10 YEARS OF ‘INVESTING IN PEOPLE' BRINGS HIGH REWARDS
It is 10 years since the Trust's commitment to investing in its staff was ‘formalised' with the award of the Investors in People certification. Since then, the Trust has been assessed 5 times and currently holds the IIP Standard (Profile Assessment) and the Work Life Balance Model.
UPDATE ON 30 NOVEMBER 2007:
CSFT first Scottish company to be awarded IIP Champion status!
Our journey with IIP has evolved over the last decade from something aspirational to an integral part of our day to day business. We recognised that the key to our future success was our staff and that investing in them would we would be able, over the long term, create, establish and maintain the Central Scotland Forest for the benefit of the generations who will live, work and play in it.
Initially, the Standard was implemented through the development of process and procedure, in consultation with staff. As the standard evolved, the impact and evaluation on learning and development had to be considered. In 2001 we began to integrate Work Life Balance with IIP as the focus of our corporate culture.
Certificates are all fine, but what do they mean to the Trust's staff and how it operates?
Working lives are made easier with flexible working hours; working from home opportunities; support for carers when emergencies or illness occur; voluntary health checks; on-site allotments; being able to bring dogs to work; excellent communication about, and involvement in, what's going on in the Trust's operations and, of course, staff social events including lunch time barbeques and go-karting evenings.
When people are happy about their work, their place of work and their working practices they work better and their commitment is stronger, resulting in better work outputs - everybody wins!
Possibly the most dramatic illustration is the increase in project value, scale and complexity. In 1997, our average project had a monetary value of between £50 and £70k, with some as low as £20k. The projects were typically large woodland planting with a simple path design. The only community aspect would have been a small event or fun day.
In contrast, by 2006, we delivered the largest landscaping project on the ground in Scotland that year, the Falkirk Stadium and surrounding landscaping. This project was extremely complex in terms of planning, design, delivery, had a value in excess of £1 million and was in an urban setting.
This step change illustrates the move which CSFT has made in terms of primarily dealing with landscape to a focus on the environment.
Without IIP and the resultant focus and investment in the learning and development of staff we could not have increased the scale, complexity and value of projects. This, in turn, attracts more qualified and professional staff which adds to the learning and developing process which further increases our capability to undertake even more complex work.
By delivering quality products and services to our partner organisations we have become a trusted and reliable deliverer, being inviting to particpiate in projects for which we would never previously even have been considered, far less. As an example, along with Falkirk Council and British Waterways, we are a partner organisation in the HELIX project, based in Falkirk, which has a value of c£45 million.
In addition, partners now rely upon our professional and technical support in areas such as procurement and biodiversity to deliver their targets.
The work and people of the Trust have never been held in such high regard.
Life, society, the working environment and people change through time. 10 years ago, flexible working hours were quite revolutionary - now they are becoming the ‘norm'. Practices that are revolutionary today will be ‘old hat' in 10 years from now, so ‘Investing in People' is a continuous evolving process to which the Trust is fully committed.
