The past year has been a difficult one for all sections of our community. Within the business sector the challenge of dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic has undoubtedly fallen heavily upon the human resources function. At Elias Neocleous & Co LLC we understand that our people are our number one asset, and we lean heavily on our HR team to ensure that we create a work environment that encourages them and nurtures their talent. We therefore applaud the fact that, through the Cyprus HR Awards organized by BOUSSIAS, Cyprus, the HR community has chosen to acknowledge its many excellent initiatives of the past year and, to celebrate a host of HR achievements.
The winners of the Cyprus HR Awards 2020 have now been announced. The awards cover all sections of the Cyprus economy and involve the assessment of the work of several hundred companies. We are proud to say that our HR team was one of just fourteen award winners and, the only professional services firm to receive a gold award. However, not only did the team match its 2019 performance by winning gold, but it also added a bronze award to its tally.
For a second consecutive year we are the gold winners of the "Talent and Performance Management – Excellence in Performance Management Strategy / initiative". In 2019 we received the award for our original and unique 'Performance management system'. However, sustaining Elias Neocleous and Co LLC's market leading position is very taxing, and it requires a continuous striving for development and transformation. In order to maintain this momentum for change, our HR team considered it vital to further build on our already award-winning performance management system. The effort and ingenuity required to do this was significant. The result was the introduction in July 2019 of the 'Neo performance acceleration framework' which is already delivering excellent results for the firm, and which deservedly won our HR team its second gold.
The bronze award was received in the category of "Best CSR Initiative with Employee Involvement". It acknowledges the excellent work of our 2020-2021 lawyer trainees in organizing our October 'Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign' and making Elias Neocleous & Co LLC turn pink! Congratulations to them for their achievement.
The award nominations were evaluated by 23 distinguished experts in the field of human resources. Chairs of the Jury were Dr. Dionysis Dionysiou , Associate Professor of Organization and Management, Academic Director MSc in Strategic HRM ALBA Graduate Business School at The American College of Greece and Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and Ms. Maria Kolokytha , Vice President of the Hellenic Human Resources Management Association (SDADE), HR Manager Intersport Greece & Cyprus.
Unfortunately, due to Covid 19 restrictions, there was no actual awards ceremony this year, however, Head of Human Capital, Anna Mylona, was invited to collect our awards and record an acceptance speech which may be viewed here. Commenting on the team's performance Elias Neocleous congratulated all involved and that it is, "..immensely satisfying that the rewards reflect the ethos of our firm which is built on the twin pillars of excellence in talent and performance management and, corporate social responsibility". Moreover, commenting on our Talent Management strategy, Anna Mylona noted: "At our firm, we recognize people as individuals who bring unique talents, experiences, knowledge and creativity and we work hard to develop unique mechanisms which can identify, utilize, and invest in those qualities.. ".
