Hall of Fame - HR Professional of the Year Award

The HR Professional of the Year Award recognises a Chartered HRNZ member who exemplifies what it means to be a true HR professional. This someone who brings excellence to every aspect of their work, whether operating as a generalist or a specialist, and whose impact is felt well beyond the walls of their organisation.

This isn't just about doing the job well. It's about the commitment to the craft, the drive to make a meaningful difference, and the desire to give back to the wider HR profession. Past winners have embodied these qualities in full, and their contributions continue to raise the standard for HR practice across New Zealand.

We're proud to celebrate the professionals who have earned this recognition. They are leaders in their field who demonstrate every day that people-centred work is at the heart of every successful organisation.

Could this be your year? If you're a Chartered Member of HRNZ with four or more years of HR experience, we encourage you to put yourself  (or a deserving colleague) forward.  Find out more about the upcoming awards and how to apply.

HR Professional of the Year 2025

As the People and Culture Director for Tonkin + Taylor Group, Barbara Daxenberger oversees the breadth of HR service delivery, including strategic resourcing and managing key initiatives.

Notably, T+T Group’s Career Compass initiative more than doubled employee engagement in goal setting and reduced turnover related to career development. The Performance and Rewards framework enhanced transparency and fairness, improving performance conversations and trust. The Code of Conduct rollout increased compliance and reinforced T+T’s core values.

Barbara balances long-term, systemic thinking with agility, achieving substantial impact. Under her leadership, T+T has a highly engaged team with minimal turnover and several award-winning team members. Her dedication to fostering psychological safety is evident in the team’s culture and recognitions.

Check out the Award Video

HR Professional of the Year 2024

After moving from the UK a little over 6 years ago, Natasha has worked in both the Construction and Supply Chain industries within New Zealand. Natasha has been working for Fliway over the past 12 months creating a better and safer place to work for their people. Natasha is passionate about creating meaningful and sustainable change to improve business performance through people.

Check out the Award Video

HR Professional of the Year 2022, in association with PwC 

Kerry Tattersall is an Associate, ER/HR Consultant and Licensed Private Investigator for Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Hawke’s Bay Limited. Kerry’s career has spanned two decades and two countries, having spent the majority of her life in the UK until moving to NZ in 2013. 

Kerry spends most of her time within the employment relations space, be it undertaking investigations, collective bargaining or navigating clients through personal grievances and mediations. Kerry’s strength lies in the ability to slice through communication knots to enable a positive outcome by the power of restorative practices and coaching techniques. 

Check out the Award Video

HR Professional of the Year 2022

HR Professional of the Year, Danni Williams (PwC) is a career HR professional, with expertise in the future of work, strategic and operational HR practice, employment relations, and change. Following an impressive employment history in strategic HR roles across government, health and the recruitment industry, Danni accepted a role as Director, People & Organisation Consulting with PwC. As well as ‘market and client’ work, Danni has made a huge contribution to the HR industry with her consulting about People & organisation practice development and People Development. A staunch advocate of remote working, Danni is a pragmatic and enthusiastic HR professional who sees opportunity and acts. 

HR Generalist of the Year 2021 

The HR Generalist of the Year Award went to Natasha Holloway from Fulton Hogan. Without any formal qualification in HR, Natasha followed her passion working to build her knowledge through practical on the job training. The judges commented “Natasha has risen to a senior role providing the highest quality of people leadership whilst externally working in community initiatives relating to apprenticeships and other youth focused activities.” 

HR Generalist of the Year 2020 

Group Manager People & Culture, Amanda Herron-Quan is a much loved leader of the BCITO. Joining in 2010 as their first and onlyHR practitioner, Amanda has been central to BCITO’s successful growth from 130 to to 300 employees, and its navigation throughthe Government’s vocational education reform, through her strong leadership beyond HR. 

Amanda is a warm, enthusiastic and authentic leader. She has grown BCITO’s HR function from literally nothing to something thatis highly valued by the organisation. She has done this through pushing boundaries, boldly trying new things – always learning, andwith her people at the heart. 

HR Generalist of the Year 2019, in association with SHL 

I am an Organisational Psychologist by training with experience in Management Consulting in NZ, Europe and the UK prior to moving into in-house HR roles spanning generalist and specialist HR activity. My current role is 2IC to the Vodafone NZ HR Director leading the Vodafone New Zealand HR function to drive productivity and performanceacross the business. I am a working mother of three children between the ages of 8 and 13, and have a long-standing passion and commitment to supporting women to live the life they most want, through doing all I can to increase gender equality in the workplace. 

