PRIMA SOLUTIONS: GOLD STANDARDINVESTORS IN PEOPLE SINCE 2012

At Prima Solutions, we have our people’s interests andwelfare at the heart of the business, whether they are staff,partners, student placements or Customers

Our tag line of ‘You’d enjoy working with us too!’ is some-thing we truly believe in

Our approach is right at the heart of what we do, not justsomething ‘we do’ to meet the set of requirements needed toget the IIP accreditation. As a small business, we want to bebetter; Working in partnership with our customers andemployees; having professional processes for engaging withour customers and employees; producing consistently highresults; and high staff retention

Here’s just a selection of some the strengths highlighted inthe report:

“The induction was second to none and perfect”

“The mentoring culture runs through from the top and everyonereally values each other and everyone’s contribution”

“People are open and trusting of each other at whatever level. Theywork hard and enjoy what they do and the people they do it with”

“There is most definitely a culture that encourages continuous learn-ing and promotes the development of skills and knowledge at everylevel”

IIP gives us a solid point of reference and framework for allour business activities:

- A clear statement of culture and values against which we

can all measure ourselves

- A clear annual statement of our business plan, objectives

and development needs

- A clear statement of our expectations of our managers in

terms of people management

- A clear communication of all of the above at a company and

individual level

The work doesn’t stop at the assessment either, there is aContinuous Improvement Programme that looks at ways toactively engage employees, ensuring that our principles andprocesses are applied consistently and that employeesactively drive positive outcomes by taking ownership

Our current team of Champions are looking at differentareas of the business and holding workshops with other

team members to get their input and feedback, which webelieve provides real ownership in the outputs.Subjects include: Leading & Inspiring People, Empower-ing & Involving People, Living the Organisations Values &Behaviours, Structuring Work and Building Capability

And if you wondered what Investors in People is, thenread on ….

Who are Investors in People? : Investors in People orIIP, started in 1991 and are owned and managed by theUK Commission for Employment and Skills, a publiclyfunded, industry-led organisation. IIP is the standard forpeople management; defining what it takes to lead,support and manage people for sustained success.

Prima Solutions have been an accredited company since1999 and are really proud to be Gold Standard awardholders since 2012, re-assessed in 2015; It is very rare tobe awarded Gold twice in succession!

What does an assessment consist of:The ‘standard’ explores practices and outcomes within anorganisation under 3 performance headings:Leading; providing clear objectives and inspiring peopleto deliver in a culture of trust and ownershipSupporting; an organisational structure to deliver thebusiness objectives, supported by performance planning,recognising and rewarding high performanceImproving; continually delivering improvements withemployee involvement

Each company is then assessed and marked on 172evidence requirements

Companies receive feedback on effectiveness of organi-sational processes and practices and whether therecontinues to be sufficient formality to report back andlearn, areas of strength and areas for improvement arealso identified