Recruiter / HR Person of the Year

Name: Patricia Holgate
Job title: Head of Resourcing
Company: London Underground (TFL)
Location: 55 Broadway London SW1H 0BD

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
“Patricia is undoubtedly a world class industry leader in rail recruitment. With over 20 year’s delivery excellence, she has always ensured people are in the right place at the right time at the right cost, UK and Europe wide. From Train Drivers to Board Directors, Patricia isn't just a perfectionist but seeks to understand the real business need and industry requirement. In this way actively challenges stakeholders / industry leaders and saves money by strategically moving/redeploying resources around the business - often overlooked by mainstream transactional recruiters - Resourcing / Recruitment isn't just about finding people for roles - its finding the best solution for the business. Patricia and her team have been instrumental in saving the business £11m this year by being innovative and a further £2m with better and more effective relationships/ use of suppliers of Agency workers. A champion for E&I and Brand, Patricia regularly contributes to magazines and industry forums and community projects, ensuring London Undergrounds workforce is representative of the city it serves. But it’s not all about inward facing recruitment. Seeing that scarce skills are worsening, in July this year, Patricia set up and leads a Signalling Skills Forum bringing all key industry leads together to discuss a joint solution to the ongoing skills problems. Plans are underway to share graduate and apprentice schemes, share training schools/academies and an industry first - actually sharing scarce skills. This is an outstanding contribution to the industry and deserves significant recognition”.

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“Patricia has been a recruitment figure head in the rail industry for a number of years and has lead significant change in the way we go to market and attract scarce skills whilst respecting equality, diversity and inclusion,. Patricia doesn’t just look at the need today – she looks at the future resource profiles of the whole industry, she gets the industry talking - identifies where there are going to be issues and devises industry wide strategic solutions. Patricia understands rail and tailors recruitment around her expertise and it works.....!”

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“Patricia is an outstanding, world class recruiter in the rail industry both in the UK and Europe wide.

Patricia is highly creative and is fantastic at finding solutions to every resourcing challenge she has faced. She is able to do this because she really does understand the businesses she has worked for, the market they are in and by working alongside her customers.

Patricia is highly commercial in her approach and within London Underground has delivered huge savings to date (£2m) on non-permanent labour and has identified significant efficiencies in excess of £11m.

Her “can do” attitude and ability to work in partnership with the business, suppliers and through her networking make her a real asset to London Underground and she is a real asset to the HR function.

Patricia truly deserves the recognition for what she has achieved and for her contribution to the industry as a whole.”

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"Patricia is a key member of the LUL HR Leadership team. She has made a significant impact within HR , the customer group within LUL and the rail industry. Her constructively direct and solutions focused approach drives continuous improvement which is leading to significant transformation on not only how we ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right cost, but also improving the wider HR delivery agenda and building relationships throughout the rail industry in order to capitalize on opportunities to be more efficient, collaborative and capture new and improved ways of working.

Patricia’s outward focus is a breath of fresh air – constantly liaising with industry experts in engineering, finance and resourcing colleagues ensure that LUL is building its resource planning capability that is on the bleeding edge. This not only benefits LUL, but industry partners and colleagues. Patricia has created a number of industry network groups. One example is the UK Rail Signaling Skills form – an international group of signaling professionals driven to coordinate efforts to organizations wanting to make a difference to ensure the industry has the skills and knowledge to deliver its investment commitments and is fit for the future of the rail industry. Another example is the London Underground Knowledge skills task force currently focused on identifying opportunities to operate more efficiently in light of the spending review and reduced funding. With the leadership role she has taken in the industry and participation in other network forums it is clear why Patricia is seen as a critical contributor to the success of LUL in both resourcing, efficiency and world class HR.

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We are a proud supplier to Patricia, as we are to most Rail organisations requiring temporary and permanent labour. During the supplier relationship, Patricia has gone out of her way to ensure we are ambassadors of London Underground and really understand the business and support the brand 100%. She recently ran a 'speed date' event during an interactive supplier briefing, which allowed us to meet key project directors and understand the challenges of London Underground so we can support Patricia to build an Agency Talent Pipeline. This is an industry first and we want to work hardest to achieve Patricia's requests over and above other companies due to the investment she puts into her supplier relationships and the feedback, support and thanks we receive from her directly. We work industry wide and Patricia is the best Recruiter we have ever experienced in the industry".

