The 2010 Pearse Walsh Award for Innovation in the Transfer of Learning is now in its fourth year and with a growing list of prestigious winners, it is now seen as an industry benchmark for acknowlegding and rewarding Innovation in the area of Training and Development
initiatives.
Pictured left to right – Nicola O’Neill, Managing Director Harvest Resources, 2010 winners Pat Magee and John Purcell of Irish Distillers, 2008 Winner and Head Judge Karl O’Connor of Ulster Bank and 2009 Winner Kendra Ryan of Topaz.
In 2006, the award was developed by the principles of Harvest, Nicola O’Neill, Managing Director and Frank Rock Director; in honour of the legacy of the late founder Pearse Walsh; for his innovative and visionary approach to people and personal development. In 2006 Harvest partnered with the Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD) where they recongised the importance and the potential of the Pearse Walsh Award and integrated it into the National Training Awards which are held annually.
Previous winners have included Ernst & Young (2007), Ulster Bank (2008) and Topaz (2009)
Growing in popularity each year, 2010 saw a record number of applicants. The judging panel, which consisted of Frank Rock, Director , Harvest and Karl O'Connor , Head of Learning , Ulster Bank (previous winners in 2008) and Nicola O’ Neill, Managing Director of Harvest met to review all applications. When reviewing all submissions, in addition to taking into account the outlined criteria, they also took into account:
- The challenging economic environment that exists this year;
- The applicants’ efforts to create innovative and cost effective interventions;
- And how they impacted on their organisations across a range of key deliverables such as morale, change capability, engagement and embedding of learning.
This year’s shortlist included:
Abbott Ireland (Sligo) Maria Devenney and the Learning and Development Team for their Implementation of Continuous Learning Programme which focused on up-skilling employees at all levels in the organisation in order to create a culture of continuous learning
Fidelity Investments (Galway) Mitchell Cash, Training and Development Manger for his Business Awareness Programme titled Blended Learning Programme set against a backdrop of downturn within the financial services sector
Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard (Dublin) John Purcell, Leadership Development Manager for his transformational change programme titled Undisputed Leadership Training Camp that was designed to address falling market share accross all their leading brands.
We were delighted to announce the winner Irish Distillers, on the evening of the IITD National Training Awards held on March 26th, in Killashee House Hotel.
Frank Rock, Director Harvest resources and member of the 2010 judging panel spoke about what differenced Irish Distillers from the other applicants “Their programme was a total company solution, and it represented all the aspects of best practice and change management”.
Nicola O’Neill took to the stage on the evening and spoke about Pearse Walsh’s legacy and the inspiration around the award. Nicola was then joined on stage by the Head judge and 2008 winner Karl O’Connor from Ulster Bank and Kendra Ryan Training and Development Manager representing the 2009 winner Topaz, Kendra presented the award to John Purcell from IDL.
John Purcell speaking shortly after being presented with the award comments “we are delighted to win this year’s award and join the prestigious list of winners. The award recognises the strategic importance of the programme to the business and efforts of the various stakeholders in the design and delivery of an in house change programme”
The winner receives the specially designed Pearse Walsh Award, a team prize of €1000 and a further €5000 worth of company consultancy time from Harvest.
Pictured Left to right - John Gorman President of the IITD, Sinead Heneghan Director of the IITD, Nicola O'Neill Managing Director of Harvest Resources and Frank Rock, Director of Harvest Resources
