Excellence in Public Sector HR

PSHRA recognizes the accomplishments of its individual and agency members, chapters, and volunteers with its annual Awards of Excellence.

Awards celebrate the achievements exemplary leaders and advocates whose contributions have advanced public sector HR. Awardees have created better places to work for those who serve the public good.

President’s Award

The President’s Award recognizes the current PSHRA president for leadership of the association and in the field of public sector HR.

The 2022 President’s Award was presented by to Jennifer Fairweather, MPA, PHR, IPMA-SCP, SHRM-SCP, the 2022 IPMA-HR President. Fairweather is currently the Human Resources Director (CHRO) for Jefferson County, located in Golden, Colorado. She is also an affiliate professor with Regis University where she facilitates undergraduate and graduate courses for the College of Business and Economics.

Fairweather has public sector leadership experience in a variety of roles, including a civil service agency, a small court organization, and a very large decentralized human resources city system in addition to her current role in a large county government organization. She has been an active volunteer and member of PSHRA for over 20 years and has served on the PSHRA Executive Council. She has also served on many PSHRA committees and served as president on the regional and chapter level.

Agency of Excellence Award

The Agency Award of Excellence recognizes the quality, accomplishments, and contributions of an outstanding agency human resource program. Annual awards may be made in any of three categories based on agency workforce size.

Small Agency Award

The Small Agency Award may be presented to an agency of up to 1,999 employees.

The 2022 Small Agency Award recognized the City of Tamarac, Florida for its mission, along with clear and comprehensive strategies in recruitment and onboarding, learning and development, compensation and recognition and fostering a collaborative environment with impressive results.

The City of Tamarac HR department was also recognized for an innovative program developed in response to the nationwide civil unrest that took place following the murder of George Floyd. The City of Tamarac HR department took a bold first step towards healing its community through addressing racial discrimination in the workplace and the community, beginning with “Conversations to Heal the Divide”; established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board; adopted a Safer City Resolution supporting the LGBTQ+ community; and added signage supporting a racism-free zone in its parks and recreation areas.

Past Awardees

• 2020 | City of Rancho Cucamonga
• 2019 | City of Cape Coral, Florida

Medium Agency Award

The Medium Agency Award may be presented to an agency of 2,000 to 9,999 employees.

The 2022 Medium Agency Award recognized North Carolina’s Wake County Government for delivering high satisfaction ratings and low employee turnover. The driver of these results is an innovative talent management strategy which includes transformed processes to improve recruitment, retention, staff professional development, employee engagement, and communications. The processes included streamlined application and onboarding, utilization of new technology and redesigning the website to better market vacant positions in the fast-growing county.

Wake County made a commitment to professional leadership development and implemented a centralized call center for HR questions. Some of the many impressive results of their efforts included reducing the average days to fill a vacancy by 20 days, a 74% increase in positions filled the first time a job was posted, 95% engagement in wellness programs, 90% training completion rate for supervisors and managers, 50% of vacant positions filled with internal employees, and high satisfaction ratings with training and development.

 

Past Awardees

• 2020 | City of Rancho Cucamonga
• 2019 | City of Henderson, NV

Large Agency Award

The Large Agency Award may be presented to an agency of 10,000 employees or more.

Past Awardees

• 2019 | Louisiana Department of State Civil Service

Chapter Award of Excellence

The Chapter Award of Excellence recognizes a chapter that has significantly advanced and enhanced the public sector HR profession through innovative membership recruitment/retention strategies, excellent educational programs, and quality member communication.

The 2022 Chapter Award of Excellence was presented to the Colorado Chapter for bringing significant value to its members through educational programs in areas such as leadership development, emotional intelligence and mental health. The Chapter increased its membership by 138% through new recruitment and retention programs and by introducing new member benefits, which also increased its financial resources.

Past Awardees

• 2021 | Patuxent River Basin Chapter
• 2020 | No award
• 2019 | Sacramento--Mother Lode Chapter
• 2018 | Tennessee Public Management Association
• 2017 | Northern California Chapter
• 2016 | Colorado Chapter
• 2015 | Kentucky Chapter
• 2014 | Kentucky Chapter
• 2013 | Montgomery County Chapter, Maryland
• 2012 | Tennessee Chapter of IPMA-HR (TPMA)
• 2011 | Alabama Association of Public Personnel Administrators IPMA-HR
• 2010 | IPMA-HR San Diego Chapter