Why HR Professionals Deserve the Spotlight?

In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, HR Leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the future of work. They are the architects of organizational culture, the guardians of employee well-being, and the champions of innovation. With the HR Tech Festival Awards, we aim to honour the dedication, passion, and pioneering spirit of these professionals who go above and beyond to redefine the HR landscape.

What Sets the HR Tech Festival Awards Apart?

Unwavering Commitment
to Excellence

Our awards program is founded on the principles of meritocracy, ensuring that only the most deserving HR professionals receive the recognition they truly deserve.

1

Cutting-Edge
Technology Focus

We celebrate the HR professionals who harness the power of technology to drive change, staying ahead of industry trends and setting new benchmarks.

2

Unparalleled
Networking Opportunities

The HR Tech Festival Awards bring together like-minded professionals and thought leaders, providing a unique platform for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and networking.

3

Regional Reach

We cast our net far and wide to honor HR Leaders in Asia, making this a regionally acclaimed event

4

Inspiration and Innovation

By showcasing success stories, best practices, and groundbreaking ideas, the HR Tech Festival Awards inspire others to push the boundaries of what HR can achieve.

5

Join us in this remarkable journey as we applaud the achievements of HR Leaders who drive the industry forward. Whether you are an HR professional looking for the recognition you deserve or an organization seeking to highlight your outstanding HR team, the HR Tech Festival Awards is the stage where your excellence takes center stage. Your dedication deserves the spotlight, and we are here to ensure it shines brighter than ever.

The HR Fest Awards 2025 celebrate the outstanding achievements of the region’s top HR leaders, companies, and teams. We are excited to announce that nominations are now open. Eligible entrants include Asia-based employers from both the private and public sectors, encompassing MNCs, local companies, government agencies, SMEs, and more.

Submission deadline: 15 January 2025

Nomination fee per entry:
Early Bird: SGD$250 per nomination (before 30 September 2024)
Regular Rate: SGD$300 per nomination

The HR Fest Awards ceremony will be held at the HR Tech Festival Asia 2025 on 6 May 2025 at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Nominate Now

2025 Award Categories

The HR Tech Fest Awards 2025 are open to all regional-based employers from the private and public sectors – including all MNCs, local companies, government agencies and SMEs etc.  Learn more about the award categories and criteria.

This award recognises an HR Leader who embraces, champions and embodies all the values of HR via:

  • Ability to lead and create an environment that focuses all employees on the organisation’s priorities, directives and their expected place in the process
  • Strategic thinking and planning attributes
  • Contribution and implementation of specific HR initiatives
  • Business sensitivity and savviness
  • Communication effectiveness
  • Champion of change and innovation
  • Leader in continuous organisational improvement and development

This award recognises a C-level executive (CEO, MD, CFO, COO, CIO, President, etc.) who embraces and champions HR via:

  • A demonstrated track record in supporting HR and driving, from the top, agreed HR strategies and initiatives
  • Ability to lead and create an environment that focuses HR and all employees on the organisation’s priorities, directives and their expected place in the process
  • Contribution and implementation to specific HR initiatives including talent development and retention strategies
  • Business related HR sensitivity and savviness
  • Communication effectiveness with and towards employees
  • Innovation within other HR disciplines and areas
  • Champion of change and innovation
  • Leader in continuous organisational improvement and development

This award recognises an HR Team that embraces, champions and lives the values of HR via:

  • Retention rate within the team
  • Team morale and engagement
  • Team Productivity
  • Team contribution and implementation of specific HR initiatives
  • Team effectiveness in delivering cost effective HR administration services
  • Ability to improve bottom line profits and employee productivity

This award recognises a leading organisation that embodies all of the following criteria, and more:

  • Management’s commitment to human capital
  • Communications within the company
  • Brand alignment and visibility
  • Above average staff retention rates
  • Talent management initiatives
  • Mentoring and succession planning
  • Training, learning and development policies and practices
  • Work life balance initiatives
  • Health and safety practices and procedures
  • Compensation and benefits and rewards & recognition
  • Recruitment procedures
  • Workplace harmony and physical environment
  • Overall corporate culture and employee engagement
  • Non-discriminatory practices
  • Innovation
  • Corporate Social Responsibility practices
  • Performance management

This award recognises the character and personality of your organization – what makes it unique in terms of its’ values, traditions, beliefs and how the company has leveraged on this to create employee engagement.

  • Values, beliefs and attitudes and how they are ingrained in your organisation’s DNA
  • Unique traditions and rituals and how these are carried out on a regular or long term basis
  • Types & variety of programmes and activities also used for employee engagement
  • Innovative / new engagement strategies implemented within the last year
  • Employee engagement surveys undertaken
  • Impact of employee engagement on retention rates
  • Balance between employee morale and engagement
  • ROI

This award recognises the character and personality of your organization – what makes it unique in terms of its’ values, traditions, beliefs and how the company has leveraged on this to create employee engagement.

