It had been over 6 months since the team had submitted their application for the 2017 Princess Royal Training Awards. Now, after a rigorous assessment process the day had arrived when the recipients would be announced. The envelope was carefully torn open and the letter inside taken out with the eager anticipation of opening a present on a Christmas morning. But what did it say?
The joy that followed would be felt more keenly than any Christmas and the warm glow would last for days. As you have probably guessed, the letter acknowledged that F-Secure's HackFu event had achieved the standard needed to earn the Princess Royal Training Award in 2017. A fabulous honour for the team who have nurtured and developed this training programme for the past 10 years.
The Princess Royal Training Awards are delivered by the City & Guilds Group to highlight the value of training and employee development and celebrate examples of best practice. In total, 116 applications were submitted in 2017, with the longlist assessed against three Hallmarks of Excellence by the Princess Royal Training Awards Commission, which comprised of HRH The Princess Royal and seven leading figures in the business and training community.
"It has never been more important for Britain’s businesses to invest in training to boost their productivity, address skills gaps and develop their leaders. I congratulate all the successful organisations who presented examples of the innovative, inspiring and impactful training that’s taking place across the UK today. They are truly worthy recipients of this rigorously assessed royal award and we are delighted to be able to honour their achievements through the Princess Royal Training Awards."
Chris Jones, Chief Executive of City & Guilds Group
On the 2nd November 2017 the HackFu team were invited to St James Palace in London to receive the award from HRH The Princess Royal. The event was a celebration of excellence in learning and development, with a diverse group of organisations represented. They ranged from small businesses through to multinational companies although the size of the business does not affect the quality of the training that can be delivered.
The programmes that were recognised in this year's awards covered all aspects of employee development. Each one was commendable in terms of its originality and measurable impact.
The attendees at the awards ceremony shared many inspiring tales of individuals who had directly benefited from the development opportunities provided to them. This was inspiring to us all as well as illustrating the high standards that must be evidenced during the assessment process.
Its fair to say that when we entered these awards we didn't appreciate the level of scrutiny that would be paid to every aspect of HackFu and its impact on the business. One of the aspects of HackFu that was of interest to the assessors on their validation visit was the manner in which the training content is sourced from across the business. Every year the entire team at MWR, as well as our external partners, have the opportunity to submit challenges for inclusion at the event. This diversity of thinking and the ability for every person to influence the event in a positive way is incredibly important. This inclusivity is another reason why engagement with the event is so high and why people attend year after year. So this award is in recognition of all of these challenge writers, attendees and supporters of the event over the past 10 years.
It's therefore a real honour to see recognition of the hard work and commitment demonstrated by the HackFu team at MWR, many of whom are now actively supporting the work of chronyko. It is our team who will now continue to evolve and develop the HackFu event for a wider audience and enable more people to benefit from everything we have learned while working for and with MWR.
