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METHODOLOGY
NOMINATIONS
The call for nominations was open to all HR professionals, teams, companies,
and organizations — including HR service providers — from across Canada.
Nominations were open from April 5, 2021 to June 4, 2021, 11:59 pm EST.
RESEARCH
The Canadian HR Awards team conducted research and drew knowledge and
information gained through HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter to verify
and support nominations received. Finalists will be determined from both pools
of information.
FINALISTS
After all nominations were considered and research was completed, finalists
were selected in each category (except the Lifetime Achievement category) and
notified via e-mail or phone.
Finalists were announced in July 2021 on the Canadian HR Awards website and
promoted by HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter.
JUDGING
All finalist submissions were forwarded to the independent judging panel
comprising esteemed experts, thought leaders and veterans in and around the
HR profession. The panel assessed and voted for their winners in each category
according to the relevant category criteria.
Voting was held in August 2021 and their judgment
was impartial, balanced, incisive and fair. Any judge
with conflict of interest in a category would have
recused themselves from judging that category.
WINNERS
Using a simple points system to aggregate the judges'
votes, the finalist with the top score in a category was
named winner.
Winners were announced at the awards show on
September 15, 2021 and on the Canadian HR Awards
website. They were also promoted in HRD Canada and
Canadian HR Reporter.
2021
Overcommunicating as a COVID strategy
Communication took on a whole new meaning in the pandemic, with leaders
adopting an over-communicative strategy in order to keep their employees
informed of any and all policy changes. In fact, a failure to do so wouldn't just have
impacted morale — it'll have harmed your organization irreparably. Data from
Pumble found that 86% of executives cite a lack of clear communication as the
main reason for overall workplace failures. Speaking at one of the panel debates at
the Awards, Carolyn Meacher, chief people officer at dentsu — sponsor of the
dentsu Award for Best HR Communication Strategy, revealed how linking busi-
ness communication to company strategy is key to effective business operations.
Speaking to HRD, Meacher added that this year has been transformational for
internal comms and its role in C-suite strategy.
"In this environment, crafting a thoughtful communications plan linked to
strategy is even more critical for unlocking the competitive advantage of our
