Liam Hayes, Aurecon Global Chief People Officer, is one of six young executives recognised in the Australian Financial Review BOSS magazine’s ‘Young Executives of the Year’ awards.
Mr. Hayes was appointed to his current role in February 2015 and heads an international team of over 80 HR professionals.
He is the only HR leader to receive the prestigious award this year.
According to a statement from Aurecon, it was Mr. Hayes’ focus on ‘human-centric’ leadership that impressed the judges.
“Never before have people practices been as important as they are now,” explained Mr. Hayes. “We’re entering a period of dramatic change in which it will take a very different toolkit of skills to thrive in a globally disrupted marketplace.
“Organisations today must take their people on a journey ‒ including embedding an understanding of a new vision for a changing future; retraining, adopting new skills and, in some cases, redeploying them. This is a time in history when human-centric leadership is key.”
Run in association with DDI, the awards are Australia’s foremost recognition of aspiring leaders, with finalists facing a rigorous panel of heavyweight business leaders and required to participate in a grueling ‘CEO for a day’ simulation exercise in order to test their mettle.
“I have always said ‘yes’ to every opportunity presented and my Global Chief People Officer role has definitely been my most challenging yet, but I was keen to make a difference both within Australia and across our global organisation,” said Mr. Hayes.
“In the case of Aurecon’s organisation, it has a workforce of 7 000 highly trained professionals successfully delivering huge infrastructure and building projects in over 80 countries.
“For them to be successful in future, we’ll need to ensure they are highly skilled and future ready. Weathering dramatic change starts with developing staff who are able to work with our clients in an era of growing automation, the rise of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, to develop business advantage.”