The CIPD has announced the winners of the People Management Awards 2025, celebrating the positive impact that people professionals have on business productivity and organisational success. The awards recognise and share the achievements of people teams around the world, including the UK, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, US, UAE, Turkey and the Republic of Korea.
Top winners on the night included Bright Horizons, a UK-based early years care provider, and Havas, a global communications company.
Bright Horizons took home the award for the private sector HR/L&D & OD Team of the Year and was highly commended in the Best Apprenticeship Scheme and Best Resourcing Initiative categories.
Havas took the award for Best Health and Wellbeing Initiative (private sector) and was highly commended in the HR/L&D & OD Team of the Year category.
Our diverse panel of more than 90 judges from across the people profession scrutinised hundreds of entries across 24 categories, from resourcing and talent management to people analytics. The shortlisted entries highlighted work to support organisational success and address current issues including recruitment, retention and the use of technology.
Award-winning people professionals supporting business through challenges
In response to sector-wide staffing challenges, Bright Horizons, the private sector Team of the Year winner, launched a bold, data-driven strategy to attract, develop and retain talent. At its core is a pathway of development and programmes to support colleagues across 272 settings from entry-level through to leadership.
Bright Horizons said in its entry: “Our talent development programmes have driven measurable outcomes, including a 16% increase in high-performing nursery managers and a 46% rise in qualified professionals. The quality of care within our nurseries has also seen substantial improvements.”
The judges said that Bright Horizons had a data-led approach to the development of people and programmes, and demonstrable impacts on retention, recruitment, leadership and OFSTED ratings.
Bright Horizons was also highly commended in the Best Apprenticeship Scheme and Best Resourcing Initiative categories.