AWARDS PROGRAM Western Region – IPMA-HR

The Western Region IPMA-HR Board has created an awards program to recognize agencies and individuals who are stars within IPMA-HR. The Awards Program includes The Muriel M. Morse Achievement Award and the Agency Awards for Excellence.

The Muriel M. Morse Achievement Award is presented to a member of our organization who exemplifies the positive attributes that made Muriel Morse a memorable individual. Among her many leadership positions, Muriel was President of both Western Region and IPMA-HR. She retired from the City of Los Angeles as the General Manager, Personnel Department and continued her career as an adjunct professor with the University of Southern California. Muriel played an important role in the development of excellence in the City’s Personnel Department, but more so in the development of the Personnel Department staff. She was both a model and a mentor, and she relished both roles. She was extremely committed to professional organizations and the values they bring to the workplace. She encouraged her staff to participate and grow within these organizations.

The Agency Awards for Excellence are designed to recognize the overall quality, accomplishments, and contributions of an agency human resources program that exceeds the normal operation of a good government human resources program. The awards will be based on program initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions within a three-year period immediately preceding the nomination.

The Western Region Board accepts nominations for these awards for consideration of individuals and agencies that have demonstrated the outstanding qualities that demonstrate the ideals of professionalism in human resources. The awards are presented annually at the Western Region IPMA-HR Conference.

EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR THE AWARDS COMMITTEE
An evaluation system which has proven helpful is to designate a numerical value – on a scale of one to five – for each of the criterion areas which have been developed for evaluating candidates (one being the lowest or weakest area and five representing the nominee’s highest or strongest area).

The Muriel M. Morse Achievement Award Criteria:
1. How has the nominee exemplified positive attributes?
2. What leadership positions has the nominee held in Western Region IPMA-HR and IPMA-HR?
3. Has the nominee played an important role in the development of excellence for their agency or the field of Human Resources?
4. Has the nominee been a human resources model and/or mentor for others in the field?

The Agency Awards for Excellence Award Criteria:
The Agency Awards will be based on program initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions within a three-year period immediately preceding the nomination. A maximum of four awards may be given in one year. The Western Region will recognize one agency award in each of the following categories, based on the number of employees covered by your human resources program:
• Small (Under 500 employees)
• Medium (500 – 1,999 employees)
• Large Agency (2,000 – 9,999 employees)
• Very Large (10,000 employees and over)

Agencies nominated must be an IPMA-HR Agency member at the time of submission. All nominations must include the following elements:

1. Program Initiatives and overall quality.
2. Accomplishments of the Program or Agency.
3. Contributions of a program that exceeds the normal operation of a good government human resources program.

SPECIFIC NOMINATING CRITERIA

A ) Program Characteristics
Describe the environment in which the human resources program operates. Address specifically:
• size (i.e., number of employees served);
• types of employees (e.g., clerical, administrative, professional)
• union relations
• budget and human resource constrictions
• relationship to Chief Executive Officer
• whether the program for an operating or central human resources agency

B ) Human Resources Program
In each of the major functional areas, describe the specific initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions and their results over the past three years. Specifically identify those accomplishments you consider innovative. If the nomination is for a central human resources agency, describe how the accomplishments have benefited the agencies served. If the nomination is for an operating agency, describe how the accomplishments have benefited the management and employees of the agency.
All nominations should include the following identifying information:
• Name of agency
• Agency head and title
• Agency address
• Name, title, phone number, e-mail and address of person submitting the nomination
Nominations must be received electronically no later than March 3, 2009. All nominations will be considered as final entries and are limited in length to a maximum of five pages.

The nomination must be sent to:

Judy Capaul
Client Services Manager, Local Government CPS Human Resource Services
241 Lathrop Way
Sacramento, CA 95815
916.471.3153
www.cps.ca.gov
jcapaul@cps.ca.gov

For further information or if you have any questions, please e-mail Judy Capaul or call at 916.471.3153.