Business
Standard celebrates 15 years of success
4th April 2008
Newbury Building Society involved for more than a decade
Investors in People, the business improvement tool, is celebrating fifteen years of success with more than 4,000 organisations in the South East now meeting the requirements of the prestigious national standard.
Developed in 1990 and officially launched in 1993 by a partnership of leading businesses and national organisations, Investors in People is a straightforward framework for delivering business improvement.
Accredited companies in the South East that have met the requirements of the Standard range in size from nine to more than 40,000 employees and cover sectors including business and professional, education, health and social care, manufacturing, the public sector, retail and the voluntary sector.
Trish Fraser, managing director of Quality South East, which is the Investors in People centre for the region, said: ³We are delighted that so many companies in the South East have chosen to work with the Investors in People framework as it makes a real difference to their business performance. Research has shown that organisations recognised by Investors in People are better off in terms of productivity and profit compared to their non-recognised competitors.
"When Investors in People was first set up, the best practices from all the top companies around at the time were looked at and became the benchmark for the Standard. Obviously these have been developed over the last 15 years but essentially, if you can achieve Investors in People you can be assured that you are a top performer when it comes to running your organisation."
In the South East, 64 organisations employing a total of more than 20,000 staff have held the Investors in People award to support their business success for more than 10 years.
Newbury Building Society, which has its headquarters in Newbury, employs 118 staff and has been accredited for 12 years.
Anne-Marie Goldsmith, HR Manager, said: "We became involved with Investors in People in 1996 to get feedback on the quality and effectiveness of the development we gave staff so we could improve for the future; to find out how staff felt about the training and development they received; and to benchmark our training and development against a nationally recognised Standard.
"We have continually improved our learning and development activities since our initial involvement with Investors in People, and subsequent Reviews have endorsed our continued best practice."
Ms Fraser said: "Working with the Investors in People Standard can result in great business benefits. Companies often report increased productivity, customer satisfaction and staff retention as well as a reduction in staff turnover and an increase in cost savings Investors in People really encourages people to feel more involved with their company and greatly improves their motivation."
To find out more about the benefits of Investors in People visit www.qse.org.uk <http://www.qse.org.uk> , www.investorsinpeople.co.uk <http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk> or call 01329 822077.
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