Corporations receive awards for excellence in recruiting

Hundreds of recruiting leaders from across the U.S. and Canada gathered this evening at the Marriot hotel in downtown San Diego to attend the first annual ER Excellence Awards Dinner, which celebrated excellence in the field of corporate recruiting. Hosted by the Electronic Recruiting Exchange, the ER Excellence Awards were given to a select group of leading corporations and individuals in recognition of their recruiting accomplishments over the past year.

Eight companies -- Federated Department Stores, Monster, Enterprise Rent-A-Car (two awards), PacifiCare Health Systems, FirstMerit Bank, Health East Care Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Plantronics -- received honors for their achievements in a variety of categories of recruiting excellence. Judy Merkel, director of recruiting at Booz Allen Hamilton, won the highly coveted Recruiter of the Year award -- the only award at the ceremony bestowed upon an individual.

We received many applications from some outstanding corporations for our first annual ER Excellence Awards, but the winners were truly a cut above the rest, said David Manaster, president and founder of the Electronic Recruiting Exchange, a leading online community of recruitment professionals. These awards are helping to raise awareness throughout the business world of the benefits of great recruiting, and in the coming year I think youíll see many companies benchmarking their recruiting practices against the organizations our judges identified as the best.

Applications for the awards were reviewed by a panel of recruiting industry experts and practitioners, including Dr. John Sullivan, Gerry Crispin, Lou Adler, Kevin Wheeler, as well as top staffing executives from T-Mobile and Starbucks. The judging panel recognized excellence in nine specific categories pertaining to corporate recruiting, including best employer brand, best career website, most effective use of staffing metrics, most effective use of recruiting technology, best employee referral program, most innovative recruiting process or departmental structure, best college recruiting program, and the recruiter of the year.

Iíve advised hundreds of corporations throughout my career, and I can tell you that no other factor is as critical to a companyís success as top talent, said Dr. Sullivan. The innovative recruiting practices we honored the winners for this evening are what set true talent leaders apart from the rest. Their shareholders should be the ones who are happiest about their achievements.

The awards dinner was held on the opening night of ER Expo 2005 Spring, the industryís leading international conference and exhibition for recruitment and HR professionals.

List of Winners and Finalists

Best Corporate Careers Website
- Federated Department Stores (winner)
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car (honorable mention)
- Whirlpool Corporation (honorable mention)

Most Innovative Employee Referral Program
- Monster (winner)
- Tower Automotive (honorable mention)
- Health East Care System (honorable mention)

Best Employer Brand
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car (winner)
- PacificCare Health Systems, Inc. (honorable mention)
- Corning Incorporated (honorable mention)

Most Effective Use of Staffing Metrics
- PacificCare Health Systems, Inc. (winner)
- Corning Incorporated (honorable mention)

Most Innovative Recruiting Process or Departmental Structure
- FirstMerit Bank, N.A. (winner)
- Getronics North America (honorable mention)
- Whirlpool Corporation (honorable mention)
- Valero Energy Corporation (honorable mention)

Best Retention Program/Practices
- Health East Care System (winner)

Best College Recruiting Program
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car (winner)
- Owens Corning (honorable mention)

Most Strategic Use of Recruiting Technology
- Plantronics, Inc. (winner)
- Prudential Gardner, Realtors (honorable mention)
- Federated Department Stores (honorable mention)
- Getronics North America (honorable mention)

Recruiter of the Year
- Judy Merkel, Director of Recruiting, Booz Allen Hamilton (winner)
- Dan Hilbert, Employment Manager, Valero Energy Corporation (honorable mention)
- Susan Burns, Director of Employment Initiatives and College Relations, Federated Department Stores (honorable mention)