A Guide to the PMAP Employer of the Year Award Criteria

(First of 2 parts)

THE OBJECTIVE of this article is to provide guidelines to PMAP members, assessors and judges of PMAP's "Employer of the Year" Award (EOY) on how to respond to the Award's criteria requirements.

While the PMAP EOY criteria was initially drawn from internationally recognized frameworks such as the Malcolm Baldrige Excellence Criteria and the Investor in People Standard, an in-depth analysis based on the practices of past EOY awardees prompted the author to develop the HRM Excellence Framework. The framework, intended as a conceptual map to facilitate understanding of the EOY criteria was formally accepted by the 2016 PMAP Awards Committee and approved by the 2016 PMAP Board of Trustees as the official criteria of the EOY Award.

The Employer of the Year Award Program of PMAP

The Employer of the Year Award represents a standard for excellence in people management. The award was intended to recognize and honor organizations that have achieved excellence and distinction in the field of people management. This objective directly supports PMAP's charter of "promoting the continuing advancement of the HRM profession and widen its professional practice for the benefit of both employers and employees, as well as of society as a whole".

In the past 40 years, organizations recognized as "Employers of the Year" served as exemplars of excellence in people management. A rationale underlying the awards is to stimulate other Philippine organizations to be aware of the power of sound people practices and how these contribute to sustainable business results.

Sound HR practices engender a culture that supports high performance. The

HR Excellence Framework which translates the EOY Criteria into an operational and transparent guide, intends to provide a roadmap for organizations to adopt models of best practices.

The HRM Excellence Framework

The HRM Excellence Framework, drawn from an in-depth analysis of practices and characteristics of past EOY awardees, is illustrated in Figure 1 below:

The six attributes of high performing and people-focused organizations are discussed as follow:

1. The driving attribute is the active involvement of line leaders, all the way from the top group to the floor level leaders, in strong partnership with the HR practitioner on people management issues.

2. The second attribute is an intense focus on performance, driven by a philosophy of meeting customer needs and expectations.

3. The third attribute is a set of leadership approaches which are systematic and integrated to support and sustain the objectives of the organization.

4. The fourth attribute is a palpable passion for engaging every employee.

5. The fifth attribute, common to high performing and people-focused organizations, is a concern for the well-being of its external stakeholders, particularly the communities they are operating in.

6. And, the sixth attribute is the demonstrated competency of the HR function. The HR leader is seen as credible and competent by the management team and the workforce as a whole.

Operating Definition and Guidelines

The following section details and elaborates on each of the attribute:

1. Line Management & HR Partnership (25%)

Attribute Description: The driving attribute of a high performing-people focused organization is the partnership between HR and the line management. Senior leaders clearly articulate their belief that people is a key factor for business success and visibly demonstrate valuing people through the HR programs of the company. HR is considered a strategic player and is credible to the operating managers, who champion HR programs and take the lead in engaging their people

Excellence Indicators:

"HR is considered as a member of the strategic and operating management teams and is proactively involved in the strategic planning process

"Top management articulates valuing people as a key success factor for the business and visibly supports HR programs

"The HR structure is embedded in line operations and is highly regarded by operating managers who consider them as business partners

"Line mangers champion HR programs and consider people management as a line responsibility

2. Performance Focus (25%)

• Attribute Description: A key success factor among high performing organizations is their sharp focus on performance and results. In the private sector, profitability and business growth are key indicators of results. In the public sector, efficient and responsive service delivery to the citizenry are the targeted results. Clear directions, strategies and values send strong signals for performance and help create a results-oriented culture. Plans and programs are well deployed throughout the organization; are systematically tracked at unit and individual levels and are continuously improved.

Excellence Indicators:

• Vision, mission and values are well articulated, shared with all stakeholders and serve as focal and integrating mechanisms for all HR plans and programs

• Expectations and requirements of key customers and stakeholders guide all HR programs and initiatives

• A systematic performance management system which integrates planning and regular monitoring is evident

• The organization has key indicators looking at people results and these results exceed targets and are high relative to competitors or industry standards

• Employee performance is aligned with organizational goals and is regularly monitored

• The organization demonstrates best-in-class performance in major areas of importance (ROI, market leadership and business growth in the private sector; improvements in the delivery of services in the public sector).

3. Leadership Approaches (20%)

Attribute Description: Excellent organizations institute and adopt programs and initiatives characterized as transformative, innovative and systemic. They are constantly trying to adapt to the changing challenges of their external environments, hence the presence of an open, change friendly and continuous improvement mindset. The leadership style of leaders at all levels of the organization can be described as coaching, inspiring and people engaging.

Excellence Indicators:

• A successful transformation story driven by the need to respond to challenges in the external environment

• Major change programs are typically anchored on culture building and alignment

• An integrated mix of HR programs characterized as responsive and innovative (stands out as an exemplar)

• A systems approach is evident, in other words, HR programs are linked and complement each other and are aligned with overall business goals and strategies

• Approaches have built-in metrics and these are monitored and tracked

• Leaders at all levels are regarded as competent as well as concerned with employees' well-being and satisfaction. Their actions are seen as engaging and inspiring.

• Leaders are guided by an articulated Leadership Brand (expectations of leadership behaviors).

4. People Engagement (20%)

Attribute Description: High performing and people-focused organizations tap the full potential of their workforce. They have multiple programs of eliciting employee participation and engagement; attend to their training and development needs and systematically pay attention to their engagement levels and well-being needs.

Excellence Indicators:

• Many ways of encouraging employee participation at all levels are evident

• Vehicles to promote teamwork and tap on the innovative potential of its employees are in place

• The training and development needs of all employees are systematically identified and appropriate systems are in place to respond to these needs

• The organization systematically measures employee satisfaction and engagement, gets feedback from employees and acts on key issues from feedback

• There is a fair and effective system to measure employee performance

• A wide variety of reward and recognition schemes is in place

• Major HR processes are regularly evaluated and improved