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HR Excellence Awards announce first set of judges

To identify Asia’s finest in HR, a thorough selection process must be conducted by a set of judges with established credentials and wide-ranging experience in the industry.

This is why the HR Excellence Awards, Asia's most respected awards recognising and celebrating excellence in outstanding human capital strategy, proudly welcome top-notch HR executives from Airbnb, Amcor, Cigna, Hewlett Packard and Zaluvida to the 2016 jury.

The prestigious awards ceremony will take place in Malaysia on 4 October, in Hong Kong on 6 October, and in Singapore on 19 October.

"Because the HR Excellence Awards 2016 categories cover various areas of HR, the jury is composed of individuals whose achievements speak for their credibility," said Aditi Sharma Kalra, regional editor of Human Resources magazine. "The HR Excellence Awards 2016 judges will scrutinise not only the quality of the entries but also their impact on the organisation."

Here are the initial names included in the HR Excellence Awards 2016 jury.

As head of APAC talent at Airbnb, Ken Hoskin creates systems that accelerate professional growth in an environment that encourages learning and gives opportunities for individuals to challenge themselves. Before joining Airbnb, Hoskin worked as chief talent officer for McCann Worldgroup and regional talent director for Ogilvy.

Hoskin has a broad background in human resources and talent management. His areas of expertise are talent development and retention planning; recruitment and training; compensation and benefit strategies; global mobility; employee related legal matters and salary budget management.

Leigh Stewart was appointed vice president for human resources at Amcor Flexibles in April 2015. Since then, he has been responsible for the human resources and communication functions of the business. Prior to this role, Stewart served as the executive general manager for the global construction and mining group Leighton and became part of the executive team responsible for the human resources, safety, environment, security, sustainability and communications for Asia operations.

Stewart also sat on the Board of the Australian Chamber of Commerce for Hong Kong and Macau and was Chairman of the Board’s HR Advisory Committee. He holds a Masters in International Human Resources and a Bachelor of Law.

Devising a people strategy that accelerates business growth and engages people across different 15 markets is Michelle Leung’s priority as the current vice president for human resources at Cigna. She performs this role while working closely with the international market CEOs and country HR teams and considering organisational design, talent and leadership development, succession planning, and workforce effectiveness.

Leung spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs holding different roles, such as Asia head of wellness and global ventures, where she managed operations, business-continuity planning, and all HR-related due diligence and processes relating to acquisitions, divestitures, and new office openings.

Natalia Navin, HR director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, believes in delivering results through teamwork and acting with integrity and respect. As a qualified lawyer specialising in employment law, Navin is passionate about developing talent and providing equal opportunities at the workplace.

Prior to joining Hewlett Packard, Navin has worked with Zaid Ibrahim & Co, United Nations, and CIMB. She graduated from Staffordshire University in the UK and was admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia in 2004.

In Ravindran Ragunathan's belief, HR professionals can function as key strategic business partners. Before becoming the senior director, head of global human resources at Zaluvida Group, he served as regional HR director for Asia Pacific at UCB Chemicals/Pharmaceuticals and held senior HR leadership positions at large conglomerates such as TA Group, Sunway Group, and Hong Leong Group in Malaysia.

Some of the other companies represented on the HR Excellence Awards 2016 jury are Agility, Cisco, Citi, DKSH, McCann Health, Watsons, and many more. All judges, such as Sue Anne Lee, vice president for human resources at Volvo Trucks, are director or vice president level HR professionals with regional responsibility.

Past HR Excellence Awards winners are a who’s who of the most respected HR teams in Asia –American Express, ANZ, British American Tobacco, DBS Bank, Galaxy Entertainment, HIS Global, Hong Kong Broadband Network, Inland Revenue Board, IPG Mediabrands, Leaderonomics, Lumileds, Manulife, Maybank, Mitsubishi, National Environment Agency, Schneider Electric, Sime Darby, Singtel, Unilever and many more have all proudly accepted HR Excellence Awards trophies over the past six years.

For more information on the HR Excellence Awards, to review the award categories and the judging panel and to download the entry kit, please visit www.hrexcellenceawards.asia or contact:

- For Singapore: Ren Torres, Project Executive, renamelt@humanresourcesonline.net, +65 6423 0329- For Malaysia: Hema Siranjeevi, Project Executive, hemalathas@humanresourcesonline.net, +65 6423 0329- For Hong Kong: Kenneth To, Project Executive, kennetht@humanresourcesonline.net, +852 2861 1882

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