Pinnacle Award

The SHRM Pinnacle Award Program is an annual recognition program honoring the highest achievements in affiliate development and contributions that serve HR professionals, advance the HR profession and enhance the SHRM community. SHRM chapters and state councils are encouraged to apply for a Pinnacle Award for innovative projects created and implemented by your SHRM affiliate.

Eligibility

All SHRM-affiliated chapters and state councils in good standing are eligible to submit one nomination for consideration. This single nomination includes any participation in a group or joint application with other chapters or state councils.

View the 2017 Pinnacle Award Program which includes information on all 2017 chapter and state council finalist programs. Read the SHRM.org article about 2017 winners or the 2017 press release on all the winners.

Application Details

Special consideration is given to successful programs that are readily transferable to other affiliates. Winners are selected by the Pinnacle Award Selection Committee using the following Standards of Excellence:

  • An outstanding accomplishment that experts or peers in the human resource field would agree deserves special recognition.
  • A significant technical or professional impact on the human resource profession.
  • A high level of originality or inventiveness that clearly identifies your affiliate as having created an innovative enhancement or solution to a significant issue or problem. • Outstanding leadership and coordination of extremely effective activities.
  • A program that produced significant results above and beyond expectations and enabled your affiliate to meet key benchmarks and schedules that otherwise would not have been completed.
  • Improved program, service and product quality, or member satisfaction to a degree that significantly increased membership and revenue and/or reduced costs.
  • A cohesive and innovative utilization of social media to engage members and/or increase participation at the chapter or state council level, in alignment with short- and long-term goal strategies.
  • An important addition or amendment to the SHRM portfolio of programs, products and services.

NOTE: It is unlikely that any one program will satisfy every Standard of Excellence mentioned, and some achievements may reflect qualities other than those listed here. The Selection Committee reserves the right to adopt additional criteria agreed upon by all of its members.

Your application serves as the sole basis for evaluation and judging.

The web-based application is separated into sections. Each section must be completed before the application is submitted.

For more information, completed submission forms may be found on this page.

SECTION 1: IDENTIFICATION:

  • This section is about you and your affiliate.

SECTION 2: AWARD LEVELS AND CATEGORIES

  • The Pinnacle Awards recognize SHRM affiliate programs and initiatives of the highest quality in the award levels and categories described to the right. One winning affiliate’s submission from each of the four award levels will be selected in each category described, with chapter award levels determined by the chapter’s total membership count as of December 31, 2017.
    • NOTE: For those chapters who submit a joint application, the Award level will be based on the largest chapter’s total membership count as of December 31, 2017. For example, if a small- and large- size chapter submit a joint application, it would be considered in the Medium & Large Award Level. SHRM reserves the right to withhold granting an award in a particular award level/category if all submissions in the level/category fail to meet the required eligibility and program requirements.
  • Serving HR Professionals - Excellence in activities that support and promote professionals with HR responsibility to be successful business leaders. Activities may be related to certification, professional learning or skills development.
  • Advancing the HR Profession - Excellence in advancing the HR profession by creating awareness of or by supporting key constituents including the workplace, government and regulatory representatives, employers, schools, the media, and the community at large. Activities may be outreach and awareness programs, government or public affairs programs, or programs focused on key issues such as inclusion, diversity, or workforce readiness.
  • Enhancing the SHRM Community - Excellence in providing programs and services that support SHRM, meet members’ needs, or further the chapter or state council efforts. Activities may include efforts to foster member engagement, retention and acquisition, volunteer development and recognition, or efforts to support the SHRM Foundation.
  • In this section, you will be asked to select the category that your submission reflects, as well as your award level, and explain why your submission meets the description provided for that category. Your response in this section is limited to 200 words. A word count feature has been added to the submission form to assist you in creating your response.

Function:

Act as financial officer and advisor to chapter board of directors. Maintains the chapter mailbox and distributes mail to the appropriate officer, director, or chair. Send dues notices and other invoices to members. File appropriate forms and information with IRS.

Responsible To:

  • The members of the chapter
  • The chapter president

Responsibilities:

  1. Fulfill the role of financial officer and advisor.
  2. The treasurer, as an elected officer of the chapter, is a responsible member of the chapter's board of directors and must take part in discussion and action on all business of the chapter. As financial advisor of the chapter, the treasurer must be in a position to assess the financial implications of proposed actions by the board of directors and inform the committee prior to final decisions being made. Also, the treasurer must observe the financial direction of the chapter, recognize possible financial problems, and bring such problems to the attention of the board of directors for action.
  3. The treasurer shall receive, hold, and safeguard in the capacity of trustee and financial agent, all funds for the chapter.
  4. The treasurer shall disburse such funds only for normal and usual uses unless the chapter's board of directors shall otherwise direct.
  5. Participate in the development and implementation of short-term and long-term strategic planning for the chapter.
  6. Represent the chapter in the human resources community.
  7. Attend all monthly membership and board of directors meetings.

Award Levels and Categories
Award Levels Award Categories
Small Chapters (10 to 100 members)
  • Serving HR Professionals
  • Advancing the HR Profession
  • Enhancing the SHRM Community
Medium and Large Chapters (101 to 500 members)
  • Serving HR Professionals
  • Advancing the HR Profession
  • Enhancing the SHRM Community
Mega and SuperMega Chapters (500+ members)
  • Serving HR Professionals
  • Advancing the HR Profession
  • Enhancing the SHRM Community
State Councils
  • Serving HR Professionals
  • Advancing the HR Profession
  • Enhancing the SHRM Community

Helpful Information

Sample Submission Forms
To get an idea of what a submission looks like, check out these samples.

State Council Sample Submission
Chapter Sample Submission

Previous Winners

Idea Center - Compendiums of Previous Submissions including Award Winners

View executive summaries from previous submissions as your chapter or state council considers embarking on new initiatives.