CNY ATD honors BEST Talent Development Award Winners

The winners of the 10th Anniversary CNY BEST Talent Development Awards were announced at the ATD Central New York Chapter’s awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown.

CNY ATD annually presents CNY BEST Talent Development Awards to recognize local excellence in this field. Organizations that link learning to the strategic growth or success of organizations and individuals are honored as CNY’s BEST in Talent Development.

Nominations for this year’s CNY BEST Talent Development Awards represented a range of organizations and individuals including AmeriCU Credit Union; Binghamton University Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development; Crouse Health; The First Tee of Syracuse; The Gifford Foundation; The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.; Indium Corporation’s Jim McCoy; Indium’s Rick Short; NYSERNet and SUNY SAIL Institute; OBG; Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC; The Raymond Corporation; Turning Stone Resort Casino; and University College of Syracuse University.

Nominations were evaluated by a panel of local and national judges representing the profession and community. They looked for quality of talent-development practices, practice results and impacts, and demonstrations of how the practices linked to the strategic growth or success of the organization and individuals. The judges for the 2017 CNY BEST Talent Development Awards included: Bernadette Barber, Community Bank, N.A.; Gayle Bays; Michelle Campanella, Agile Alignment; Laura Carroll, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Chris Coladonato, Farmers Insurance Group and national advisor for chapters at ATD; David Freund, MACNY; James N. Jerose, Nuvenu Business Advisors; Beth King, O.C. Tanner; Linda Maher, UMR (formerly POMCO); Rich McNulty, KPH Healthcare Services, Inc.; Nancy Rizzolo, Gillespie Associates; Sue Torrell-Szarek, SRC Inc.; and Amy Wood, Charter Communications. 

The honorees were as follows.

CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Gold Award

OBG was recognized with the CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Gold Award for linking talent development to its strategic growth or success with its “Cultivating a Strong Safety Culture” program. After the company reviewed the current state of OBG’s safety program, there was consensus that while the program met fundamental compliance requirements in terms of processes and training requirements, there was an opportunity to foster a more robust safety culture. One that could meet the needs of clients, to mitigate risk for the company, and more importantly, to educate employees to be safe on a day-to-day basis. OBG launched safety perception surveys, gathering input directly from employees in categories consistent with the “4 Pillars of a Strong Safety Culture: Leadership, Process, Structure, and Engagement.” In reviewing survey results, OBG’s leadership team came to understand that it is critical to understand the progression of safety-culture development phases and focus company attention on moving to the next phases of the DuPont Bradley Curve. OBG’s Safety Culture program has moved the organization from a reactive safety culture to a dependent safety culture with solid leadership, compliance, policies, procedures, and safety engagement. Judges asserted, “It is wonderful to see executive recognition of the importance of using change management as a business partner, especially when it is so beautifully incorporated into the organization’s strategic plans and well executed.”

CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Diamond Award

Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC received the CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Diamond Award for linking talent development to its strategic growth through success with its “Operation First With Our Guests” program. With new state-licensed casino gaming competition increasing, Oneida Nation Enterprises’ competitive stakes became higher. To raise the bar in guest service, the organization created and deployed a comprehensive and consistent methodology for establishing, training, and measuring guest-service standards. The organization’s mission, vision, and values, and team habits provided a strong platform for guest-service expectations, however, a higher, more tailored set of standards and criteria specific to each department and position were established to shape and brand the guest experience. Training and resources were provided to support achieving the new standards, and measurement with accountability criteria aligned to specific positions were instituted to ensure success in bringing the “First with Our Guests” values to life to create the ultimate guest experience. Oneida Nation Enterprises has seen increases in performance and behavior — helping to raise the level of guest service it provides. And, amid increased competition, the Oneida Nation Enterprise-owned Turning Stone Resort Casino was recently named the best gaming resort in New York for 2017 by Casino Player magazine for the second consecutive year. Judges identified a “very comprehensive initiative with powerful results,” along with “a detailed, systematic approach to developing best in class service.”

