The award was presented for the first time by the industry association Swedish HR Association and is intended to highlight issues within HR.

The jury justified their choice of Petter Stordalen with the following:

“Sweden's HR profile is a true inspirer, entrepreneur and courageous person who constantly manages to develop the business without losing focus on good leadership.

The person uses their power and authority to demonstrate the importance of having good leadership combined with a good work environment to succeed in the business.

Through their entrepreneurial thinking, the winner dares to take matters into their own hands and not wait for society to act. In this way, the winner contributes to sustainable social development, a good working climate and, for many, a chance to earn their own living.”

– I am incredibly grateful for the award and for the fact that the Swedish HR Association has seen the work that is being done in Nordic Choice Hotels. We want to be an active player in the social debate and we want to contribute to finding solutions to society's major challenges. One of the most important issues right now is getting people into jobs, people who are traditionally far from the labor market, says Nordic Choice Hotels founder Petter Stordalen.

The finalists for HR Profile of the Year were, in addition to Petter Stordalen, Madeleine Raukas, Director of Traffic and Service at SJ, and actor, director and lecturer Morgan Alling.

The Swedish HR Association is a trade association that since 1921 has brought together members around Sweden to raise and make issues within HR visible.