Strathclyde graduate wins HR Graduate of the Year 2023 award

Strathclyde Business School graduate Rebecca MacKinnon has been crowned HR Graduate of the Year at the Hr NETWORK National Awards 2023.

This is now the third year in a row that a Strathclyde graduate has won HR Graduate of the Year at the prestigious event - last year's winner was Sarah Lawson and Fraser Gillespie walked off with the award in 2021.

The awards - run in partnership with Roffey Park Institute - were announced at the glamorous annual Gala Dinner, held at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on November 10.

Almost 700 guests came to recognise, acknowledge and reward the champions of the Scottish HR profession at the glittering evening, which showcased winners across 17 different categories.

Rebecca, who did the MSc International Human Resource Management programme and graduated in 2022, was not the only Strathclyde alumnus to feature at the awards: Sandra Sneddon, who did the MSc Human Resource Management programme at the Department of Work, Employment and Organisation, was shortlisted for the HR Graduate of the Year award.

In addition, the HR Assistant/Officer of the Year award went to Jennifer McIvor who now works for Three UK - Jennifer completed her undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and History and then the MSc Human Resource Management at Strathclyde Business School; the HR Project of the Year award went to Turning Point Scotland whose Head of HR is Kevin Staunton who graduated with an MSc Human Resource Management in 2019.

Professor Ian Cunningham, head of the Department of Work, Employment and Organisation, said, "We are so pleased for Rebecca at being presented with this prestigious award and we love seeing our graduates do so well in these awards each year. As a Department, we're delighted that Rebecca's award makes this the third year in a row that Strathclyde graduates have walked off with the HR Graduate of the Year award. This is thanks both to the amazing individuals who choose to study at Strathlcyde and also to the quality of the teaching and the dedication of our staff here."

Both Rebecca, who was previously a nurse, and Sandra, who worked in retail management, used their HRM degrees to pivot to new jobs in HR. Rebecca wrote a blog explaining her decision last year:
https://www.strath.ac.uk/courses/postgraduatetaught/internationalhumanresourcemanagement/rebeccamackinnon/

This was the 16th HR Network National Awards, which is the flagship event for HR professionals across Scotland, and this year it was hosted for the first time by radio broadcaster and Scott Wilson.

The coveted Outstanding Contribution to Scottish HR award was presented to Julia Stevenson for her commitment and dedication the public and private sectors during a 40 year career, which included employers such as Scottish Water and Bank of Scotland (HBOS). The full list of awards can be found here: https://hrnetworkjobs.com/celebrating-the-stars-of-the-scottish-hr-industry-at-the-hr-network-national-awards-2023/