CNY BEST Talent Development Not-for-Profit Organization Gold Award

NYSERNet and SUNY SAIL Institute were honored with the CNY BEST Talent Development Not-for-Profit Organization Gold Award for linking talent development for external stakeholders to the organizations’ strategic growth via success with its CIO Leadership Academy. When NYSERNet asked college and university chief information officers (CIOs) to name their top priorities, their answers weren’t about the cloud, network capacity, or emerging technology. Instead, the CIOs said they needed to attract and retain information technology (IT) talent, train staff to be leaders, and establish solid succession plans. NYSERNet joined forces with SUNY Strategic, Academic and Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute to create the CIO Leadership Academy. It’s a multi-disciplinary program designed to prepare the next generation of IT leaders. Participants work on self-discovery, skill development, and knowledge creation — gaining better leadership skills and insight into the role of the CIO in educational institutions. Current and past higher-education CIOs were enlisted as subject-matter experts during the training design and serve as mentors establishing relationships with participants to keep them engaged and learning during and following the program. The CIO Leadership Academy has seen some promising results with participants overwhelmingly indicating that the program was valuable from the skills development to the current higher education CIO mentors. One participant praised it, saying, “So much collective knowledge.” Judges agreed stating, “Great job; Strong program; High impact project.”

CNY BEST Talent Development Not for Profit Organization Diamond Award

AmeriCU Credit Union received the CNY BEST Talent Development Not for Profit Organization Diamond Award for linking talent development for its internal stakeholders to the organization’s strategic growth through success with its Member Advocacy Program. AmeriCU Credit Union determined that its sales and member service training program needed to be updated, brought in-house, and specialized to reflect AmeriCU’s vision, mission, and values. AmeriCU’s Member Advocacy Program focuses on the behaviors and activities that transform transactional service excellence to relationship building and solution-based guidance for members throughout their lives. By asking important questions, and understanding a member’s financial life phase, staff can determine the right financial services and help anticipate future needs for their members. Moving from a reactive sales approach to a proactive, engaged method allows for fulfilling members’ financial needs while building valuable relationships based on trust, expertise and understanding. Equal emphasis was placed on active and continual coaching by managers who were trained on the principles of coaching required to maintain consistency and provide ongoing support of the process as well as employees’ professional development. Staff have consistently reported building confidence in their fact-finding conversations and the solutions they present to members. Retail managers have seen a marked improvement in their employees’ engagement and quality of interactions; and, cross sales of financial products and services are steadily increasing. Judges’ commented on the credit union’s outstanding needs assessment and excellent job of linking the practice to AmeriCU’s mission and strategic goal.

CNY BEST Talent Development Individual Awards

Jim McCoy and Rick Short of Indium Corporation were presented with CNY BEST Talent Development Individual Awards for contributing to internal or external customers’ talent development growth via success with Indium’s Student Recruitment Program. Indium became an early business partner in Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), which prepares students for high-skills jobs of the future in technology, manufacturing, health care, and engineering. In order for Indium’s participation and contribution to the P-TECH program to be successful, the company needed to select employees to participate in the program that had the technical knowledge needed along with passion and enthusiasm. Both Talent Acquisition Supervisor Jim McCoy, and Corporate Associate VP and Senior Director of Marketing Communications Rick Short, led students in real-world projects enabling students to integrate numerous areas of knowledge from science, technology, engineering, and math, along with providing workplace skills such as leadership, communication, and problem-solving. McCoy and Short brought passion, enthusiasm, and success to Indium’s investment in this Student Recruitment Program. Comments from educators included, “You were able to get through to the students in a way that school staff cannot,” “The students are walking away with more knowledge and confidence to boost them to a successful future,” and “This is the embodiment of what strong business and educational partnerships can achieve.”

Chapter Excellence Award

ATD (Association for Talent Development) recognized CNY ATD with a Chapter Excellence Award for Excellence in Strategic Partnership for its CNY ATD Scholarship Program. Since its inception in 2011, CNY ATD has awarded 13 scholarships to talent-development professionals and students pursuing professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development. 

ATD noted, “CNY ATD successfully captured the spirit of this award with its successful Scholarship Program. This impressive program encourages and supports professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development and addresses a need in the local community for financial support for talent development professionals to pursue professional development and continuing education.” Jennifer Homer, ATD’s VP of communications stated, “The impact our chapters have in their local communities and in support of the talent-development profession is impressive. Winning a Chapter Excellence Award shows the chapter’s level of dedication to meeting ATD’s mission of empowering professionals to develop knowledge and skills successfully.”

