EFMD is delighted to announce the 2021 EFMD Excellence in Practice Silver Award Winners.

Since 2007, the EFMD Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards have recognised outstanding and impactful client-supplier partnerships in the domains of Organisational, Talent, Leadership and Professional Development.

The 2021 Silver Award Winners in the following five categories are:

Organisational Development

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) & Hult Ashridge Executive Education
“Creating a transformative leadership culture”

“We are very proud to receive this award that signifies an external recognition of the quality of the learning experience and the impact of the HLMS as an ICRC transformational leadership development program. It shows its quality as a leadership program for a humanitarian organization compared to other high-quality and recognizable leadership development initiatives in other sectors.

The HLMS has bridged gaps, that otherwise would have been extremely difficult, and contributed a big cultural transformation in the ICRC, building a new leadership culture at all levels.  A leadership culture is key for the organization to continue to respond to the increasing, and more complex, humanitarian needs. This benchmark boosts our drive to reinforce the impact of the program and our ambition for it to be a flagship leadership development program in the humanitarian sector.

Besides the external recognition, it also serves as internal reinforcement of its quality.  The HLMS alumni across the ICRC and the world will be very proud of the transformation they have individually and collectively made and contributed to.  It also serves as an additional encouragement for leaders that have not yet taken part in the HLMS is of value and impact,” commented Gherardo Pontrandolfi – ICRC HR Director.

Bjorn Bengtsson, President, Hult Ashridge Executive Education added, “We are incredibly proud to accept this award and delighted to showcase a really impactful and longstanding collaboration with one of our close partners. It is inspiring for us to see how ICRC have strived to cultivate inclusive and authentic leadership at all levels in the organization, bridging hierarchies and cultures to help deliver their humanitarian projects around the world even more effectively.”

Talent Development

Atos & Cranfield School of Management
“Driving customer retention and project success through professionalisation – The Atos and Cranfield Programme Manager Masterclass”

“World-class programme management is essential to ensuring Atos can be the trusted partner of clients in their journeys of digital transformation, and keep their businesses competitive in global environments. The Programme Manager Masterclass co-created with Cranfield School of Management has become an integral component of the professional development for our people at Atos University. Participants are consistently bowled over by the business reality of Cranfield’s Grounded Experiential Learning technique that is the red thread woven through the development journey. We have seen first-hand evidence of its positive impact on our customers, so it is wonderful to also have this recognised by the EFMD community. Now in its 7th year, the close collaborative partnership of Atos University with Cranfield throughout every step is constantly reaping rewards,” stated Prasanna Shivakamat, Group Head Learning and Development, Atos.

David Deegan – Director of Practice Development, CED, Cranfield School of Management added, “The fundamental ethos that guides customised executive development at Cranfield is our commitment to partnerships that transform. Working hand-in-hand with Atos we have been daring in the level of learning challenges we present to participants, and it is a joy to see them bloom as a result. To then see that personal transformation translate into organisational transformation which in turn delights clients and drives their businesses forward is a delight and a privilege. To have not only continued successfully delivering this innovative programme during the challenges of the terrible global pandemic but to also have its impact acknowledged by EFMD is a tremendous honour, a powerful affirmation of the commitment of our expert and inspirational delivery team.”

Leadership Development

Cargill & INSEAD
“Catalysing leadership in a digital world”

Commenting on this award, Mary Carey, Regional Director, The Americas, INSEAD Executive Education, stated, “INSEAD is so proud to have our collaboration with Cargill recognized by EFMD with the Silver Award. The INSEAD-Cargill partnership has been one of those rare and gratifying collaborations that resulted in a true synergy of purpose and talents to achieve ambitious objectives. The results of our partnership speak to the impact the Catalyst experience has had across the entire organization. Our partnership achieved one of the objectives Cargill stipulated from the start which was that Catalyst shouldn’t really end, but instead ignite continuous learning as participants “pay it forward” to others. We are honoured that our work together on the Catalyst program has supported a shift in the way Cargill’s leaders think and talk about their business.”

“Cargill is honoured to be selected for this award, as it is a testimony to the Cargill leaders who actively engaged in our Catalyst development experiences.  This also represents recognition of the continuous learning mindset of all levels of Cargill leaders, and the impact created to benefit our customers.

Our collaboration with INSEAD was distinct in that they were side by side with us all along the way, equally open and invested in an agile, ‘test and learn’ approach, and consistently adapted to deliver on Cargill’s strategic needs, especially in this COVID-19 pandemic.  In times of uncertainty, it’s gratifying to see recognition of Cargill’s dedication to a culture of learning and to the mindset of learning as a differentiator,” commented Julie Dervin, Head of Global Learning & Development at Cargill.

Professional Development

CaixaBank Group & UPF Barcelona School of Management
“Risk School experience”

“We are grateful for the recognition of the EFMD for a project developed in collaboration with our partner CaixaBank, the first bank in Spain, which has allowed us to deploy our vocation of social impact through a training itinerary that fits a very challenging sectorial context. Learning together with leading firms is the best way to meet our goal of bringing sustainable leadership to our classrooms and our programs,” stated José M. Martínez, Director General of UPF Barcelona School of Management.

CaixaBank sources also commented, “This award is a prestigious international recognition of the effort and dedication of many people, both from CaixaBank and the UPF Barcelona School of Management, who have worked in a coordinated manner to design, create and adapt to each moment and requirement a Risk School that is key to the transmission of a unique and differential risk culture in our entity. We thank the EFMD for having considered awarding this project for all that it has meant in the professional development of our employees and in the evolution of risk management in our company.”

Social and Environmental Impact

Global Reporting Initiative & CENTRUM PUCP Business School
“GRI – Corporate sustainability and reporting for competitive business programme in Peru”

Luciano Barcellos de Paula, Professor, Researcher, CENTRUM PUCP Business School commented on this award, “The success of the L&D initiative in supporting the Competitive Business Programme has been the commitment of all parties involved, such as GRI and SECO, SMEs, anchor companies, professors, and students. In synergy with the GRI, CENTRUM PUCP promotes and contributes to the achievement of sustainable development in Peru to foster better integration of SMEs in global value chains the development of more detailed and sector-specific sustainability reports.”

Eric Cornuel, President of EFMD, congratulated all the winners of the EiP Awards: “Warm congratulations to all of this year’s winners. We are pleased to continue recognising outstanding partnerships in Learning & Development. We had more than 50 entries from across the global and various industries, with many exceptional examples of the impact of investing in human and organisational development.”

Jan Ginneberge, Senior Advisor at EFMD Corporate Services added, “This year’s exceptional set of impactful partnerships turned out to showcase some interesting underlying trends in organisations such as the ambidexterity of preparing a next normal while keeping up the current practices at maximum quality levels – and coping with covid-19 restrictions during this transition.  And the attention to ecological and social impact of businesses which was not only the main focus of a considerable cluster of cases – and awards by consequence – but also a consideration in quite a number of other cases.”

EFMD is eager to provide visibility and support to all professionals in the L&D sector. The winners will be awarded during the next EFMD Executive Development Conference on 21-23 September 2021.

We would like to thank all the applicants, as well as the jury members for their successful cooperation, and we hope to receive further exciting cases next year. We are pleased to note the continuously growing quality of applications. Apart from the Silver award winners, there were Gold award winners and finalists selected from all of the entries.

Next submission deadline: 15 March 2022

For submission guidelines and expression of interest, please visit our website. If you have any questions or would like further information on the EiP awards, find out more in the EiP Overview Brief or please contact Florence Gregoire.