Gilfresh Produce, a family-run vegetable-growing company based in Loughgall which employs approximately 130 staff, is among 40 organisations from across Northern Ireland celebrating their Investors in People (IiP) accreditation.
Derek Baker, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Employment and Learning, congratulated all the organisations receiving the prestigious business award at a celebration event held in Hillsborough Castle.
Mr Baker said: “I am delighted to present the awards to such a diverse range of organisations across all sectors. The link between people and business success remains a very powerful one. Therefore, employee engagement is at the heart of Investors in People as the relationship between an organisation and its people is key to delivering business success both now and in the future.
“Investors in People presents the opportunity for all organisations to improve performance, with 71% of them achieving the business results expected from their staff engagement and 23% reporting higher than anticipated benefits. IiP also acts as a catalyst for continued business improvement. Indeed Investors in People is ‘Raising the Standard’ by updating the core IiP Framework to reflect modern best practice in people management for high performance.”
Mr Baker concluded: “Congratulations on receiving your IiP Accreditation, which has led to real improvements to your organisations through developing your most important asset – your people.”
William Gilpin, Managing Director of Gilfresh Produce, added: “The Investors in People programme has really helped transform our business. We now have a clear strategy to help us move forward, engage more with our people than ever before and as a result are seeing substantial improvements in production efficiencies throughout the company.”
Three of the 40 businesses celebrating IiP success achieved an additional level accreditation. Kindertree Community Playgroup, Relate Northern Ireland and St Patrick’s Primary School in Magherafelt all achieved Bronze awards.
Also recognised at today’s awards ceremony were the South West College, Queen’s University (School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Ballyclare High School, Enniskillen Integrated Primary School and Housing Rights Service, for achieving the IiP Health & Wellbeing Award which focuses on employee engagement.
For further information about Investors in People, please go to http://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/iip.
