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Awards
2011 Finalists |
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Find out more about our 2011 Award Finalists:
Rising Star Award
Award of Excellence - HR Professional of the Year
Please note: the Award of Excellence - Innovation award will not be presented this year.
Rising Star Award
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Kara Biles, CHRP
E-Learning Specialist
BC Public Service Agency
Prince George
Kara is a unique individual who embodies all the qualities of an extremely high-performing Human Resources Professional – exemplary customer service, unflagging dedication and commitment to her work unit and teams, and an ongoing and genuine interest in building and sustaining strong relationships with customers, clients and colleagues.
Kara very quickly established herself as a pivotal resource for the Learning Centre, bring highly-skilled technical expertise and experience to the area of e-learning development and delivery for over 30,000 BC public servants. Her positive and creative approach to problem solving, a “can-do” attitude, and a proven ability to manage and explain complex technical systems and processes in easy to understand language all add considerable value to the services we provide. Kara is also the consummate team player – always considering her work within the context of Agency, Branch and program area goals. She understands the “big picture” and has a keen strategic awareness when it comes to aligning her priorities with our overarching corporate mandate.
Kara continues to make significant contributions on a regular basis with the Learning and Innovations Team and is truly a well-respected, reliable and trusted member of our organization.
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Carly Gordon, CHRP
Human Resources Advisor
NRI Distribution Inc.
Kamloops
Adventurous, curious, logical, helpful, professional and, at times, maybe a little bit crazy, this dynamic individual represents, defines and helps drive the culture at NRI. In her current role as HR advisor, Carly has successfully implemented a return to work program, which scored 87.6% on our COR external audit, thus enabling NRI to receive discounts via WorkSafeBC. Carly has a knack for tying together business requirements and social responsibilities. This has been most evident via a green initiative where Carly successfully led the implementation of a box recycling program which has reduced box consumption by an estimated 50,000 boxes in its first year of existence.
Carly’s belief in social responsibility does not stop at the workplace. In the community Carly is a member of Kamloops Fusion Rotaract where she has previously acted as the president for one year. This experience has lent itself to have an influence not only in our local community, where she has participated and led numerous events, but internationally. In this capacity she has applied her hands-on attitude to help build a school in Honduras, while having interaction with schools in Malawi and Thailand.
Recently attaining her CHRP designation, Carly continues to thrive on learning opportunities both inside and outside of work. She acts as a resource for all levels of the organization as a coach, sounding board and voice of reason. Her ability to work with and through people has established her as a leader at NRI.
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Sarah Siddall, CHRP
Human Resources Recruiter
Resort Municipality of Whistler
Whistler
With two years under her belt as the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (RMOW) Human Resources recruiter, Sarah Siddall has committed her energies to enhancing the organization’s recruiting processes. Her efforts have contributed greatly to both staff engagement and more efficient hiring procedures. She has fostered strong working relationships with the management team, directors, and supervisors in order to successfully coordinate full-cycle recruitment activities.
A tireless learner with a thirst for HR knowledge, Siddall received her CHRP certification in December 2009. She continually strives to enhance her knowledge and is currently taking her last four courses to achieve her certificate in Adult Learning specializing in Workplace Learning. This propensity for professional development is an admirable trait that shows her commitment to the rest of the RMOW team through her new found knowledge of all of the different roles she is responsible for assisting in filling.
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Award of Excellence - HR Professional of the Year
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Wayne Balshin
Executive Director – Human Resources/Labour Relations
Vancouver Coastal Health
Vancouver
Wayne Balshin is director of Employee Relations at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). A dynamic, innovative thinker, Wayne has been an important contributor to complex collective bargaining and interpretation in the health sector over many years. He has worked to define and promote best practice in policy that ensures a respectful and discrimination-free workplace, and has designed HR programs to enhance staff productivity.
Wayne’s team includes 20 Human Resources advisors, five HR associates and five attendance promotion program analysts located in Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore and up to Powell River. Wayne’s team is responsible for delivering HR and Labour Relations services (attendance promotion, job selection, displacements, collective agreement interpretation, grievance administration, restructuring initiatives, performance management, duty to accommodate and essential services) to directors, managers, staff and unions.
Wayne provides valuable counsel to senior leaders at VCH as he also holds a degree in labour law. He devised and led the establishment of an Attendance Management Program that has saved VCH thousands of productive hours and millions in cost avoidance over the three years of its existence. He has also introduced standard operating procedures in a number of key HR/LR areas.
In partnership with Royal Roads, Wayne and his team introduced a program for Continuous Communication as a replacement for annual performance assessments for front line workers. The program promotes good performance by encouraging ongoing communication between managers and staff that identifies what is working well, where there might be issues and ideas for skill development and process improvement will help resolve issues before they become problems.
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Elaine Jones, CHRP
Executive Director, Strategic Human Resources Branch
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and the Office of the Premier
Victoria
Elaine Jones has built and led a human resources branch focused on strategic priorities within the Ministry of Finance in the provincial government. With a focus on strategic partnership with the executive level, the application of a performance consulting model (Human Performance Technology) and her results orientation, she has successfully established human resources management as a strategic priority in the Ministry. With a background in the oil, gas and energy industries and private consulting, she has brought a business mindset to the public service, achieving business results through high standards of client service.
Elaine introduced performance consulting to the Ministry, developing her team to assess client needs and then tailoring human resource and organization development solutions to address the client’s issues. Elaine’s first major success was leading a large division through cultural change based on an organizational scan. The scan consisted of individual interviews with approximately 170 staff, a previously unparalleled focus of resources. The findings and recommendations led to a series of interventions that, in turn, resulted in a significant increase in engagement scores when assessed a year later. A similar process has been repeated in other areas with equally positive results.
She has maintained her CHRP designation for almost 20 years and has been an active participant in professional organizations, including BC HRMA, the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) the Organization Development Network and the Association of Psychological Type (APTi). She continues to be passionate about the field, supporting leaders to develop awareness that culture and engagement are indispensible elements in achieving business results. |
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Jennifer Perry, CHRP
Vice President, Talent Management
HUB International Insurance Brokers
Vancouver
As a leader within Human Resources, Jennifer Perry stands out in a crowd. Together with her experience in HR, her accounting background, her insurance industry experience and her personality, she is an amazing combination of strengths that gives HUB International Insurance Brokers a competitive advantage.
As the company’s number one promoter for the overall success of the organization, Jennifer champions the company’s mission, vision, values, goals and plans. With her guiding commitment, knowledge and expertise, employees work together as a cohesive unit to not only solidify the company but maintain it’s most important asset: the employees.
Jennifer has spearheaded a number of initiatives which have directly influenced the results of the organization, and her input is vital in assisting business leaders plan for changes and growth. Jennifer is currently putting together a Pay Scale Program, and is working on a Talent Mindset Initiative, both of which will lead to significant increases in financial results.
Not only has Jennifer had an impact on HUB International, but she has also been an instructor with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) for their Recruitment and Selection Course, and currently sits on BCIT’s advisory board for their Insurance Program. Jennifer has received two Awards of Merit from the Insurance Institute of British Columbia (IIBC) for their Career Connections Ambassador Program, and is chair of IIBC’s Education Committee. Her involvement within these organizations has allowed her to mentor many people who have entered both the HR field and the insurance industry.
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