  • Values, beliefs and attitudes and how they are ingrained in your organisation’s DNA
  • Unique traditions and rituals and how these are carried out on a regular or long term basis
  • Types & variety of programmes and activities also used for employee engagement
  • Innovative / new engagement strategies implemented within the last year
  • Employee engagement surveys undertaken
  • Impact of employee engagement on retention rates
  • Balance between employee morale and engagement
  • ROI

This award recognises the best implementation of HR technology within an organisation to increase efficiencies and optimise HR processes for greater business results.

  •  Innovation / new technology implemented
  •  Comparison between traditional way of working and the new implementation of technology
  •  Impact from the use of technology in aspects of HR (e.g. talent acquisition, performance management, etc)
  •  Measureable results indicating that the use of this technology has enhanced efficiency and productivity of the HR department and overall business
  •  Employee buy-in and feedback regarding the use of technology and new way of working
  •  Effective use of budget and return of investment

This award is presented in partnership with the ASEAN Human Development Organisation (AHDO) and recognises organisations that exemplify human development via:

  • Definition of human development as a purpose supported by key initiatives in the company’s development strategy in ASEAN
  • Examples in at least 2 ASEAN countries
  • Investment and resources devoted to the human development of employees and stakeholders (partners and communities)
  • Workforce productivity, technology and sustainability programmes, including stakeholders such as the contingent workforce
  • Cooperation with government, education and community stakeholders in ASEAN countries
  • Fair work, voice, rights, representation, diversity and inclusion in policies and practices
  • Human development and human centric ethics for leaders of the organisation
  • Evidence of human development through measurement, impact and sustainability of the workforce

Award Timeline & Judging Process

Stage 1 – Nomination entries

Close on 15 January 2025

HRM Awards accepts nomination entries from all HR and related industry professionals.

Stage 2 – Announcement of finalists

15 February 2025

The HR Fest Awards 2025 team will present a summary of all eligible applications to the esteemed judging panel for their consideration and review. Finalists will be announced and notified on 15 February 2025.

All finalists will also be briefed to prepare a detailed report for every individual category they are participating in. Report templates will be provided for each category. The report should encompass all relevant and necessary information, based on specific category criteria. Finalists will be given 5-6 weeks to submit their reports.

Stage 3 – Finalists’ report submissions

31 March 2025

All finalists are to submit their detailed report for each category they are participating in by 31 March 2025.

Stage 4 – Judges’ Decision

15 April 2025

The panel of independent judges will review all finalists’ submissions. Judges will use their experience and knowledge to evaluate and select the winners of each category in an impartial, balanced and fair manner. Judges’ decision will be final.

Stage 5 – Award Ceremony

6 May 2025

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I nominate?

Nominations for HR Fest Awards 2025 are now open! You may submit your nominations here. Eligible entrants are regional-based employers from the private and public sectors – including; MNC’s, local companies, government agencies and SMEs, etc.*

Nomination entries close on the 15 January 2025.

A company may not nominate for a category which they won the previous year.

Do I need to pay to join HRM Awards?

Nomination fee is SGD$ 250 per entry when you submit before 30 September 2024. Thereafter, the nomination fee is SGD$ 300 per entry.  Simply nominate your HR Team here and tell us why they should win!

What should I include in the 'Reason for Nomination' box?

This is a compulsory field. Please view our criteria description on the ‘Categories’ tab to view a guideline on some of the traits your organisation should display in order to qualify for nomination in the chosen category.

When nominating, please give a short summary of up to 500 words on how your organisation meets the respective criterion and what positive effect this has had on the company. You may write this in several paragraphs or in bullet point format.

Who can I nominate?

You can nominate yourself, your own company, colleagues, clients and you may also nominate fellow professionals and organisations other than your own who have good HR practices.

Service providers are requested to ‘Support Great HR’ via nomination proposals for third party companies, including clients / potential clients and to kindly refrain from self-nomination entries.

The HR division of an HR service provider may take part as long as the category is not in line with what the organisation does as a ‘business’ (ie: The HR department of a Technology company cannot nominate for ‘Best Use of Technology’ category).

When and how will nominees be notified of their selection?

Nominations will be reviewed after the closing date. In February 2025, the shortlisted finalists will be contacted and asked to submit a report by March 2025.

If you do not hear from us, please presume your nomination was unsuccessful. Due to the high volume of submissions we receive, please note that we will only contact those selected to continue the application process. Individual critiques or feedback of non-accepted submission are not possible. Judges’ decision are final and will not be reviewed.

Why is there a divide between <500 employees and >500 employees in a category?

After some extensive research and feedback, we found that similar to SMEs, medium sized companies were having difficulty being recognised for their HR strategies due to manpower and budget constraints as compared to the bigger local organisations and MNCs.

We therefore found the divide of <500 employees to be the most suitable and identified appropriate categories to split. This now caters to organisations with fewer than 500 employees and do not have MNC practices and processes, thus putting them on a more even keel with their peers, when being assessed and honoured for their great HR practices.

What is the protocol if my company wins an Award?

If your organisation wins an award, please send a representative or the whole team (if applicable) to take the stage. The representative(s) will take the award from the presenter and may give a short ‘thank you’ speech before exiting the stage. The winner and presenter will then be escorted to see the HRM Asia Editorial team for a quick interview.

Can’t find the information you are looking for?

If you have any questions about award nominations, send an email to info@hrmasia.com.sg.