2026 Pillar Awards

On June 18, the winners of the 2026 RMPS Pillar Awards will be celebrated. Join us to honor these remarkable professionals whose contributions have strengthened the foundation of their organizations and elevated the HR profession. 

  • HR Strategy and Planning: Lockton and Denver Broncos
  • Organizational Effectiveness: Culture Talk and Databank
  • Talent Management: Veeam Software
  • Rising Star: Stantec 

Each winner will share their innovative programs, impactful results, and the strategies behind their success. Come get inspiration from your peers. The session will include time for you to ask questions and engage in the discussion.  Lunch is provided at this event.

Learn more about the Pillar Awards and Submitting a Nomination: Watch our Info Session

The awards are based on four categories that have been identified as critical for HR effectiveness:

HR Strategy and Planning

Creating excellence in the people function is a core role of HR leaders. This category includes programs and initiatives that build a strategic, proactive organization and that enhance the impact of People programs on the business.  Examples include:

    • • Transforming a People organization from an administrative to a strategic function
    • • Programs that demonstrate the ability to transform business strategy into
    • • People strategy Innovative recognition & reward systems that drive strong business outcomes
    • • Cultural initiatives that have a significant positive impact on engagement and retention of key talent
    • • Implementing strategic people goals that leads to successful outcomes across different business units

Talent Management

Ensuring organizations have the right talent in the right place at the right time is critical for organizational success. Equipping team members and managers with the skills needed to grow and excel in their roles is also an important component of talent management. Creative programs that demonstrate impactful results in these areas are strong nominees. Examples include:

    • • Strategic recruitment & branding programs
    • • Data driven hiring practices or innovative hiring methodologies
    • • Effective/impactful onboarding programs
    • • Leadership development programs that build leadership capabilities, leading to high performance and high engagement.
    • • Upskilling and/or reskilling programs
    • • Creative talent management programs that accelerate the growth and effectiveness of talent within their organizations.
    • • Preparing the workforce of the future
    • • Aging workforce and implications for talent development

Organizational Effectiveness

Strengthening the organization's effectiveness to meet business goals are key functions of HR leaders. Understanding how to measure the impact of initiatives and programs demonstrates leadership agility. Examples include:

    • • Strategic People programs that utilize organizational talent to solve real business problems or take advantage of opportunities.
    • • Change Management initiatives that guide employees through organizational changes that are critical to long term success such as M&A activities, technology adoption, etc.  
    • • HR practices that support agility and enable the organization to quickly respond to business challenges.
    • • Unique People Analytics programs that help proactively identify trends and act on those trends for the betterment of their businesses.
    • • Using AI as a lever for organizational effectiveness

Rising Star

The new Rising Star Award recognizes outstanding college/graduate students, interns or early-career HR professionals who have helped design and implement innovative human resources initiatives that address real business challenges. This award celebrates emerging talent in the HR field who demonstrate exceptional creativity, analytical thinking, and practical application of HR principles in the areas listed below. Qualifications include:

  • • Current undergraduate or graduate students in Colorado OR
  • • Early career HR professionals with less than 5 years of professional work experience OR
  • • Individual students or teams (up to 6 members), working in partnership with a business or other organization where the program was implemented
  • • Initiative must have been implemented within the past 5 years

  • Select from one of the three other categories for submission.

Eligibility

  1. 1. RMPS members and non-members may submit nominations. Nominations must have a business presence in Colorado. Self-nominations are welcome.
  4. 2. Submissions may be developed in partnership with an external consultant. The award will be given jointly to the practitioner that co-developed & implemented the program and the consultant.
  7. 3. The program or initiative must have been developed and customized for the organization and implemented within the last five years. Publicly-available programs, such as Gallup Q12, are not eligible for submission.
  10. 4. More than one nomination per organization is permitted.
  13. 5. Current members of the RMPS board and their respective organizations are excluded from participation.
  16. 6. Rising Star Award: 
    1. • Current undergraduate or graduate students in Colorado OR
    2. • Early career HR professionals with less than 5 years of professional work experience OR
    3. • Individual students or teams (up to 6 members), working in partnership with a business or other organization where the program was implemented
    4. • Initiative must have been implemented within the past 5 years

Rules

  1. 1. All submitted nomination forms are the property of RMPS. 
  3. 2. The organization/individuals(s) that submitted the application retain the rights to the program. 
  5. 3. RMPS reserves the right to use the organization’s name and logo in sponsorship and promotional materials. 
  7. 4. Award winners or their designated representatives are encouraged, but not required, to present their program at a designated RMPS award event.  
  9. 5. Submissions must include a completed nomination form and may also include other documents such as a presentations or sample materials.

Awards

All nominations will be reviewed and winners determined by the Rocky Mountain People & Strategy Board of Directors. Each of the winning individuals and their respective organizations will receive an award and will be highlighted on our website. They will also receive a complimentary one-year individual membership to RMPS.


For questions, contact:

        

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