STARK Building Materials UK has won the prestigious HR Excellence Award for Best HR Technology Strategy, in partnership with AdviserPlus.

The Award was made in recognition of the successful collaboration between STARK UK, one of the UK’s leading group of builders’ merchants and materials distributors, and technology partner AdviserPlus, who together delivered a bespoke digital Employee Relations (ER) solution to support the company’s branch managers to self-serve people matters.

Over the past two and a half years, STARK UK has been undertaking a comprehensive organisation transformation to provide the form of modern merchant proposition that general builders and the professional trades need. Central to the company’s improvements has been simplifying the organisation to put branch teams at the heart of its now highly efficient operations so that they are in the best position to support customers with their business and project needs. Providing branch teams with the right technology solutions has helped make line managers’ people management tasks easier and quicker to complete. Giving managers a technology-enabled approach to ER has also boosted their capability and confidence, as part of a transformed colleague experience.

Carol Kavanagh, STARK UK’s HR Director said: “Focusing on the things that service our branch colleagues is core to our HR transformation strategy. Increasingly, we are working in partnership with branch teams to make sure the solutions we develop match their needs. There’s still lots to do and I am hugely proud of how the team continues to deliver at pace, engaging the business and always with our colleagues and customers in mind.”

Simon Fowler, CEO of AdviserPlus and Empowering People Group, added: “This award is a brilliant recognition of the power of combining technology and partnerships that align with business goals. Working with STARK UK to build a solution that genuinely empowers their managers and transforms their employee experience perfectly aligns with our mission. It’s a testament to what can be achieved when innovation and trust come together to simplify complex HR challenges.”

With 70% of employee relations tasks now manager-led, the outsourced ER advice has helped to ensure that HR support can be focused on the other important people areas that will help branch managers the most.

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