We’re pleased to announce that our Director of People, Maria Hawley, won an award at the British HR Awards on Wednesday 22 March. The British HR Awards were hosted by New Possible in London and aim to discover and celebrate the individuals, teams and suppliers that are passionate about delivering world-class people experience. The awards received more than 220 entries across 22 categories including Rising Star of the Year, Coach of the Year, and L&D Initiative of the Year.
Nominated by her team, Maria was shortlisted for the HR Leader of the Year category and went on to win the award against nine peers from across the HR industry. The judges praised the ‘human and honest’ entry that showcased a compassionate, creative, and resourceful leader who has made a clear and positive impact during a period of significant change. Maria’s involvement in mentoring for The Girl’s Network, and her focus on inclusion and championing well-being also caught the judge’s attention.
Our Managing Partner, Andrew Bridge, said: “Maria is a fantastic leader who works tirelessly to provide the best people experience for our colleagues. She has been involved in numerous initiatives over more than a decade with us, creating a first-class HR and people function from scratch, destigmatising attitudes to health and wellbeing in the workplace, helping us recruit from a wider pool of talent, and embedding a culture of continuous learning and development. Congratulations to Maria on this recognition of her excellence.”
Amanda Davies, Senior People Manager, added: “It was a real pleasure to see Maria receive her award yesterday. She inspires the team on a daily basis and is really deserving of this win. Watching her take part in the panel session on the day, it was clear that she is a leader in her field and is well respected in the HR & People community.”
Before receiving her award, Maria was invited to take part in a panel discussion with two other nominees on the topic of ‘evolving your culture to truly liberate talent’. And she also talked about cognitive diversity and our responsibility to level the playing field by widening entry points into the business through early career initiatives like the Insight programme. Finally, she talked briefly about the opportunities we have to evolve our culture through merger and acquisition, learning from each other and taking forward the best of both worlds.
Click here to see our current job opportunities and click here to find out about our early career opportunities.
