Dear PPMA friends and colleagues.

Our Annual Excellence in People Management Awards 2018 judging process was held at The Guardian offices in London on Wednesday 31st January and in this post, our Vice President Karen Grave gives us an update on the day.

“The judging was a great success and as ever, The Guardian, continue to support our efforts in ensuring that the process is independent and transparent. In 2017 we changed the judging process to involve of a broad range of senior judges, which gave it an additional credibility that continues to resonate this year.

I’m delighted that many of this year’s judges are returners.  In speaking to several them, including Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive of NHS Employers and Julia Scott, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, it’s clear that they found the experience valuable.  I was particularly struck by a conversation with Helen Scott, Executive Director of Universities HR, who told me that she found the experience of judging very humbling.

The involvement of senior executives, all leading lights in their fields, is totally inspiring – it reinforces our view that submitting an entry is a fantastic opportunity to have your worked reviewed by highly respected and talented leaders. It gives PPMA confidence that Chief Executives across Public Service organisations truly understand how HR & OD teams can improve overall organisation performance.  We know that many them have gone back to their own organisations to share ideas about what they have seen in our entrants with their teams.  For our entrants, that’s an amazing compliment.

This year’s crop of entrants has been the broadest for a while.  We’ve had submissions from a range of Local and Central Government, Health and Blue Light organisations!  All of the judges commented on this. This is a testament to the efforts that Caroline and PPMA Policy Board members have made in raising our profile nationally. It bodes well for future years.

Our next milestone is Wednesday 21st February when we will be announcing our shortlist for each of our 14 categories.  I cannot wait.

We’ll be updating our website on that day with all of our shortlist and like last year, we will also have a highlights video posted a few days later.  Don’t forget that we will be announcing our amazing winners at our Annual Gala Dinner at the PPMA Conference in Newcastle Gateshead on April 19th.  In the run up to the dinner we will be spotlighting each of the awards categories and the shortlisted entrants.”

Karen Grave, PPMA Vice-President