Investment of a different kind

Leading fitted furniture manufacturer David Bailey Furniture Systems has achieved the prestigious Investors in People award. Established for over 20 years, the Kent-based company designs, builds and installs specialist furniture for the UK hospital and healthcare market. According to managing director, Trevor Gillman “It’s relatively easy to invest financially in machinery and the creation of additional factory space, but this type of investment has been an altogether different, yet very rewarding, experience.”

Trevor believes the programme has been a success at all levels. He says: “We had to commit time and energy to the programme, but it has really made us focus on everything we do and how we do it, and that can only bring about improvements for everyone, including ourselves and our customers. Our staff are definitely more confident now and it’s enabling us to create more opportunity for everyone, whether factory or office-based.”

The Investors in People standard is based on four key principles for people development – commitment to develop employees to achieve business goals and targets; planning to review training and development needs required in the context of business; action to assure relevant steps are taken to meet training and development needs, and evaluation to measure the outcomes of training and development for individuals and the organisation.

Research conducted among recognised Investor in People organisations has shown that 80 percent have increased levels of customer satisfaction, and 70 percent have improved their competitive edge and productivity (source: Building Capability for the 21st century, CREATE 1999).

Investors in People – www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/