HR Generalist of the Year 2018, in association with Strategic Pay  

Kate joined Fletcher Building in 2011 from Coca-Cola Amatil. The credibility of the central HR function was poor internally and externally and there had been little investment in the function since Fletcher Building was formed in 2001.Over the past six years, Kate has completely rebuilt the HR function to one which is highly valued and respected both internally and externally. Internally she has developed a true centre of excellence which partners with the business to ensure HR programmes are developed to support the business strategy. Her passion for people and personal investment in raising the profile of diversity across the business has had a significant impact on many employees globally.

HR Generalist of the Year 2017, in association with Melbourne Business School 

Caroline Fleetwood is currently the General Manager of People, Culture and Safety for the Christchurch International Airport Limited. Prior to this Caroline was the General Manager of the Change Management Office for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) a role she took on in mid-2015 following on from her role of General Manager of People, Capability and Performance. This nomination for Caroline is about her achievements in a generalist HR but also her delivery of the Transition Recovery Implementation Plan at CERA. Caroline’s leadership of the transition of CERA delivered the most complex change programme and the most complex and highest value ($1.2b) asset transition in central government’s history.  

HR Generalist of the Year 2016

7 years ago, Laurent arrived in New Zealand from France with a passion for people and an ambition to further grow and develop his flourishing career in HR. Today, Laurent is the General Manager of People & Culture at Beca NZ, and has made a significant and enduring contribution to the business – designing, leading and implementing innovative initiatives and frameworks that have transformed Beca NZ into a talent-led organization. Through his achievement focus, strategic leadership, empathetic nature, and passion for HR, he consistently brings out the best in people – enabling our team of 2000 to discover, develop and fully express their talents.  

HR Specialist of the Year 2021 

The HR Specialist of the Year Award went to Bonita McCarthy who operates reward management, mobility, performance, and people analytics speciality globally for Fonterra. The judges were impressed that Bonita’s complex specialist activities span the entire company and include operating at the highest strategic levels on a regular basis making a real difference to the company and its people. 

HR Specialist of the Year 2020 

Andrew Dennan is the Group Talent Acquisition Manager at Synlait Milk Ltd. He is a global leader specialising in Talent Acquisitiontransformation, innovation, and building high performing inclusive teams. He has established in-house talent acquisition functions;run regional recruiting operations via RPO; formed executive search operations and contractor supply services worldwide over thepast 15 years.

HR Specialist of the Year 2019 

Vicki is a seasoned HR professional with over 30 years experience in senior HR roles in both private sector and SOEorganisations. Initially an HR generalist dabbling in remuneration, in latter years her roles have played to her interestand strengths in leading remuneration, benefits and incentive programmes up to and including executive level, andHR policy development and management. She has gained the trust of leaders, executive and Board sub-committee,providing sound advice and solutions to business needs, with a unique blend of specialist expertise with a pragmaticlens. She gets things done in regard to 'dollars and sense'. 

HR Specialist of the Year 2018

Leslie Taylor is the Employment Brand Manager at The Warehouse Group. In her role, Leslie is responsible for positioning Retail as a Career and each of their five core brands as a great place to work. Her role encompasses Brand, Marketing, Communications, Digital and PR applied to HR. With over 10 years’ experience in recruitment and 5 years’ in Employment Brand, Leslie is an expert in her field. She is particularly passionate about the positive impact Employment Brand has on a company’s reputation, awareness, attraction, retention and engagement.

HR Specialist of the Year 2017

Julie Simpson is the Head of Employment Relationships at The Warehouse Group. She has occupied this role for 3 years and in this time has had a substantial impact in changing the way the business views employment relations; Julie’s approach to employment relations has shifted the business from a compliance focus, to embracing commitment by empowering our Leaders to do the right thing for our team and the business. This has also had a significant impact on our customers and ultimately assisting the business to achieve our strategic objective of helping the communities of New Zealand flourish.

HR Specialist of the Year 2016

Kim Herrick is a talented HR professional with over 18 year's experience in the Europe, Asia, Australia and NZ. Kim has worked across a range of industries including aviation, telecommunications, finance & insurance, Non for profit and media. Kim is a qualified HR professional holding a first-class honour degree in Industrial Psychology and various accreditations (LSI, OCI, DISC, Results coaching, viaEdge). Her professional credentials are fully utilized in her career. Kim has a strong track record of delivering exceptional results for the business, for example 2015 YWCA Gender Pay Parity Award and 2015 AFFINZ Women’s Employer of the Year Award.