We know that investing in our staff is crucial to a happy workforce and a successful business but how do you do this properly?
At Imago Venues we have recently achieved our ambition of being awarded the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) Platinum Accreditation.
IIP is an international standard for people management and recognises organisations for their commitment to high performance through strong people management and development.
The Platinum award is IIP’s highest accolade and less than 2% of all the organisations that are assessed world-wide, are rated at this level.
So, what is the secret to reaching Platinum and what are some of the ways you can invest in your people?
We are now going to share some of the things we have learned.
1. Ensure staff know the vision and objectives of the company
It’s important that your workforce is on board with what your organisation is trying to achieve, so that they are on side and invested in your company. This will ultimately translate into a better experience for your clients or customers and that’s what we have experienced here at Imago.
We make sure that we communicate Imago’s purpose, vision and objectives to every member of staff from the first moment they arrive. This makes it clear and easy to understand, ensuring that people are on side and invested in our company. Our staff are aware of the ‘Imago Way’, which translates into exceptional customer service.
2. Empower and support employee’s potential
It’s essential to engage with your staff and to empower them. Here at Imago, we encourage our workforce to make their own decisions, use their initiative to make things right, make suggestions and to drive change.
Why not develop a coaching culture like we have, where all managers receive formal training to identify what their current style of coaching is? Different approaches to coaching are identified to see which are more effective, depending on the personalities of the team members.
We consistently receive positive feedback from our staff about being supportive, approachable, friendly and having proactive line managers.
3. Offer continuous job development opportunities
Try to offer your staff continuous job development opportunities. It shows that you encourage proactive training experiences and want to see them grow as individuals. At Imago, we do this by encouraging our staff to job shadow and job buddy across our different venues.
We also give immediate feedback to colleagues about Imago’s standards of service, the best ways of doing things and how to exceed customer expectations.
4. Encourage staff to share innovative ideas
Create an environment where all staff, no matter what level they are at, are willing to listen to each other, adapt, change and improve.
You can start creating this environment by tracking annual staff survey results to make sure you are addressing the points your staff have raised. Some of the best business ideas come from staff working on the ground and you can write down their ideas, track them for actions and display them through You Said, We Did posters.
This shows your staff that you are listening and taking seriously what they are saying.
5. Motivate staff to deliver your organisation’s objectives
Capturing results and sharing them openly with your staff is a good way to make sure that you are delivering your organisation’s objectives.
Some of the ways we share our results are by creating a Brag Board, which showcases positive customer feedback about staff, and we use this to celebrate good performance.
It’s also important to recognise and reward performance and you can do this through a range of initiatives such as: Staff awards, industry awards and net promotor scores, which are tracked and publicised.