Certified Professional in Learning and Performance

Gayle Bays was recognized for achieving the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) designation, the only credential covering the entire talent-development profession. Becoming CPLP-certified enhances one’s credibility by recognizing that you have met performance standards, have an overall understanding of the body of knowledge of the talent-development field, and can apply what you know. The process of being certified is broad-based and addresses the 10 areas of expertise as defined by the ATD Competency Model. An individual needs to pass rigorous standards including knowledge and skills assessment exams to achieve this special designation.

CNY ATD Scholarship Awards

Melissa McLean was awarded the John Burns Memorial Scholarship for her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in instructional design. Tanya M. Eastman and Cindy Renno were awarded Ken Steiger Leadership Scholarships. Eastman is seeking her doctorate in executive leadership at St. John Fisher College, and Renno is pursuing a coaching certification. CNY ATD established the CNY ATD Scholarship Program to encourage and support professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development. The scholarship awards are named in honor of CNY ATD’s 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award winner John Burns, and 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Ken Steiger.

Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker for this year’s CNY BEST Talent Development Awards ceremony was Jim Fox, CEO of OBG. Jim’s keynote speech, entitled “Why Talent Development?” discussed the importance of talent development, its role in the success of OBG and why talent development is important for all organizations. Fox reiterated, “Talent development is a strategic business investment that, if done purposefully and with clarity, can support the growth and efficiency of any organization — no matter the industry, no matter the size of the organization. Strong people make a strong business.” OBG received the 2015 CNY BEST Learning and Performance Organization Award.

Sponsors

CNY ATD thanks the following sponsors for their support of the CNY BEST Talent Development Program: OBG; Indium Corporation; Business Journal News Network; Visual Technologies Corporation; Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC; Emergent, LLC; O.C. Tanner; and The Raymond Corporation.

CNY ATD is the local affiliate chapter of Association for Talent Development (ATD). Celebrating 45 years in 2017, CNY ATD has been connecting talent-development professionals throughout the region and contributing to the growth of the profession. Currently, CNY ATD has over 140 members from various businesses covering 16-plus counties from the Canadian border to the Pennsylvanian border in the central area of New York state.            

The winners of the 10th Anniversary CNY BEST Talent Development Awards were announced at the ATD Central New York Chapter’s awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown.

CNY ATD annually presents CNY BEST Talent Development Awards to recognize local excellence in this field. Organizations that link learning to the strategic growth or success of organizations and individuals are honored as CNY’s BEST in Talent Development.

Nominations for this year’s CNY BEST Talent Development Awards represented a range of organizations and individuals including AmeriCU Credit Union; Binghamton University Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development; Crouse Health; The First Tee of Syracuse; The Gifford Foundation; The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.; Indium Corporation’s Jim McCoy; Indium’s Rick Short; NYSERNet and SUNY SAIL Institute; OBG; Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC; The Raymond Corporation; Turning Stone Resort Casino; and University College of Syracuse University.

Nominations were evaluated by a panel of local and national judges representing the profession and community. They looked for quality of talent-development practices, practice results and impacts, and demonstrations of how the practices linked to the strategic growth or success of the organization and individuals. The judges for the 2017 CNY BEST Talent Development Awards included: Bernadette Barber, Community Bank, N.A.; Gayle Bays; Michelle Campanella, Agile Alignment; Laura Carroll, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Chris Coladonato, Farmers Insurance Group and national advisor for chapters at ATD; David Freund, MACNY; James N. Jerose, Nuvenu Business Advisors; Beth King, O.C. Tanner; Linda Maher, UMR (formerly POMCO); Rich McNulty, KPH Healthcare Services, Inc.; Nancy Rizzolo, Gillespie Associates; Sue Torrell-Szarek, SRC Inc.; and Amy Wood, Charter Communications. 

The honorees were as follows.

CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Gold Award

OBG was recognized with the CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Gold Award for linking talent development to its strategic growth or success with its “Cultivating a Strong Safety Culture” program. After the company reviewed the current state of OBG’s safety program, there was consensus that while the program met fundamental compliance requirements in terms of processes and training requirements, there was an opportunity to foster a more robust safety culture. One that could meet the needs of clients, to mitigate risk for the company, and more importantly, to educate employees to be safe on a day-to-day basis. OBG launched safety perception surveys, gathering input directly from employees in categories consistent with the “4 Pillars of a Strong Safety Culture: Leadership, Process, Structure, and Engagement.” In reviewing survey results, OBG’s leadership team came to understand that it is critical to understand the progression of safety-culture development phases and focus company attention on moving to the next phases of the DuPont Bradley Curve. OBG’s Safety Culture program has moved the organization from a reactive safety culture to a dependent safety culture with solid leadership, compliance, policies, procedures, and safety engagement. Judges asserted, “It is wonderful to see executive recognition of the importance of using change management as a business partner, especially when it is so beautifully incorporated into the organization’s strategic plans and well executed.”

CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Diamond Award

Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC received the CNY BEST Talent Development For-Profit Organization Diamond Award for linking talent development to its strategic growth through success with its “Operation First With Our Guests” program. With new state-licensed casino gaming competition increasing, Oneida Nation Enterprises’ competitive stakes became higher. To raise the bar in guest service, the organization created and deployed a comprehensive and consistent methodology for establishing, training, and measuring guest-service standards. The organization’s mission, vision, and values, and team habits provided a strong platform for guest-service expectations, however, a higher, more tailored set of standards and criteria specific to each department and position were established to shape and brand the guest experience. Training and resources were provided to support achieving the new standards, and measurement with accountability criteria aligned to specific positions were instituted to ensure success in bringing the “First with Our Guests” values to life to create the ultimate guest experience. Oneida Nation Enterprises has seen increases in performance and behavior — helping to raise the level of guest service it provides. And, amid increased competition, the Oneida Nation Enterprise-owned Turning Stone Resort Casino was recently named the best gaming resort in New York for 2017 by Casino Player magazine for the second consecutive year. Judges identified a “very comprehensive initiative with powerful results,” along with “a detailed, systematic approach to developing best in class service.”

CNY BEST Talent Development Not-for-Profit Organization Gold Award

NYSERNet and SUNY SAIL Institute were honored with the CNY BEST Talent Development Not-for-Profit Organization Gold Award for linking talent development for external stakeholders to the organizations’ strategic growth via success with its CIO Leadership Academy. When NYSERNet asked college and university chief information officers (CIOs) to name their top priorities, their answers weren’t about the cloud, network capacity, or emerging technology. Instead, the CIOs said they needed to attract and retain information technology (IT) talent, train staff to be leaders, and establish solid succession plans. NYSERNet joined forces with SUNY Strategic, Academic and Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute to create the CIO Leadership Academy. It’s a multi-disciplinary program designed to prepare the next generation of IT leaders. Participants work on self-discovery, skill development, and knowledge creation — gaining better leadership skills and insight into the role of the CIO in educational institutions. Current and past higher-education CIOs were enlisted as subject-matter experts during the training design and serve as mentors establishing relationships with participants to keep them engaged and learning during and following the program. The CIO Leadership Academy has seen some promising results with participants overwhelmingly indicating that the program was valuable from the skills development to the current higher education CIO mentors. One participant praised it, saying, “So much collective knowledge.” Judges agreed stating, “Great job; Strong program; High impact project.”

CNY BEST Talent Development Not for Profit Organization Diamond Award

AmeriCU Credit Union received the CNY BEST Talent Development Not for Profit Organization Diamond Award for linking talent development for its internal stakeholders to the organization’s strategic growth through success with its Member Advocacy Program. AmeriCU Credit Union determined that its sales and member service training program needed to be updated, brought in-house, and specialized to reflect AmeriCU’s vision, mission, and values. AmeriCU’s Member Advocacy Program focuses on the behaviors and activities that transform transactional service excellence to relationship building and solution-based guidance for members throughout their lives. By asking important questions, and understanding a member’s financial life phase, staff can determine the right financial services and help anticipate future needs for their members. Moving from a reactive sales approach to a proactive, engaged method allows for fulfilling members’ financial needs while building valuable relationships based on trust, expertise and understanding. Equal emphasis was placed on active and continual coaching by managers who were trained on the principles of coaching required to maintain consistency and provide ongoing support of the process as well as employees’ professional development. Staff have consistently reported building confidence in their fact-finding conversations and the solutions they present to members. Retail managers have seen a marked improvement in their employees’ engagement and quality of interactions; and, cross sales of financial products and services are steadily increasing. Judges’ commented on the credit union’s outstanding needs assessment and excellent job of linking the practice to AmeriCU’s mission and strategic goal.

