Our Recent Investors In People Review

We are incredibly proud of recieving GOLD in this year’s Investors in People (IIP) new assessing standards.

Since our last IIP blog, we have been under assessment which has come to an end in November. Over the festive period, we have been waiting for the results. Here’s what our HR Manager, Emma Ruffinato had to say: “I am absolutely delighted that we achieved gold this year. I knew it was going to be challenging, but the way the team have feedback is brilliant. I think the staff should be really proud of the recognition for working for a desirable employer and the reason, for them, is because of them.”

Over the decade that we’ve engaged IIP, from early on, we’ve managed to consistently uphold the gold status. Last year, IIP reevaluated their assessment criteria. They decided to create a more rigorous framework. They created a platinum level in which organisations can raise the bar up to.

We knew to get platinum straightaway with the updated framework would be unachievable. To maintain our gold status is brilliant. Especially when measured with the new standards. When we compare our new ranking to previous years, we can see the key areas where we have dramatically improved. Something we strive to do on a daily basis.

With the goal of evolving daily, we have taken the new framework and set to reach all qualifying targets. Improving our processes along the way. It is not a box ticking exercise by any means. Any changes we put in place only mean we are engaging with our staff teams in a better way; which is precisely what IIP is all about.

It’s not about the people in our care or us, but the people in our organisation; how they feel about working for the business and how much we hear their voice. It’s also about how much they can get involved in the decision making processes and how much they understand the overall strategy. Ultimately, IIP is the measure of a quality employer; highly IIP accredited businesses are recognisable as the type of organisations that you want to work for. To get gold is a direct reflection of the collective hard work of everyone here at Progress.

Emma states: “It’s not about the organisation it is about the team holistically. For me, this is an achievement everybody should be celebrating. We wouldn’t be recognised the way we are without them.”

What’s next? Of course, we do want the platinum level. For us, that means to dig deep, highlight the critical areas of improvement, and set to work. Since our last review 12 months ago, we’ve already seen significant results. Four of the areas in the framework we have improved on since last time and four we’ve already hit the ceiling and couldn’t do it better. Out of nine areas, we think this is fantastic news.

Fundamentally where do need to improve by 2019 is recognising and rewarding high performance.

The good news is we’ve already done a lot of the legwork to achieve this. We started by just talking to the team. Rather than assume what was important to them, it was important to us to hear from them directly. To ask how they felt. What made them feel valued. Sadly, we can’t hand out juicy fat cash bonuses (as much as we’d like to) but we can reward people in other ways that mean something to them.

This is our key area of focus. We set up the staff forum to give us a platform for the team to have their say. It is a handy tool to get an accurate picture to see how staff are feeling. To discuss what’s working well, what needs to change, what would they like to say, etc. It took a while to embed, but now people are feeling more confident. They are actively contributing, with invaluable opinions that we can put towards positive change. We look forward to watching the team develop on their own individual journey as we progress and grow. After all, we are all in it together.

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