On 26 November 2020, and for the first time in the 18-year long history of HR One, the ceremony of the Luxembourg HR Awards took place remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions in force: participants connected online to discover which candidates were rewarded with the prestigious prizes, which recognised the best local practices and most innovative projects led in Luxembourg over the last 12 months.
Master of Ceremony Lisa Burke first welcomed Kamel Amroune (CEO, Farvest Group) who officially opened this remote ceremony. He stated: “HR teams have championed the efforts to adapt and answer employees’ needs. In addition to the awards that HR Leaders use to recognize, Farvest added a special prize this year, entitled “extraordinary HR support”. It highlights several initiatives implemented during the COVID-19 crisis”. He also thanked all the candidates, jury members and sponsors who contributed to the success of this new edition.
ING won the CSR Initiative Award, which was supported by INDR. The jury members underlined ING’s successful strategy to adapt to new CSR requirements following the COVID-19 situation. The company managed to engage its employees thanks to a variety of local actions, highlighting its cultural diversity. This resulted in an active participation from a large number of employees suggesting creative contributions.
Then, the Talent & Competence Award – supported by AXA Luxembourg – went to Société Générale for their impactful demonstration on how to use technology for Human growth and, in particular, the use of Artificial Intelligence to boost internal mobility.
Pictet Technologies was handed over the People Experience Award, sponsored by Deloitte Luxembourg. The jury members acknowledged Pictet Technologies’ project, which involved all employees and had real effects on the turnover and attractiveness of the company. It offered very concrete benefits to the employees in terms of tools and performance measurement.
Then, Ile aux Clowns won a prize supported by Sopra HR, the Onboarding Excellence Award. The jury’s choice was motivated by a unique approach: the selection of 4 candidates out of 80 applicants, who were the perfect match in regards to skills and personalities required to adapt in a challenging environment. New employees are not selected by the management board but by experts and they are followed until reaching the degree of autonomy expected. This method is characterised by a strong collaboration, a very nice team spirit and the sharing of experience.
The evening notably saw CFL winning multiple prizes. First, the HR Digital Transformation Award, sponsored by PwC Luxembourg. CFL presented its approach to answer digitally to the needs of its collaborators and their families in the context of OVID-19. It managed to deliver successfully innovative and agile solutions in a very short period of time. The process is linked to different HR aspects and its multi-dimensional approach is notably being rewarded today.
CFL also won the Employer Brand prize, which was sponsored by skeeled. It recognized CFL’s efforts over the past year to change its employer branding. The company showcased its talents through a very interesting video, highlighting its innovative and modern recruiting approach. CFL’s inspiring vision is therefore shared internally.
This year, as explained earlier by Kamel Amroune, the organisers – in collaboration with RH Lab – decided to focus on specific projects led during the pandemic through the Extraordinary HR Support Award, which went to CFL. It stood out on the market through the real engagement of its HR teams, the follow up of multi-disciplinary actions and the unique actions led at a national scale to import masks not only to its employees but for the whole country also.
Finally, the event ended with Romain Gossent from East West United Bank (EWUB), being named HR Manager of the Year. He highlighted: “what I like most about my role is that HR has an impact on people, on the company as well as on the business. It is not a support function anymore: we are the key partners of the decision makers of the company. Together, we are able to progress and eventually help the companies grow”. This prize was supported by RH Expert.
Romain added “I strongly believe HR should be more than a support function, it should be a partner for the business. We are here to advise managers and to give them means and tools to deliver the strategy. This is what I have been doing for the past 5 years: improve our recruitment method to find talents anywhere, create tailor-made benefits up to international standards, design reward schemes that take into account over-performance and increased value for our shareholder. However, it is important to remember we are all human and social link is very important, especially in a small organisation. This is why we have developed many traditions and pretexts to gather all our employees. Whether it is during a large event like our New Year Party, a smaller one like Carnival or even with the spouses and children like our Family Day, our goal is to interact, to let everyone know another side of ourselves. I am happy to see my work on both the technical and the human side of the Human Resources management be recognised and I will continue to work further to improve our HR strategy.”
