2015 NZ Awards- Winners announced

Top HR Professionals and Initiatives Recognised at National Awards

Winners of the annual NZ HR Awards were announced in front of 220 guests at a black-tie presentation dinner at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Thursday, 26 March.

Offered by the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ), the NZ HR Awards aim to recognise and reward excellence and outstanding achievement in the fields of Human Resources and people leadership.

With the introduction of a number of new categories in 2015, the NZ HR Awards now showcase a wider range of workplace initiatives and highlight the way in which the work of human resources professionals positively impacts the lives of many New Zealanders.

Of the thirteen awards presented, iconic New Zealand company, Fletcher Building, came away with three, while their Organisation Development Manager, Jo Nicol was awarded the night’s top honour of being named ‘NZ HR Person of the Year’.

In three years, Ms Nicol has built organisational development from scratch, so it is highly valued as a driver of developing leadership capability and organisational culture. Ms Nicol has taken local programmes to the world stage, and was unfortunately unable to accept her NZ HR award in person as she is currently in the United States accepting an international leadership award.

Other winners include Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Luxon, who took out the Supportive CEO Award, and Diane Edwards, a Fellow of HRINZ who won the ‘HR Generalist of the Year’.

HRINZ Chief Executive, Chris Till, said, “we were blown away by the high number and outstanding calibre of entries this year. The eventual winners represent the very best of our HR profession in New Zealand. They are talented and committed practitioners and leaders who have achieved remarkable results for their organisation whilst improving the working lives of their employees”.

Please see below for a full list of winners:

HR Generalist of the Year

Diane Edwards
General Manager People and Process, Ports of Auckland Limited

HR Specialist of the Year

Jo Nicol
Organisation Development Manager, Fletcher Building Limited

HR Business Contribution Award for Small Enterprise/Not-for-Profit

AuCom Electronics Limited

Award for HR Innovation

Fletcher Building Limited

Award for HR Technology

Noel Leeming

Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

New Zealand Post

Award for Organisational Change and Development

Carter Holt Harvey Pulp and Paper

Award for Talent Development and Management

Fletcher Building Limited

Award for Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Supportive CEO Award

Christopher Luxon 
Chief Executive Officer, Air New Zealand

Christian Dahmen Memorial Award

Fletcher Building Limited

HR Person of the Year

Jo Nicol
Organisation Development Manager, Fletcher Building Limited

For further information on any of the winners or winning initiatives please contact:

Gabrielle Cus
Communications and Sponsorship Manager
04 802 3954
[email protected]

About HRINZ:

The Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) is the professional organisation for those who are interested in or involved in Human Resource Management and development of people.

We represent the interests of 3900+ individual members, who represent around 47% of the known New Zealand HR market.