January 29, 2009 - Report of the Schelstraete & Desmedt Human Resources Award 2009
On January 29, the ninth edition of the Schelstraete & Desmedt Human Resources Award was held. This Award is issued to the best thesis in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior. Each year, a winner is chosen from the 6 laureates of their respective institutions: Ghent University, Catholic University of Leuven, Free University of Brussels, University of Antwerp, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussels and Hogeschool Ghent. By organizing the Human Resources Award, Schelstraete & Desmedt continues to build bridges between the academics and the practice of Human Resource Management. Since many years now, Schelstraete & Desmedt is hosting the Human Resources Award in De Warande, Brussels. De Warande is one of the most exclusive business clubs in Belgium and is the ideal setting for Schelstraete & Desmedt to welcome its clients and business relations. For the first time, a select group of top students was also invited for the event. Their dynamic presence gave the evening a fresh touch. After the reception, the event was officially opened by Frank Schelstraete, Partner at Schelstraete & Desmedt. He presented a brief history of the Human Resources Award and then gave the word to Bernard Coucke, Global Head Private Banking at ING. His keynote discussed the role of HR during economic downturn.
The written version of his keynote will be published soon on this website. For now, we can already give you Bernard Coucke’s 6 points of advice:
1. HR needs to play a strategic role in the business
2. Aggressively support the adjustment of the workforce to the revised core needs.
3. Stop generalized and generic activities like e.g. general leadership development.
4. Help leaders shift to a different way of thinking.
5. Put high potential talent effectively at work (The future is now).
6. Support the leaders in maintaining the focus on employee engagement.
His business point of views provided the audience with some interesting food for thought. The main question after his keynote was: How can we improve the strategic role of HR in organisations? Conclusion was that their was a role for management, HR people and academics. Management needs to be convinced that HR can play a strategic role. HR people in organisations need to take on an effective leadership role in this field. And academics need to train HR students so they can develop their leadership. Being too modest and kind probably won’t get them in the Executive Committee in a later stage in their careers.
Then, the moment came to issue the Schelstraete & Desmedt Human Resources Award 2009. Earlier this evening, the judges deliberated on the different theses. Let us present you the members of the Jury and thank them again for their judgment:
- Mr Marc Van Hoecke, President of the Jury, HR Director at KPMG
- Prof. Eric Henderickx, University of Antwerp
- Prof. Hans De Witte, Catholic University of Leuven
- Prof. Roland Pepermans, Free University of Brussels
- Prof. Frederik Anseel, Ghent University
- Prof. Dries Berings, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussels
- Prof. Alex Vanderstraeten, Hogeschool Ghent
- Mr Geert Dewaele, Chief Editor at Jobat
- Miss Mieke De Jaegher, Chief Editor at HR Tribune
- Mr Frank Schelstraete, Partner at Schelstraete & Desmedt
The Jury judged the 6 theses based on the following criteria: quality of the work, originality, practical relevance and form & style. Six laureates competed for the Award: Loes Bresseleers (Catholic University of Leuven), Liesbeth Bral (University of Antwerp), Ronald Beernaert (Free University of Brussels), Annelies Haerick (Ghent University), Hans Akkermans (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel) and Catherine Colle (Hogeschool Gent).
Around 20h30, the President of the Jury, Mr Mark Van Hoecke, was ready to open the envelope. The Schelstraete & Desmedt Human Resources Award was issued to... Annelies Haerick of Ghent University with her thesis ‘How do proactive people think and act?’. She received her prize and a cheque of 750EUR. We like to congratulate Miss Haerick and Prof. Frederik Anseel again for their insightful work!
After the Award was issued, the attendants were invited for the festive new year’s reception of Schelstraete & Desmedt. De Warande proved again to be a wonderful setting.
Schelstraete & Desmedt looks forward to welcoming you next year! Please visit our website regularly, as the keynote of Bernard Coucke, the 6 theses and a selection of pictures will be put online soon. We conclude this article with the picture of Prof. Anseel (Ghent University), Prof. Pepermans (Free University of Brussels), Frank Schelstraete (Schelstraete & Desmedt), Marc Van Hoecke (KPMG), Annelies Haerick (Ghent University) and Bernard Coucke (ING), as it was published in Jobat.
