Human Capital Leadership Awards: four winners of SHRM's inaugural awards offer impressive and strategic lessons for the profession

HR Magazine, Nov, 2006

It's nice to be recognized by your peers and those outside your profession for a job well done. But, it's almost as nice to discover from your peers how they executed a job well--especially when, in the process, they raised the performance of both HR and their organization.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Over the next 17 pages, you will learn not only about the winners of the inaugural Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Human Capital Leadership Awards but also about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. To celebrate your colleagues' achievements and learn from their experiences, turn the page to read about the winners of the following four awards:

* The Human Capital Business Leader of the Year Award is presented to a senior HR professional who is a leading force in executing organizational strategy that directly affects the organization's performance and prominence. Kalpana "Kal" Mistry, SPHR, won this award for her HR leadership at VITAS Healthcare, which is in an industry facing severe labor shortages and emotional challenges for employees.

* The Competitive Workforce Award is given to the HR department that recognizes and successfully responds to key workforce trends and needs in an ever-changing economic climate. Infosys Technologies Ltd.--based in Mysore, India--took the prize for its comprehensive recruiting, training and onboarding program that brings new U.S. recruits to India for an immersion process lasting six months or longer.

* The Innovative Business Solution Award is given to the HR department that successfully develops an innovative and ethical solution to a new or ongoing organizational challenge. The U.S. Army in Europe took home the award for creating a comprehensive toolkit that meets the enormous challenge of communicating to thousands of deployed troops, families and civilian workers.

* The Strategic HR Leadership Award is given to the HR department that played a key role in driving the performance and reputation of an organization by leveraging organizational human capital. This year's winner, Kimberly-Clark's HR department, created HR initiatives and tied them to a companywide transformation that redefined the way the business manufactures and distributes its brands globally.

To jump directly to information about a particular winner, check the table below:

Human Capital Business Leader of the Year Award

Kalpana Mistry, SPHR

This HR executive is tackling a vexing labor shortage dilemma in the health care industry.

There are not many Kal Mistrys out there," says Tim O'Toole, CEO of Miami-based VITAS Healthcare Corp., the largest hospice care provider in the United States. O'Toole says his senior vice president of human resources, Kalpana "Kal" Mistry, SPHR, has "raised the HR function to a higher level of professionalism" and increased its involvement in VITAS' operational strategies.

That was the goal, says David Wester, president of VITAS. When the company set out in 2002 to strengthen the HR function, Wester knew it could do more to improve its recruitment, retention and employee motivation efforts. 'We had a vision of what the HR role should be," he says. "We were looking for someone who could step out of the HR arena and think about the business as a whole." Wester says Mistry's combination of strong HR skills and business savvy filled the bill on all counts.

After conducting a nationwide search and reviewing many candidates, he says, "We get a chuckle now out of the fact that the person we were looking for was right here in our own backyard" in Miami.

Mistry is the recipient of the first Society for Human Resource Management Human Capital Business Leader of the Year Award. It is given to a senior human resource professional who serves as a leading force in executing organizational strategy that directly impacts the organization's performance and prominence.

Personal and Professional Challenges

The road to VITAS and Human Capital Business Leader of the Year has been a long one for Mistry. "As a child growing up in Uganda," she says, "I could never have imagined the journey that would take me here today." It's a journey that has included both personal and professional challenges.

Born in Uganda, East Africa, to parents of Indian descent, Mistry and her family were forced to flee the country when military dictator Idi Amin Dada seized power in the 1970s. She was 13 when the family escaped to England.

Mistry completed her education in England and began her HR career there at 19, when she was hired as a personnel and training assistant for a soft-drink manufacturer. After earning a bachelor's degree in industrial relations and personnel management from the University of East London, however, her life took another dramatic turn.

Following an arranged marriage in the Indian tradition, Mistry moved to Miami to live with her new husband and his family. Once again, her world was turned upside down, as she adjusted to a very restrictive traditional environment that didn't permit her to work.