6/8/06 7:45 AM

Losey gets Petitpas award from world HR federation

By Steve Bates

Former Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) President and CEO Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE, has been given the prestigious George Petitpas Award by the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA).

The award, the federation’s highest honor, was presented to Losey at the federation’s 11th World HR Congress, which was held in Singapore May 29-June 1. The award honors individuals who embody the spirit and dedication to the HR profession that displayed by Petitpas, an SHRM member who was a founder of the federation and who died at the age of 51, just before he was to become president of the organization.

Losey, who during the 1990s led SHRM through significant growth in size and stature, is a noted author, speaker, consultant and global HR management leader based in Alexandria, Va. He has been a director of the SHRM Foundation, the Human Resource Certification Institute and the SHRM Global Forum. He has served as president and secretary-general of WFPMA, as president of the North American Human Resource Management Association and as a fellow and director of the National Academy of Human Resources.

Before taking over the helm at SHRM, Losey had three decades of management and HR experience. One of his most recent efforts of note was the book The Future of Human Resource Management (SHRM/John Wiley & Sons, 2005), which he co-edited with current SHRM President and CEO Susan R. Meisinger and with University of Michigan professor David Ulrich.

Losey said he was surprised and pleased to win the Petitpas award.

“It was something special,” he said. Considering the reputation that the United States has developed in some parts of the world in recent years, he added, “I didn’t think an American could win in this day and age.”

He was particularly gratified to learn from a world federation official that the vote selecting him as the 2006 Petitpas award recipient was unanimous. He was given a 15-pound crystal trophy, which he “lugged all the way home” through airport screening devices and other travel hazards without mishap.

The World HR Congress is held every other year, though at first it was every four years. Established in 1976, the organization began to hit its stride in the early 1990s as the economy and the HR profession became increasingly global. Losey and SHRM helped upgrade the federation’s bylaws and improve participation, but “it was hard,” he recalls. The task forced Losey to use his political skills to keep the federation growing and maintain a commitment to it from its diverse partners.

“I was really proud of that,” he says.

The theme of this year’s world congress was “Making HR a Strategic Business Partner,” which Losey and other SHRM leaders have preached for many years.

Steve Bates is managing editor of HR News. He can be reached at sbates@shrm.org.

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