Investment pays off

Labour Ready UK, the British subsidiary of American Staffing giant, Labor Ready Inc. was awarded the highly regarded Investors in People hallmark this month.

Labour Ready has been working towards this standard for the better part of a year and has invested in various initiatives designed to improve the effectiveness of its people. Labour Ready UKís Managing Director and REC Board Member, Jeff Norris, (pictured) commented, ìInvestors in People was of critical importance to everyone involved with Labour Ready UK. Ultimately, weíre an organization - and industry - thatís founded upon people. Itís our job to get the best for people. If weíre to do that, and to do that effectively, we have to demonstrate that we can get the best from people.î

ìIn part, that was why securing the Investors in People Award was important to us. However, further to that, is the obvious benefit of simply investing in our people. At its route, our business is no more than the people who make it up. If we are going to be the best we can be ñ and offer our customers and Temporary Employees the best service we can ñ our people have to be the best trained and equipped that they can be.î

In partnership with their training advisors, Lander Associates, Labour Ready launched their bid for gaining the Investors in People award in February 2004. Since then, the company has formed a Branch Manager Council, a collect ion of their leading managers, who have in turn produced various initiatives aimed at bettering the working environment and training for every new hire within the company. Labour Ready has also had their entire Branch Management Team qualify for the REC Award in Recruitment Practice. Moreover, every employee has taken part in a variety of Development Programmes to improve their personal effectiveness in the workplace.

Labour Ready had originally planned to take the assessment in February 2005, but decided to trial the process in 2004, in order to establish their final focus. However, such was the strength of the initiatives outlined above, the initial inspection led to the organization being highly recommended to panel and subsequently accredited in January of this year.

ìEveryone in our organization was thrilled to learn that we had been awarded the hallmarkî, Norris continued. ìThis tells everyone who we are, and what we stand for. It says that our employees are important to us, and that we will make every effort to train, develop and leverage their skills. It tells our customers, and our potential customers, that we are a credible, pedigreed business with which to trade.î

Labour Ready have advised that they will continue to build on the programmes and initiatives of the previous year, with further Management Development courses already being scheduled in partnership with the REC, as well as the development of a further Council, made up from their Consultant base.