Date of event: 23-8-10

Name: Alex McKeating
Job title: Recruitment Assessor
Company: FCC
Location: Hertford House

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
“1) Flexible, friendly, hard working, helpful, proactive, team player.

2) Alex works in Hertford House and I am based in Cambridge, however, working closely with Alex albeit at a distance has been a joy. He has never let me down for deadlines meaning that our employees get paid on time. He is always friendly and helpful and if unsure always seeks advice. The Recruitment Team led by Urmish Patel are brilliant but Alex deserves the award for just being so helpful and making my job easier over the past two years”.

Date of event: 12-8-10

Name: Lisa Brackner
Job title: Human Resources Manager
Company: Bridgeway Consulting Ltd
Location: Nottingham

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
"Lisa joined Bridgeway in 2001 and began her career as an Office Administrator. Lisa now holds the position of the Human Resources Manager for the company– overseeing the HR strategy, systems, procedures and policies for circa 400 staff.

In order to assure we are driving the company forward and that the people of Bridgeway are priority, Lisa devised a company survey questionnaire for all members to take part in. This resulted in improvements to the business and also supported personal needs and requirements of the staff

Lisa is great team player with a can do, will do attitude to work. She has a very enthusiastic and positive outlook in both life and work and has a certain personal magnetism that has commanded the respect of all her colleagues at Bridgeway. A very mature, level headed, calm and understanding person, Lisa is very supportive to others and everybody feels that they can approach her anytime to discuss work, development and personal issues.

Lisa really is an inspiration to us all at Bridgeway and since her appointment to the HR Managers position she has demonstrated both tactical and strategic management and leadership qualities. Lisa has consistently shown a high degree of management and leadership qualities and professionalism in maintaining, and developing Bridgeway’s HR policies and procedures.– Lisa doesn’t have problems….she has challenges!

The HR systems that she has developed have positively affected Bridgeway’s bottom line whilst ensuring compliance with legislation.

Lisa is very much a people person, an asset to our business and a very worthy winner of the HR Person of the Year 2010".

Date of event: 11-8-10

Name: Tammy Taylor
Job title: Human Resources Business Partner
Company: Network Rail
Location: Plymouth & Swindon

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
"Tammy has been a driving force in changing the attitudes and behaviours of the 400 people that work at Plymouth delivery unit.

Tammy has had to deal with some very difficult issues this year in the face of the maintenance restructure. Her empathy and toughness has enabled the delivery unit’s employees to stay focussed and positive. She is driven to provide the best HR service around and is determined that her people become the best.

This drive has seen engagement improve across the board and sickness levels drop by 70 per cent.

The improved attitudes and behaviours Tammy has driven have had significant knock on benefits for the delivery unit. The most obvious of these has been the improvement in league table positions. Plymouth were bottom (40th out of 40) in August 2009 but clawed their way up to 5th by the end of May 2010. The league tables measure a whole raft of key business outputs and Tammy’s work and determination to make Plymouth the best has helped in every one of them.

The fact that the delivery unit is so forward looking is in great part due to Tammy’s exemplary work and the way she coaches others to manage their people issues as THE top priority.

Thank you Tammy!"

Date of event: 1-11-09

Name: Caroline Wilson
Job title: Recruitment Manager
Company: Northern Rail
Location: York

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
“Caroline is extremely enthusiastic and passionate person and puts 100% into everything she does. Caroline is also a perfectionist and ensures that when she delivers something the final outcome is very professional.

An example of the above would be where I have asked Caroline to focus on diversity and inclusion in her recruitment campaigns and now we have pictures that reflect society on all recruitment campaigns, she seeks out best practice, continually reviews what has been done by focusing on management information provided to show how successful the recruitment campaigns have been, thinks 'outside the box' and developed a cinema campaign to target cinema goers and attract them to our website, also partners tumbletots to attract young mums into coming back to the workplace improve the on line application system to make it more user friendly, work with managers and colleagues to provide 'voice of the customer workshops' and all this done at a fast pace and always with a smile - it is a pleasure working alongside someone like Caroline and makes Northern a better business by constantly being innovative and wacky with her ideas”.

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"In all my years I have never met anyone so innovative and creative in the job that they do. Caroline is working hard to change the diversity within the company from a very traditional base point and I never to cease to be amazed with the ideas she generates".

