Leaders recognized in Digital Workplace Leader of the Year 2021 Awards

With digital workplace leaders having come into the spotlight when the digital workplace became the essential workplace during the pandemic, it’s never been a better time to celebrate the dedicated professionals who are pioneering this work inside organizations.  

At DWG, we love to hear about the work of these passionate leaders in our industry. The Digital Workplace Leader of the Year award, now in its fifth year, is our way of sharing this excitement with our community and ensuring that these people get the acknowledgement they deserve. 

In 2021, Digital Workplace Leader of the Year was awarded to Linda Lee, Head of Future of Work at DBS Bank, for spearheading the transformation of the organization’s digital workplace. A number of other individuals from the shortlist were also recognized in this year’s awards, for specific areas of achievement, such as supporting employee wellbeing, leading with passion, and pivoting for hybrid working. 

Presenting the awards live on air during Digital Workplace Live, DWG’s Managing Director for Member Services, Nancy Goebel, commented: “The 2021 award recipients are among the strongest in the history of our programme. They are illustrative of a growing cadre of successful change-makers who are passionate storytellers, agile thinkers and results-driven visionaries, enabling digital workplaces that are both employee-centred and support the enterprise’s business strategies.” 

So, in no particular order, here are the additional 2021 Digital Workplace Leader of the Year awards: 

Ashley Knight, Fidelity International – One to Watch

In a new award category, we wanted to acknowledge the innovative work of Ashley Knight, Product Owner for Enterprise Mobility, Conferencing and Workplace Automation at Fidelity International. Knight has been at the forefront of helping the organization to adapt to new ways of working, including a fast rollout of Zoom during the pandemic and now pioneering a Workplace app that makes hybrid working easier. For example, the app detects nearby meeting rooms and offers one-tap connectivity as well as helping employees to identify when frequent contacts are in the office. Knight is known as a creative and innovative problem-solver who finds great solutions to real issues that employees have, working closely with a range of stakeholders to turn ideas into reality. Based on these timely and impressive achievements, we think Knight is definitely one to watch in our industry! 

Find out more about Ashley Knight on LinkedIn. 

Betsy Codding, MassMutual – People Experience

This award acknowledges Betsy Codding, Head of Digital Communications & Multimedia at MassMutual, for her leadership of an intranet redesign that reflects and fosters the culture of the company and provides a powerful entry point for the wider digital workplace ecosystem. Extensive work to engage stakeholders across the company at all levels is a hallmark of Codding’s leadership style as she ensures that everyone feels heard and understands the strategic direction. Her determined and unwavering approach resulted in a project launch that happened on time and on budget in the midst of the global pandemic. She’s known in the industry for her generous knowledge-sharing and among her team for nurturing a creative space in which team members can do their best work. Praise for Betsy from colleagues included acknowledgement of her vision to create: ‘an employee-centred intranet experience’ that is ‘friendly, simplified, community-oriented and personalized’. Under Betsy’s leadership, the MassMutual team recently won a Step Two Silver Award. 

Find out more about Betsy Codding on LinkedIn.

Dawn Hancock, Nordic Consulting – Passionate Leader

Being passionate is a key trait for successful leadership in any sphere, helping to get people engaged and excited about the vision. Dawn Hancock, Senior Director of Knowledge Management and Internal Communications at Nordic Consulting, takes home the Passionate Leader award for her leadership of the company’s global digital headquarters. Under Hancock’s leadership, NordicHQ, which is acknowledged as a key piece of a thriving digital workplace ecosystem, came into being. Described as a ‘one-woman show’, Hancock successfully built the business case and engaged the stakeholders needed to deliver a platform that helps make the lives of employees easier every day. An innovative approach to the launch campaign, including fun and engaging videos and bite-sized training, has helped to ensure great engagement with NordicHQ right from the start. Hancock is acknowledged for her passionate persistence throughout the programme. 

Find out more about Dawn Hancock on LinkedIn. 

Elisha McCallum, Finning – Employee Wellbeing

At a time when employee wellbeing is being spotlighted, we’re pleased to acknowledge Elisha McCallum, Director of Global Communications at Finning, for her important work to champion the mental health of staff. As the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, Finning has a strong focus on physical safety. During the pandemic, McCallum pioneered work to expand the safety focus to include psychological safety using Traction, the company’s front door to the digital workplace. Not only did she lead work to create a better and more inclusive employee experience, she also leveraged the platform to establish a wellbeing community that has fostered mutual sharing and support in challenging times. As a leader, McCallum is known as a passionate storyteller who seeks to create inclusive and engaging online spaces for employees, underpinned by a clear vision and robust governance. 

Find out more about Elisha McCallum on LinkedIn. 

Graham Kennedy, Fidelity Investments – Game Changer

With an impressive and wide-ranging career at Fidelity Investments across two decades, Graham Kennedy takes home the Digital Workplace Leader of the Year – Game Changer award for the second year running, for his impressive leadership of the organization’s digital workplace programme. Building on early work to garner executive support for the digital workplace as a key enabler for associates, Kennedy has pursued initiatives to simplify the ecosystem, re-architect BYOD, and create new squads to support hybrid working. Always taking a research-driven approach as a leader, Kennedy is known for his transparency and candour around the programme as well as for evangelizing the digital workplace mission throughout the organization. Under Kennedy’s leadership, the Fidelity Investments team also scooped a Digital Workplace of the Year Special Award for Associate Experience in 2021. 

Hear Graham in conversation with Nancy Goebel on the Digital Workplace Impact podcast, talking about what it takes to be a game changer in the digital workplace. 

The Digital Workplace of the Year Awards, produced by DWG, celebrate those organizations and practitioners who have excelled at creating well-executed, high-performing digital workplace environments. 

The Awards provide the perfect opportunity for you and your organization to share your digital workplace achievements with peers and to gain global, industry recognition! 

Perhaps you know someone who could be a winner in 2022? Look out on our website for entries, opening January 24, 2022.  

Categorised in: Digital Workplace of the Year Awards