We received some fantastic news last week at City Response HQ. I am proud to announce we have been awarded the prestigious level of Investors in People recognition…..GOLD! This is an extraordinary accolade and it’s almost unheard of for businesses of our kind to achieve the Gold award.
So what does this mean for City Response? Investors in People Gold status is made up of a complex framework of standards and achievements which need to be met in order to gain Gold. As a company we have met all of them, in fact, we surpassed the requirements needed to achieve this level of award.
We were assessed by a very experienced business consultant who spent 10 days at our offices, talking to a range of staff from operatives through to senior management. Telephone interviews and on-line surveys were also used during the evaluation process. The assessor also scrutinised our strategies and policies to assess our performance in 5 key areas. The review report that was produced from this revealed that ‘City Response Limited benefits from a clear understanding of its purpose, key targets and values.’
It also found that:
• Many people have been promoted since joining CRL. Others have gained wider experience having moved within the organisation.
• The leadership is seen as being strong.
• There are clear strategies around learning and development.
• Communication is seen as a real strength within the organisation.
We feel proud that our staff described our Senior Management Team as ‘less formal and approachable.’ And that one of the key features revealed by this review is the ‘use of consultation and involvement of employees.’
This prestigious award is limited to the most forward thinking companies in the UK and we couldn’t have achieved it without the hard work and commitment of our staff. We are determined to keep improving and the report did also highlight areas where we can concentrate our efforts to get even better and we are putting a plan in place to do this. However, we believe that by exposing our organisation to this level of scrutiny and achieving Gold status, we can all look forward to an even brighter and more positive future with continued growth and development for staff.