorus continues to enhance diversity at leadership levels and within its talent pool.

The Wellness Programme Award was awarded to The Strand Veterinarian for its Vet Thrive Six Shield Programme. This initiative helps the company to identify and protect employees from psychological hazards in the workplace. The company’s mental health and wellbeing programme has contributed significantly to its ability to recruit and retain veterinary professionals. Despite global shortages in the veterinary field, the company has achieved a lower staff turnover rate.

Port of Auckland won the Future of Work Award for its Culture Strategy, promoting strong collaborative relationships between management, unions, frontline workers and the Taumata responsible for Māori outcomes. The strategy emphasises a ‘High Performance, High Engagement’ approach, prioritising respectful engagement and collaboration with all stakeholders. This cultural shift has been recognised by unions and other stakeholders as a significant change, leading to notable improvements in safety, customer satisfaction and commercial performance for the Port. It marks a remarkable turnaround for the organisation.

The Building Sustainability through People Award went to Hind Management and Sudima Hotels for its comprehensive sustainability initiative, integrating sustainability into all aspects of its operations. The company established a diversity, equity and inclusion framework, formed ‘Care Teams’ for environmental sustainability and prioritised inclusive recruitment practices. Through cultural realignment and employee training, the company achieved remarkable improvements in employee engagement and sustainability milestones, including Toitū carbon certification for several hotels. The company’s commitment to diversity is reflected in leadership composition and employee demographics, creating an inclusive workplace culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute. The Waikato Branch committee has been awarded the Volunteer(s) of the Year Award for their outstanding contributions. Their Member Engagement and Connection Plan, implemented in 2023, has resulted in significant positive outcomes, including increased event attendance, enhanced social media presence and growth in Branch membership and participation.