One of the key strategies to the development of a new generation of future-fit professionals is to raise the standard in human resource management by identifying best practices which add value to Human Resource (HR) competencies.​

This year, South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), the professional body for HR practitioners in South Africa, recognises two University of Johannesburg (UJ) professors for their outstanding contributions and achievements in the field of HR resource management.

SABPP will bestow lifetime achievement awards – the highest recognition that a person can receive from SABPP – on Prof Gert Roodt, Vice Dean: Research at the Faculty of Management, and on Prof Theo Veldsman, Head of the Department:Industrial Psychology and People Management also from the Faculty of Management.

The awards, that recognise major contributions to the Human Resource profession over a period of 30 years, will be bestowed on UJ’s recipients on Tuesday, 20 November in Vereeniging, Gauteng.

In qualifying for these awards the SABPP applied the following criteria:

· Contribution in developing, building and sharing HR knowledge and best practices;

· Evidence of creating excellence and best practices in HR management, in particular from a strategic HR perspective;

· Raising the standard of HR practice;

· Visibility and impact in the HR profession;

· Adding value in building HR competencies; and

· Championing the four pillars of the HR profession (duty to society, ethics, professionalism, HR and business knowledge);​​