HR Executive Presents...

2026 HR Executive of the Year

Nomination Deadline:
June 12, 2026

Submit a Nomination Now

For more than 30 years, HR Executive has honored human resource leaders who have made outstanding contributions to their organizations and who exemplify the increasingly strategic role in HR business today. In recent years, as workplaces continue to dramatically change, it’s even more important to highlight the professionals who are innovating and reinventing HR for the good of the industry. This award recognizes HR executives from a wide array of companies who have helped shape work and business for millions of employees across the globe. HR Executive is seeking talented senior executives that hold full responsibility for the overall span of HR policies and practices at organizations of more than 10,000 employees. An HR Leader of Distinction award will highlight excellence in HR leadership at an organization with fewer than 10,000 employees.

The 2026 HR Executive of the Year will be honored with a trophy at the HR Icons Awards evening at the HR Tech conference, which will be held in Las Vegas on October 19, 2026, and they will also be recognized at the HRPI Summit in Boston in October 2026. In addition, the chosen professional will be profiled in a feature article on HRExecutive.com, and they will gain additional recognition via HR Executive’s social media channels and email newsletters.  

The nomination deadline is June 12, 2026.

Once the nomination portal is closed, we will no longer accept submissions. 

Submit a Nomination Here

Who is Eligible?

  • Eligible nominees must have five or more years of experience in HR or a related field.  

  • Candidates must have been in their current role at their organization for at least three years. 

  • Nominees must be the highest-ranking HR leader at their organization and they must hold overall responsibility for the full span of their organization’s HR policies and practices.    

  • The HR Executive of the Year award will honor an individual that works at an organization of more than 10,000 employees. 
    An additional HR Leader of Distinction award will highlight an executive at an organization with fewer than 10,000 employees.

  • Eligible nominees must work at an organization that employs 500 or more professionals.

  • To avoid redundancy, we aim to vary the professionals that we profile from year-to-year. That said, any individual who was selected as an HR Executive of the Year five or more years ago, may be nominated once again by including updated details and accomplishments that do not mirror previous submissions. 

What You Should Know

  • All submissions must be completed by a company official. For preparation purposes, the complete nomination form is available for download here. Please note that all final entries must be submitted online via the nomination portal (e-mail and fax are not acceptable). Late entries will not be considered. 

  • For the entry process, each submission must include a letter of recommendation from the CEO of the nominee's organization, as well as the nominee’s up-to-date resume. 

  • Each submission must include a professional headshot. The image must be in color, minimum 300 dpi files and in .jpg format.  

  • Editorial staff will send email notifications to the chosen individuals and their submitters in August. Due to the high volume of nominations that we receive, only those selected will be notified. 

For inquiries regarding this recognition that are not addressed here, contact Paul Wilson. 

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