Google's Laszlo Bock Named 2010 HR Executive of the Year

HR Leaders at Leviton Manufacturing, Crowe Horwath and Abbott Named to HR Honor Roll


HORSHAM, PA--(Marketwire - October 1, 2010) - Human Resource Executive®, the leading HR business magazine, named Laszlo Bock, vice president of people operations for Google, its 2010 HR Executive of the Year.

In addition, the magazine named to its HR Honor Roll Mark Fogel, vice president of human resources and administration for Leviton Manufacturing Co.; Julie Wood, chief people officer for Crowe Horwath; and Steve Fussell, senior vice president of human resources for Abbott.

Winners were recognized on Sept. 30 during a special awards dinner sponsored by Monster at the University Club of Chicago.

"The HR Executive of the Year award recognizes human resource leaders who have made outstanding contributions to their organizations and who exemplify the increasingly strategic role of HR in business today," says David Shadovitz, editor of Human Resource Executive®.

Laszlo Bock joined Google in 2006 to become the company's first-ever HR leader. At the time, Google was experiencing explosive growth, thanks, in part, to its reputation for innovation. As Google's HR leader, Bock has not only significantly helped the company preserve and enhance its standing as an innovator, but also created an HR function that is itself a model of innovation.

To address Google's HR challenges, Bock embraced what he calls a "Three Thirds Model." One-third of his team consists of traditional HR professionals; one-third, high-end strategic-consulting professionals; and one-third, master's and doctorate-level analytics professionals. Thanks to this mix of diverse backgrounds, Google's HR function has a firm grasp of what the company's line managers need and is better able to meet those needs.

The three executives named to the 2010 HR Honor Roll were recognized for, among other things, the following contributions and achievements:

  • Mark Fogel, vice president of human resources and administration for Leviton Manufacturing Co., has successfully reshaped the HR function to be more strategic and globally focused, which is especially critical as the company expands into new markets overseas and fosters closer ties with its global partners. At the same time, Fogel played a key role in the construction last year of Leviton's state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly headquarters complex in Melville, N.Y., and was instrumental in launching a low-cost, highly effective leadership-development program.

  • As chief people officer for Crowe Horwath, Julie Wood played a key role in reducing the firm's payroll costs, improving efficiency and boosting employee-retention rates to record highs. Among her numerous achievements, she developed an alternative-staffing arrangement that preserved full-time jobs while cutting roughly $3.5 million in payroll costs. She also was instrumental in forming People Resource Networks, affinity groups that help brand the firm as a diverse employer of choice; and in aligning training initiatives with the firm's business strategy.

  • Steve Fussell, senior vice president of human resources for Abbott, has been instrumental in helping his company streamline processes across locations in 100 countries, thereby helping the company realize roughly $100 million in savings. At the same time, he played a leadership role in creating global Business Advisory Councils, giving leaders a forum in which they can discuss people and business issues. His accomplishments also include instituting initiatives and programs that enable Abbott workers to develop their skills and successfully pass on their knowledge.

Judges for this year's contest were Mirian Graddick-Weir, executive vice president of human resources at Merck & Co. and winner of the 2000 HR Executive of the Year award; Dennis Donovan, senior advisor for Cerberus Operations & Advisory Co., and the 2003 HR Executive of the Year winner; Fred Foulkes, director of the Human Resource Policy Institute and professor of management policy at the Boston University School of Management; Dr. Jac Fitz-enz, president of the Human Capital Source; and Human Resource Executive® Editor David Shadovitz.

The judges based their selections on the following criteria: the candidate's ability to handle significant problems or obstacles in the human resource field, the candidate's role and/or success in establishing the human resource function as an integral part of his or her organization, the candidate's management skills as demonstrated within the human resource function, and his or her contributions to the HR profession as a whole.

The 2010 HR Executive of the Year and HR Honor Roll winners are profiled in the Oct. 2 issue of Human Resource Executive®, which has a circulation of more than 75,000 HR vice presidents and directors. It is published by LRP Publications and is based in Horsham, Pa. On the Web, it can be found at www.HREOnline.com.

Contact Information:

Contact:
David Shadovitz
(215) 784-0910, ext. 6226