Investors in People Award Retained for the 5th Year Running

Wear resistant lining and fabrication company Kingfisher Industrial (UK) has maintained the prestigious Investors in People Award for the 5th year.

Kingfisher has a strong people focus, recognising that excellent products are only half the story. If it is to succeed it must have people who are highly skilled at analysing each application and developing a bespoke optimum solution; people who can apply the wear resistant linings and coatings the company specialises in to the highest standards, and people who work well with customers to manage the whole process from initial contact to final handover.

The Investors in People Standard helps enhance business performance through people. It encourages companies to develop a framework of what needs to be achieved in order to maintain continuous improvement. It is very much people focussed, encouraging them to work towards outcomes rather than prescribing fixed actions.

At Kingfisher the first step was to review its strategic plan and make sure everyone understood, agreed with it and appreciated their role. From this individual learning priorities were identified and a check was made to ensure that suitable resources were in place.

Kingfisher MD John Connolly comments, ‘Good people are at the heart of any successful business, so it is important to us that we pursue strategies and structures such as that provided by the Investors In People award. As a result of this process everybody was encouraged to take ownership of the strategic plan, to contribute ideas to its on-going development. Our people were able to bring transparency to their role, and how they interact with colleagues. We also recognised that management functions, roles and needs became more transparent and everybody felt they were contributing to our common strategic goals, which makes for a more positive and productive working environment.’

Part of the framework involved measuring the impact of the new initiatives. This helps people take ownership of their evolving roles and also shows how Investors in People contributes to the market success of a company.

Kingfisher operates around the world and has found that Investors in People is recognised and highly regarded most regions.