LEONARD CHESHIRE DISABILITY BECOMES FIRST CHARITY IN SCOTLAND TO ACHIEVE INVESTORS IN PEOPLE PLATINUM AWARD
Leonard Cheshire Disability have become the first charity in Scotland to achieve the coveted Investors in People Platinum Award.
The world-recognised Investors in People standard reflects the very best in people management excellence. The charity have also achieved Gold Standard of the Investors in Young People Good Practice Award and the Investors in Health & Wellbeing Good Practice Award.
Investors in People praised the charity for their strong culture and ethos which is “focused on supporting service users to achieve their full potential.” The report cites the organisation’s ambition of being the best in their field.
Staff within the organisation highlighted the importance of core values which are embedded and strengthen the decisions made when supporting service users. The report made reference to members of staff being “led and developed in line with your values, which are undoubtedly at the heart if everything you do in your organisation… your focus is about decision making with everything centred around the service user.”
Peter Russian, Chief Executive of Investors In People, said: “Congratulations to Leonard Cheshire Disability Scotland on their hat-trick in achieving Investors in People Platinum, the Health and Wellbeing award and Investors in Young People Gold.
“To achieve one of these awards at the highest level is impressive enough, to achieve all three is truly remarkable and a real sign of the commitment Leonard Cheshire Disability Scotland has to their people”.
Investors in People highlighted a significant increase in the organisation’s staff retention rate from 71% in 2015 to 87% in 2017. The report cited a whole raft of initiatives which have strengthened staff engagement, including enhanced employee benefit packages, the charity paying staff above the Scottish Living Wage, a strong philosophy around learning and development and a clearly defined career structure. All staff are empowered from day one with individual objectives and involvement in the organisation’s decision-making processes, allowing them to perform to a high standard and achieve their full potential.
The organisation’s success has been praised by the Scottish Government’s Minister for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn MSP who said: “Leonard Cheshire Disability Scotland do great work to support people with disabilities to undertake training and development so it is great to see them putting the same focus on developing their own workforce.
“In line with our Fair Work ambitions, the Scottish Government is committed to supporting all individuals to access and progress in employment, and building satisfying and sustainable careers. I would heartily encourage all organisations to explore how they can benefit from Investing in People accreditation.”
The achievement comes in the 70th anniversary year of the founding of the charity. Since 1948 the organisation has delivered pioneering social care at the heart of communities throughout Scotland. The charity has been praised for its ambitious and positive approach and is currently experiencing rapid expansion with a number of innovative volunteering and employment programmes for people with disabilities and additional support needs.
Leonard Cheshire Disability Scotland’s Director Stuart Robertson said: “I am very proud that Leonard Cheshire Disability Scotland is the first charity in Scotland to be accredited with IiP – Platinum, Investing in Young People – Gold and Health and Wellbeing from Investor in People.
“I believe this demonstrates the organisations commitment to invest in our staff and the value we place on them. We hope this will make us an employer of choice within the social care sector and by recruiting and retaining the best staff it enables us to continue to deliver support of the highest quality.”
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