This award recognises small and medium organisations (SMEs) with less than 150 employees that may be working on survival and/or forging ahead in terms of growth, using the resources within their means to achieve the best for the people and the business.

Entries are likely to show how the agility, leadership and capabilities of people professionals, and the skills and initiative of people managers in small teams can help to achieve strong results.

This award will recognise the use of creativity, innovation, and simple methods to address people management issues. Entrants in this category will be adopting relevant HR policies and good practice, while recognising the need to be agile and apply to the SME context.

How people management is being embedded within the organisation and how it is sustaining the business model and improving the customer / employee experience will be clearly demonstrated.