2023 Pinnacle Award Winners Named

​SHRM chapters and state councils were honored with 2023 Pinnacle Awards for their hard work and creativity in developing initiatives like an industry certification program, an HR Registered Apprenticeship Program and an HR mentorship program, as well as assisting with the World Games volunteer recruitment.

Winners were announced during the SHRM Volunteer Leaders' Business Meeting on Nov. 17., and presented with $1,000 and a crystal plaque. This year's awards were sponsored by 401(k) Solutions by Raymond James.

The 12 winners were selected from 69 applications, with internal and external judges evaluating the merits of the programs.

Pinnacles were awarded in three different categories—Serving the Professional, Advancing the HR Profession, and Enhancing the SHRM Community—and grouped by chapter size:

• Small (10-100 members).
• Medium (101-300 members) and Large (301-500 members), treated as one category.
• Mega (501-1,000 members) and Super Mega (1,001 or more members), treated as one category.

State councils in each of the three categories also were awarded a Pinnacle. 

[SHRM members-only chapter and council support: SHRM's Volunteer Leader Resource Center]  

Serving the Professional

Small Chapter—Bridgerland SHRM (Utah) 

"Recruiting & Retention Lunch and Learn Series"

The chapter partnered with the Department of Workforce Services and the Cache Valley Chamber of Commerce to present a series of five workshops for HR professionals and business owners in the local, northern Utah area. The series provided an "HR Toolkit" to mitigate recruiting and retention challenges. The 2022 program was attended by nearly two dozen individuals, and a fourth luncheon was planned for fall 2023. 

Medium/Large Chapter—Miami Valley Human Resource Association (Ohio)

"MVHRA Mentoring Program"

A six-month program matched HR mentors with HR mentees to work on career planning, best practices, advice, problem-solving and networking. The first cohort launched in January. The second cohort started in August.

A workbook offered structure for the program, and mentees were encouraged to choose at least two activities to focus on, such as developing a career plan, job shadowing, or focusing on a challenge or project at work. 

Mega/Super Mega Chapter—SHRM-Atlanta (Georgia) 

"Demo Days"

This initiative was created to meet member and resource-partner needs and showcase tech advances. Each Demo Day has a theme and features a series of 30-minute demos broadcast to registered HR professionals. Materials such as white papers and other company information are shared. About 300 HR practitioners have participated in the demos across five days. 

State Council—Connecticut SHRM State Council

"Not 'Just Another' Conference: HR Making the Future Brighter"

The tri-state SHRM conference in April focused on the "5 'Es': Experience, Education, Engagement, Elevate, Endow." For example, "experience" included free headshots and caricatures, a taco bar, and games. "Endow" recognized an HR leader with an HR Excellence Award and offered donations to the SHRM Foundation.  

Advancing the HR Profession

Small Chapter—Northwest Louisiana SHRM (Louisiana) 

"Northwest Inclusion"

Recognizing that lack of language skills can be a barrier to employment, the chapter partnered with Catholic Charities of North Louisiana, which offers an English as a Second Language course, to bridge the communications barrier between employers and the area's growing Spanish-speaking population. The partnership also helped the chapter develop the language learners' workforce readiness through resume preparation, explaining cultural differences around workplace expectations, and helping organizations with job advertisements to reach the Hispanic community and other minority populations.

The chapter also worked with the Hispanic Heritage Association of Northwest Louisiana and 318 Latino to assist more than 50 individuals with a workforce readiness workshop in July.

Medium/Large Chapter—Birmingham SHRM (Alabama)

"Operation World Games"

The World Games is an 11-day international multi-sport event organized with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The chapter provided trained interviewers to screen, assess, select and place 1,500 volunteers from around the world into jobs supporting the event. The chapter also was a finalist for the 2023 Impact Award for its "Second Chance Hiring Fair." 

Mega/Super Mega Chapter—Salt Lake SHRM (Utah)

"Elevating HR Through Purpose and Community"

The chapter focused on numerous initiatives to advance the HR profession and community. Initiatives included increasing awareness about the benefits of SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP certification, taking a more proactive approach to increasing donations to the SHRM Foundation in 2022, and working with the SHRM Utah State Council to obtain a state senate sponsor for a Workplace Violence Protective Orders amendment. 

State Council—ARSHRM (Arkansas) 

"Legislation Advocacy Makes a Difference"

This program focused on communicating legislative issues and initiatives, evaluating and developing the council's positions on specific bills, developing and communicating talking points and sample letters to legislators, participating in Senate and House committee hearings, and partnering with other organizations. 

Enhancing the SHRM Community

Small Chapter—Mid-Hudson HR Association (New York)

"The Best Decision Ever—DMR & 100% Chapter"

In early 2023, the chapter decided to become a 100 percent chapter and join the dual membership release (DMR) program. Doing so reduced the workload of its volunteer leaders, tripled chapter membership revenue, made re-enrollment easier for members and helped passively grow membership. The chapter said it is now better aligned with SHRM, provides SHRM resources to all chapter members and has positioned itself, it said, "to be more impactful in the HR community at large." 

Medium/Large Chapter—Green Bay Area Chapter - SHRM (Wisconsin) 

"Annual Legal Conference, Silent Auction and Vendor Fair"

This 10-plus-year-old event attracts more than 150 professionals in the Green Bay HR community. All funds from the vendor fair and silent auction are donated to the SHRM Foundation, coupled with a small monetary donation from the chapter. The program raised donations of $5,700 in 2022, $6,000 in 2021, and $3,780 in 2020 when the pandemic prompted the event to be held virtually. In 2022, the SHRM Foundation recognized GBSHRM as a top 25 fundraising chapter, ranking it 12th nationally. 

Mega/Super Mega Chapter—SHRM-Memphis (Tennessee)

"Creating Engagement Opportunities Across All Human Resources Levels of Experience and the Entire Metropolitan Statistical Area Organizational and Business Community"

The chapter's board, student members, emerging leaders board and executive roundtable were involved in this initiative to create engagement opportunities across all HR levels of experience. Among the initiative's achievements, the improved quality of programming and marketing attracted larger sponsors such as Kroger, and Q1 membership increased from 597 members to 657. 

State Council—Georgia State Council

"Industry Certification Program: Better Workplaces for a Better World"

The Georgia Department of Education approached the state council to assist it in improving workforce readiness skills of students who are enrolled in industry certification programs and promote the highest-quality business and computer science education in Georgia with a curriculum that reflects the changes in business and industry, and in so doing make an investment in workforce talent.

The council's industry certification director led a series of coordinated and intentional activities. Volunteers from 16 Georgia SHRM chapters participated in the program.