CNY BEST Talent Development Individual Awards

Jim McCoy and Rick Short of Indium Corporation were presented with CNY BEST Talent Development Individual Awards for contributing to internal or external customers’ talent development growth via success with Indium’s Student Recruitment Program. Indium became an early business partner in Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), which prepares students for high-skills jobs of the future in technology, manufacturing, health care, and engineering. In order for Indium’s participation and contribution to the P-TECH program to be successful, the company needed to select employees to participate in the program that had the technical knowledge needed along with passion and enthusiasm. Both Talent Acquisition Supervisor Jim McCoy, and Corporate Associate VP and Senior Director of Marketing Communications Rick Short, led students in real-world projects enabling students to integrate numerous areas of knowledge from science, technology, engineering, and math, along with providing workplace skills such as leadership, communication, and problem-solving. McCoy and Short brought passion, enthusiasm, and success to Indium’s investment in this Student Recruitment Program. Comments from educators included, “You were able to get through to the students in a way that school staff cannot,” “The students are walking away with more knowledge and confidence to boost them to a successful future,” and “This is the embodiment of what strong business and educational partnerships can achieve.”

Chapter Excellence Award

ATD (Association for Talent Development) recognized CNY ATD with a Chapter Excellence Award for Excellence in Strategic Partnership for its CNY ATD Scholarship Program. Since its inception in 2011, CNY ATD has awarded 13 scholarships to talent-development professionals and students pursuing professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development. 

ATD noted, “CNY ATD successfully captured the spirit of this award with its successful Scholarship Program. This impressive program encourages and supports professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development and addresses a need in the local community for financial support for talent development professionals to pursue professional development and continuing education.” Jennifer Homer, ATD’s VP of communications stated, “The impact our chapters have in their local communities and in support of the talent-development profession is impressive. Winning a Chapter Excellence Award shows the chapter’s level of dedication to meeting ATD’s mission of empowering professionals to develop knowledge and skills successfully.”

Certified Professional in Learning and Performance

Gayle Bays was recognized for achieving the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) designation, the only credential covering the entire talent-development profession. Becoming CPLP-certified enhances one’s credibility by recognizing that you have met performance standards, have an overall understanding of the body of knowledge of the talent-development field, and can apply what you know. The process of being certified is broad-based and addresses the 10 areas of expertise as defined by the ATD Competency Model. An individual needs to pass rigorous standards including knowledge and skills assessment exams to achieve this special designation.

CNY ATD Scholarship Awards

Melissa McLean was awarded the John Burns Memorial Scholarship for her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in instructional design. Tanya M. Eastman and Cindy Renno were awarded Ken Steiger Leadership Scholarships. Eastman is seeking her doctorate in executive leadership at St. John Fisher College, and Renno is pursuing a coaching certification. CNY ATD established the CNY ATD Scholarship Program to encourage and support professional development and continuing education in the field of talent development. The scholarship awards are named in honor of CNY ATD’s 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award winner John Burns, and 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Ken Steiger.

Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker for this year’s CNY BEST Talent Development Awards ceremony was Jim Fox, CEO of OBG. Jim’s keynote speech, entitled “Why Talent Development?” discussed the importance of talent development, its role in the success of OBG and why talent development is important for all organizations. Fox reiterated, “Talent development is a strategic business investment that, if done purposefully and with clarity, can support the growth and efficiency of any organization — no matter the industry, no matter the size of the organization. Strong people make a strong business.” OBG received the 2015 CNY BEST Learning and Performance Organization Award.

Sponsors

CNY ATD thanks the following sponsors for their support of the CNY BEST Talent Development Program: OBG; Indium Corporation; Business Journal News Network; Visual Technologies Corporation; Oneida Nation Enterprises, LLC; Emergent, LLC; O.C. Tanner; and The Raymond Corporation.

CNY ATD is the local affiliate chapter of Association for Talent Development (ATD). Celebrating 45 years in 2017, CNY ATD has been connecting talent-development professionals throughout the region and contributing to the growth of the profession. Currently, CNY ATD has over 140 members from various businesses covering 16-plus counties from the Canadian border to the Pennsylvanian border in the central area of New York state.