HORSHAM, PA--(Marketwire - Oct 5, 2011) - Human Resource Executive®, the leading HR business magazine, named Jeffrey S. Shuman, senior vice president and chief human resources and administrative officer for Harris Corp., its 2011 HR Executive of the Year.
In addition, the magazine named to its HR Honor Roll William S. Allen, group senior vice president-human resources for A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S; Vic Buzachero, corporate senior vice president of innovation, human resources and performance management for Scripps Health; William J. Colbourne, senior vice president of human resources and administrative services for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; and Gayle Satchwell, director of human resources for the County of Nevada (in California).
Winners were recognized on Oct. 4 during a special awards dinner sponsored by Monster at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.
"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®.
Jeffrey S. Shuman, who has held the top HR role at Harris since 2005, has been instrumental in creating and overseeing a number of important initiatives designed to solidify greater alignment between the HR function and Harris' bottom line. Key among them are the creation of an integrated talent-management system that includes an organizational development and effectiveness capability to assess company talent and the expansion of offerings at the company's online learning center. Shuman has also played an important role in helping the company seek out and take advantage of new business opportunities.
In a story appearing in the Oct. 2 edition of Human Resource Executive®, Harris' President, Chairman and CEO Howard Lance praises Shuman's ability to expand "the HR function beyond traditional boundaries" and the critical role he continually plays as a "strategic adviser" to Harris' executive team and a "confidant" to members of the executive committee and board of directors.
The four executives named to the 2011 HR Honor Roll were recognized for, among other things, the following contributions and achievements:
- As group senior vice president-human resources for A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, William S. Allen has played a key role in overseeing an organizational and HR transformation at the company since taking the HR helm in 2008. Among other things, he has led the way in successfully reinventing the HR function and redefining its role. He also has been instrumental in tightening the focus on key areas where corporate HR would provide direction -- talent management, leadership development, executive compensation and performance management -- while eliminating staff redundancies.
- Vic Buzachero, corporate senior vice president of innovation, human resources and performance management for Scripps Health, has held the top HR role at the healthcare concern since 2001. In that role, Buzachero has been instrumental in achieving significant cost savings by lowering the company's dependence on outsourced nurses, creating a more competitive compensation strategy and dramatically reducing turnover among nurses -- from 25 percent in 2002 to 8.6 percent in 2010.
- As senior vice president of human resources and administrative services at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, William J. Colbourne has been instrumental in turning BCBSA into a workplace where older employees feel respected and valued, earning accolades from groups such as AARP. Under his leadership, the association has also successfully launched a variety of development initiatives aimed at building a strong management cadre, while introducing programs that encourage employees to celebrate diversity and further their own knowledge.
- Gayle Satchwell, director of human resources for the County of Nevada (in California), has been instrumental in helping the county navigate several years of serious restructuring and downsizing. Among her many accomplishments, she has played a key role in building processes and systems that have enabled the county to weather difficult economic times, including launching its first succession-planning program and successfully renegotiating contracts with the county's unions.
Judges for this year's contest were Dennis Donovan, senior adviser for Cerberus Operations & Advisor Co., and HRE's 2003 HR Executive of the Year; 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; Susan Meisinger, author, speaker and consultant on human resources and former president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management; 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 2011 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.