Investors in People CASE STUDY

Overview

Having appointed Tony Willson as their Investors in People Advisor, Countryside Properties PLC were not only successful in achieving the accreditation but they have maintained the award since 2000. In addition, they have twice been featured in the Sunday Times 'Top 100 Companies to Work For' list, and they have also twice won the prestigious Building Homes Quality Award for Training & People Development.

Countryside Properties plc

In 1997, Countryside Properties PLC, specialist property developers, appointed Tony Willson as their Investors in People (IiP) consultant. Following a full staff consultation, an action plan was created that focussed on three key areas - communication, performance and training. Volunteer members of staff formed three focus groups and their recommendations were passed to an IiP Advisory Group, made up of The Chief Executive and Managing Directors. It was the Advisory Group's responsibility to implement any practical recommendations. Tony successfully used his expertise to increase the possibility of the changes suggested by the focus groups being accepted at Board level.

The communications focus group aimed at improving all forms of communication in the business. The group organised initiatives such as presentations by the Chief Executive on the annual and half-year results and strategy, a comprehensive staff newsletter, more staff social and charity events and a 'Who's Who', listing details of all staff. The focus group also devised a comprehensive Mission Statement ('The Countryside Objective') which, when presented to the Main Board was 'exactly what we would have said about the company ourselves'. This statement still forms a driver for the business 9 years after being launched.

The performance focus group's main task was to devise and implement an appraisal system that was achieved with personal development reviews (PDRs) for all staff. Countryside did not want to recruit their own training department to handle the needs arising from the appraisals, but it was not possible to find a company to outsource to, mainly due to the size of Countryside at the time. Tony agreed to take it on and started a business, Helmsman, to do this.

The training focus group looked at how pro-active training could be implemented and soon, a company-wide, voluntary, training programme was put in place. 'Skills 98' consisted of 6 half-day sessions covering a range of soft skills including communication, time management, problem solving and teamwork. With Helmsman's assistance, the training focus group also put together a rolling programme of around 40 courses (called 'Training to Succeed') that were offered at least once or twice a year and which have formed the backbone of the Countryside Properties basic training.

A further staff survey was conducted in early 2000 and when compared against the original, showed a significant improvement in just about every question asked. Countryside were first recognised as an Investor in People in March 2000 and, having implemented a large number of the recommendations made by the Assessor, were re-accredited 18 months later.

Helmsman has co-ordinated and managed every aspect of training and development from receiving the needs identified by the PDRs, through to reporting to various committees and senior directors. Helmsman dealt with sourcing and contracting training courses, their administration and evaluation, recording all aspects of staff training and Health and Safety, handling claims required by the Construction Industry Training Board and CSCS Card applications.

In the time that they have worked with Tony and Helmsman, Countryside Properties have maintained their Investors in People accreditation and have twice been featured in the Sunday Times 'Top 100 Companies to Work For' list. They have also won the prestigious Building Homes Quality Award for Training & People Development, two years in succession.

Helmsman's help and contribution to their successes has not gone unnoticed; Wendy Colgrave, Group Finance Director at Countryside said: "I feel that our two companies have leaned on each other in equal measure during the years that we have worked together. Countryside have benefited greatly, firstly from Tony's help with IiP and a little later of course, from Helmsman's training support"