We are proud to announce that we have achieved Investors in People Gold Accreditation, putting the company in the top 2% of UK companies for good people management policies.
We have held Investors in People (IIP) accreditation since 2005, but achieving gold status is a milestone for the company. Naturally, we are all really pleased about this. The above picture shows the award being presented (left to right: Ruth Hewitt, IIP Specialist Consultant, David MacDonald, Programmes Director, Lucy Harrier, Production Director, and Helen MacDonald, Managing Director).
The award follows an independent review of company policies, a staff survey and interviews with a representative sample of employees from all job grades and teams (almost half the people in the company were interviewed).
Some of the things IIP’s report on our organisation says:
Yours is a good place to work – this makes it attractive to prospective employees. You employ smart people and this makes you attractive to clients.
Going beyond client expectations is the norm.
100% of your employees believe that they are encouraged to achieve high performance. … there is individual accountability for pieces of work and a clear focus on achievement.
You strive to demonstrate best value and quality in what you deliver.
We have also, for the first time, received the Investors in Young People Good Practice Award, recognising our work in recruiting, supporting and developing young people.
Production Director Dr Lucy Harrier, who was the driving force behind our accreditation, said “We are extremely pleased that our people management policies have been recognised by Investors in People. We really do value our people as our most important asset, and being accredited at gold level demonstrates our commitment to being a progressive employer. We aim to support our employees through training, coaching and good management and, in turn, they support the business with their commitment, skills and experience.”
We are not going to rest on our laurels. The detailed report from IIP gives us ideas of ways we can become even better. These include areas such as helping staff be more included in decision-making and building on our existing recognition and reward systems.
We will aim for Platinum accreditation next time round – but for now we are more than happy with Gold!