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“As a relatively new supplier to Northern, Caroline has very quickly involved us within the business, giving access to key people and a very open and honest insight into Northern. This has allowed us to get to grips with the future strategy and clearly demonstrates her determination, professionalism and passion in driving them forward. Caroline is forward thinking, honest and makes every effort in making the partnership an enjoyable one. Good luck Caroline”.

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“Having worked with Caroline on a number of projects, I've found her to be a very intelligent and articulate individual, who has given clear and concise instruction which indicates to me the level of her experience in her chosen role. She is always friendly and professional and is a credit to Northern Rail and she underlines the high standards at which that they operate. We have, together, produced a number of successful advertising and collateral campaigns. Caroline's input to the creative element of these campaigns was invaluable”.

Date of event: 19-7-10

Name: Alexandra Bode-Tunji
Job title: Senior HR Business Partner
Company: London Undergound
Location: BCV

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
"Alexandra is a credit to the HR team within LUL. She takes time to visit all areas on the business and gets to know all of the managers in her area. She is direct and challenging in her approach but has an innate ability to put staff at ease. Her workload is immense and her hours long - she is always available.

Alexandra is a key deliverer for my part of the business. She has developed what used to be a support function into a key stakeholder in our company. She is an excellent motivator and the whole output of her team has grown exponentially since she joined.

A recent example is Alexandra's drive to introduce workplace mediation into the business despite the problem of the company being very TU orientated. She is driving the process forward and has engaged managers from across the company to get their views on how to make this work. Another is her determination in revamping our harassment and bullying processes and making them much more streamlined and results focussed.

HR used to be a back room support function for us. Alexandra has delivered her team into the heart of our business".

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"Always 110% committed to her job, always positive and energetic, has made a big contribution to the introduction of mediation on LUL".

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"Reliable - she is a good time keeper friendly- she is approachable, good communication skills, good listener and able to express herself effectively".

Date of event: 23-4-10

Name: Laura Edwards
Job title: Human Resources Manager
Company: VGC Group
Location: Ruislip, Middlesex

Why they should be this years recruiter / hr person of the year?
“I would like to nominate the above as I feel Laura is a credit to her department. I am extremely impressed at her professionalism for her work. Many of our site operatives who work in the South comment on how friendly and helpful she is over the telephone and often goes out of her way to help others. Laura has been very thorough whenever I have put issues to deal with on her desk. Laura often takes an active role in many areas and leads her team with a smile on her face. I would gladly provide further details for all the above upon request.I am happy to nominate Laura Edwards for this award”.

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“I would like to nominate Laura Edwards as the Rail Staff HR Manager of the Year.

Laura is responsible for the day to day management of the HR department as well as continuous development & improvement of the HR processes within the VGC Group.

Laura acts with total professionalism in her role whilst maintaining a friendly and helpful attitude towards members of staff from all areas of the company including track workers, safety critical staff & engineers & supervisors through to board directors.

Laura’s approach has been to act as a business partner trying to understand the operations of the company and then trying to adopt an approach which fits the actual needs. Laura previously held a Lookout ticket and has undertaken this role on numerous occasions. This has assisted her in gaining an understanding of the type of work our staff carry out and allows her to relate to the working environment and pressures that track workers face on a day to day basis.

Laura also works closely with our Contracts Managers all around the country so that she has an understanding of the local market conditions. She is then able to provide support in terms of targeted recruitment strategies, training funding and ongoing competency management thus enhancing the opportunities that are available for all VGC workers.

Laura is currently leading the VGC Investors in People programme for which we are due for audit very soon. Laura has spent time analysing the current company performance & identifying areas for improvement. As part of the companies drive to improve communication to all staff she has established a company newsletter and is currently acting as the editor. This has opened up a new communication channel in the company which has already reaped huge benefits in terms of staff involvement & motivation.

Laura is a driver for change. She is able to identify areas for improvement, gain the support of staff at all levels of the organisation and inspire people to get involved in making change happen….all this on top of her day to day HR responsibilities! She always goes out of way to help & support others through whatever issues may be of concern at the time. She takes an active role in all areas of her work and leads her team with a smile on her face”.
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"Friendly, hardworking and helpful.."

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"Always friendly, efficient and dependable. Puts every one else first and does the job in the right way always with a smile".

Date of event: 29-3-10