Four lessons we learned by gaining Investors in People platinum status

To call us proud would be an understatement. We’re delighted to be awarded platinum accreditation by Investors in People this year after going up a level each consecutive year for the last nine.

It means so much to our leadership team and to our people to be independently recognised for prizing our employees who then, logically, go on to prioritise our clients; evident from our growth and the consistent strength of our net promoter scores.

This is a mantra of ours we’re happy to come back to. We started out twenty years ago next year with this core principle, linking how we develop our colleagues so they go all out for clients.  That it’s seen us thrive and to earn independent, audited recognition of this standard is a tangible achievement by itself.

But the reason I thought I’d take up the keyboard is because I know we’re by no means alone in identifying IIP status as a key indicator of the quality of our people, our relationships and our ambition.

Fifty-five thousand organisations across the world are in the IIP framework. Only two per cent achieve platinum accreditation.

And it’s almost certainly the case that many of our clients – and even competitors – are embarked on this same process and will know that it’s demanding yet rewarding.

So, very much in the spirit of one of our cherished values – to do the right thing – we wanted to share four lessons we’ve learned on the way.

Stamina: it’s not an overnight process – as our near decade working our way up the accreditation scale testifies – but a rolling project. Overnight success is an oxymoron most of us recognise and it’s no different when it comes to practising, validating and reporting on the progress made against the IIP framework.

Strategy: we set ourselves a target to go above where we were and a timeline for when we wanted to get there. Call it an objective, an aspiration or a goal, the common factor is to set a destination and duration for reaching it.

Stretch: did we think we would scale the heights and land on the platinum accreditation podium? In all honesty, we weren’t sure but so much of what we do is informed by a culture of going that bit further, to strive a little more so that it took on a life of its own.

Which is why the fourth lesson from this process is System. We knew there was a procedure, a recognised way to ensure the great work we are doing with our teams was captured efficiently and with minimum effort so we could demonstrate the progress we were making.

Was the long-term focus and effort it took to achieve this status worth it? We, along with the tens of thousands of other organisations bringing not only our brand but our corporate standing to be indexed by this established, impartially applied standard believe it very much is.

Read more about our Investors in People award here.