The awards from the IFTDO, an organisation supporting a network of 500,000 human resource professionals in 50 countries, recognise outstanding practice in human resources at an international level.

The awards were split into three categories: performance management, people management and knowledge management. The University won the 2009 Global Human Resource Development Award in performance management for its Positive Working Environment initiative.

The overall winner, selected from one of the three category winners, will be announced at the IFTDO World Conference, hosted by the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD), on 22 October in Toronto, Canada.

Christian Carter, Personnel Manager at the University, said: ‘This is a major achievement not only for Bristol but also the UK higher education sector. The vast majority of entries and conference talks are from global corporate organisations such as IBM, Hyundai and Gulf Air. The event is also backed up and attended by major international academics in the human resources field. Creating and sustaining a positive working environment is the responsibility of all colleagues across the University, as such all at Bristol have played an important part in this win.’

The University currently holds the ‘Employer of the Year’ award given by local training providers for its commitment to apprentice development, which is part of a much wider commitment to the training and development of all staff as part of its PWE  initiative.   The University also won the Outstanding Human Resource Initiative Award at the 2009 Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards for its PWE initiative.