The finalists for the inaugural CIPD Middle East People Awards, have been announced. Independently organised by the CIPD, the Awards recognise individuals, teams and organisations for their commitment to developing people, and their outstanding achievements in HR and L&D.

Judged by a panel of senior regional HR professionals and CIPD global experts, the Awards are an opportunity for organisations to benchmark their practices against international standards, identify areas of improvement and gain recognition for their great work. 

A winner will be chosen from each of the eight categories and announced at the Awards ceremony on Thursday 11 April 2019 at the Grosvenor House in Dubai.

“We believe in the power of the people profession and the reason for that is quite simple: organisations are powered by people and supported by people professionals – whether they are HR, L&D or line managers. Reaffirming our commitment to championing better work and working lives in the Middle East, we are very excited to have launched the CIPD Middle East People Awards, and look forward to sharing the success stories of the winning entries”, comments Ramy Bayyour, General Manager – Middle East for the CIPD. 

Nicholas Andriotis, Executive Director – HR at Ithra and one of the award judges, commented: “We have seen very interesting entries across all the categories, with organisations demonstrating innovation, creativity and impact – which is what we were looking for.”

“The cases presented provide a robust platform for the regional HR community to learn from, and further enhance our journey to continually professionalise HR. The CIPD Middle East People Awards are a great opportunity to raise the standards of people management in the region, and I look forward to celebrating the achievements of the winners.”

The finalists are: 

Best Digital Initiative in HR / L&D 

• RAKBANK 
• Teleperformance DIBS 
• Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) 

Best L&D Initiative

• AFAQ Leadership 
• ADNOC
• Commercial Bank of Dubai 
• WSP
• Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi 
• McDermott 

Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative 

• Abu Dhabi Police 
• Expo 2020 

HR / L&D Team of the Year

• WSP
• RAKBANK 
• Dubai Police 
• Jumeirah 

Best Recruitment & Talent Management Strategy 

• Taaleem 
• Bahri 
• RAKBANK 

Best Health and Wellbeing Programme 

• McDermott 
• Bahrain Credit 
• WSP 

Best Employee Engagement Initiative  

• Bahrain Credit 
• RAKBANK 
• Kerzner International 

HR Rising Star of the Year 

• Katie O’Flynn, Taaleem
• Nouf A. Al Juaid, Saudi Rotorcraft Support Company 
• Abdulrahman Alsheail, Institute of Public Administration, Saudi
• Sultan Khalifa Khamis Al Ali, RAKBANK 
• Monali Sharma, UAS International Trip 

The Awards are held as part of the CIPD’s first Middle East People Conference & Awards, which is supported by AVADO Learning and ICS Learn, as well as Fragomen and Bradfield. For more information, visit www.cipdconference.com or follow the conversation at #CIPDME. 

For press inquiries, please contact events@cipd.ae