Group HR Director at Reward Gateway, Robert Hicks, has been awarded HR Director of the Year at the 9th annual HR Distinction Awards 2019. The award recognises individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and business best-practice.
In 2016, Robert joined the fast-moving, high-growth SaaS employee engagement technology company as part of its HR team. After moving into a leadership role, he saw an opportunity to accelerate Reward Gateway’s mission to make the world a better place to work. He achieved this by creating a strategic HR function that would attract, engage and retain top talent, while also implementing processes and programmes that would impact business results and fuel company growth.
To achieve these goals, Robert established a full HR framework which included rewards and benefits, and an internal communication department. His now 15-strong HR team focuses on five key responsibilities: L&D, Engagement & Internal Communications, People Operations, Talent Attraction and HR Business Partnering.
Notable projects he’s worked on have resulted in:
- Bringing HR’s value to the forefront of the business and securing increased investment in HR with the HR team growing from 4 to 15 employees
- An increased client NPS score and climbing nine places on the Great Place to Work ranking
- Redefinition of how Reward Gateway attracts talent to support rapid growth globally
- Additional diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives being implemented, including an annual D&I survey and BAME experience understanding
- An embedded culture of continuous feedback across all offices
- The HR team being nominated for six awards in the last two years, with wins for four
Gemma Matthews, Head of Talent Acquisition at Reward Gateway, has praised Robert for his work: “It’s been such a pleasure working alongside Rob. He is a driving force of change within the company, and his ambition and passion is echoed throughout the team. His leadership and achievements have made him an HR innovator and I don’t think there is anybody better suited to receive this accolade.”
CEO of Reward Gateway, Doug Butler, comments: “We are thrilled that Rob has been recognised for his work with Reward Gateway. As Group HR Director for a business whose mission is to “make the world a better place to work”, Rob has an exceptionally challenging job to guide our People strategy in a way that lives up to our very public ideals. Rob’s passion and can-do attitude shines through in his work, and his win encompasses everything Reward Gateway stands for. We couldn’t be more proud.”
The HR Distinction Awards look to recognise innovatively designed and executed HR strategies that have contributed to outstanding business. The line up of judges were comprised of leading authorities and HR Specialists from across a wide range of sectors. See here for the full list of awards and winners.
About Reward Gateway: Reward Gateway helps more than 1,800 of the world’s leading companies, in 23 countries, to attract, engage, and retain their best people with an employee engagement platform that brings employee benefits, discounts, and perks, reward and recognition, employee wellbeing and employee communications into one unified hub. Clients include American Express, Unilever, Samsung, IBM, and McDonald’s. For more information, please visit: www.rewardgateway.com/uk