Human resources consultant company Titan Group LLC and not-for-profit professional association Richmond Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced Oct. 15 the three winners of this year’s Human Resource Strategist of the Year Award. The award recognizes outstanding human resource practitioners for their strategic accomplishments within an organization and includes a $2,500 educational grant for continuing education in the human resource profession.
Winners are: In the large category, Patricia Scott, SVP, HR & Administration, A-T Solutions Inc.; the medium category, Jennifer James, Senior Vice President/Retail Administration Manager, EVB; and the small category, Betsy Kersey, Director of Human Resources, PartnerMD.
Scott’s strategic initiatives were to provide competitive compensation and benefits solutions necessary to compete in “Low Price Technically Acceptable” bid environment, while also maintaining ability to attract, motive and retain workforce. As a result, A-T Solutions was able to gain added contracts in 2014 by achieving a competitive cost position through a significant savings without impacting the ability to attract needed talent and utilizing flexibility in employment arrangements consistent with the new people strategy.
James’ strategic initiative included developing and deploying an attitude of gratitude strategy at EVB. This concept was unanimously endorsed, and James worked with the marketing director and members of the Human Resource Strategy Team to make the strategy a reality, achieving a 26 percent improvement in employee retention and altering the company culture.
Kersey’s strategic initiative was to design and implement a recruiting strategy that ensured the right talent was in place to maintain culture, particularly at their remote locations. She assured first that the HR department was appropriately staffed to support this strategic goal. Her recruiting strategy established a repeatable, consistent process to identify, interview, hire and onboard top talent to support rapid organizational growth.
The committee members included Ashley Bahrt, Cherry, Bekaert, LLP; Victoria Leigh Landrum, Schnabel Engineering Inc.; Laura Morris, Titan Group LLC; Katy Petrella, James River Insurance; Ramon Puzon, Service Center Metals; Ken Robertson, Virginia Retirement System; and Stacy Xiang.
The judges committee featured community leaders and past winners. Judges included Freda Cavallaro, Bon Secours; Jacki Hammel, Kinsale Insurance; Jack Harsh, Richmond SHRM President; Dr. Christopher Lee, Virginia Community College System; Genevieve Roberts, Titan Group LLC; Ken Robertson, Virginia Retirement System; and Jo Anne Snyder, UNOS.
