When sector skills council People 1st won a Best Places to Work in Hospitality award it enabled it to focus more clearly on its role developing people. Daniel Thomas reports
As the sector skills council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, People 1st's mission is to address the chronic skills shortages that have plagued the industry for many years and help employers improve their training and development practices.
The organisation, which launched in 2004, realised that it needed to prove it could walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
"We cannot champion skills development and training if we don't live and breathe those values within the company," it says.
People 1st has implemented a number of HR-led initiatives, including quarterly learning, information days and bespoke training and mentoring, while many people work on a flexible basis, in terms of hours and location. It also supports the development of young people, both in terms of identifying training roles within the organisation and funding the study of additional qualifications. But although these measures have improved levels of employee engagement, People 1st had not been recognised for its good employer practices - until it won the Best Places to Work in Hospitality award for hospitality suppliers.
Lesley Potter, communications director at People 1st, says the organisation was "thrilled" with the Best Places award.
"It was the first real recognition of all the work that we have done to support our teams and proof that we very much believe in developing skills and talent, giving people the opportunity to learn and trying to support them in their daily working lives," she says.
Potter admits the award was unexpected, despite the organisation's focus on developing people and investing in skills and training.
"We felt we had the systems and culture in place, but hadn't benchmarked ourselves before against our peers," she says.
"I think the judges genuinely saw how much we try and do to support people at work. We can't ask the industry to focus on the importance of training if we don't live and breathe that philosophy ourselves. I think the results from our employees showed that we apply that principle to our own organisation."
As the creator of the Good Employer campaign, which highlights organisations within the industry that believe in developing their teams, People 1st needs to prove that it understands the systems and standards it asks others to subscribe to, according to Potter.
"Without a doubt, winning a Best Places to Work in Hospitality award encouraged us to go for further accreditation and I think played a key factor in our success in understanding what we needed to do and focus on," she says.
"We have also just been awarded two-star status ["Outstanding"] in the national 2010 Best Companies accreditation, the system behind The Sunday Times Top 100."
People 1st's investment in HR and training initiatives has not been impacted by the recession, with outlay averaging more than £600 per person per year - or about six days per person per year, Potter reveals.
"Clearly we are all working in a more difficult financial environment, but we are very focused on continuing to develop people and don't believe in cutting training in a recession," she says.
"On the contrary, we think it is important to invest. We'll do everything we can to maintain the current commitment."
Every individual employee at People 1st has the opportunity to establish a personal training plan, in agreement with their manager. It runs a number of in-house training courses, but also uses external training for specific needs.
"If we're able, we partner on programmes that industry employers are running and sponsor employees to do longer-term studying for a specific qualification," Potter adds.
Maintaining a friendly atmosphere is a key part of the employment strategy at People 1st. The quarterly learning and information days include a social element, an annual summer barbecue at chief executive Brian Wisdom's house, a weekly staff newsletter and Employee of the Quarter awards.
"Birthdays are remembered - we eat copious amounts of cake! - and people are always publicly thanked and recognised for their contribution and achievements," Potter adds.
Moving forwards, People 1st intends to focus on the employee feedback it got from the Best Places award and the Best Companies accreditation and try and improve those areas where its scores weren't quite so high, Potter says.
"We have our 'Ministry of Innovation' team - a staff consultative group - who work directly with the chief executive to develop ideas and new ways of working," she adds. "We're always looking to improve our benefits and seek innovative ways of working with other industry organisations to do that."
WHY IS PEOPLE 1ST A BEST PLACE TO WORK IN HOSPITALITY?
This year, for the first time, Caterer invited employees of the nominated companies to comment on why their employer was a Best Place to Work in Hospitality. We round up some of the views of the People 1st staff:
● "Great people to work with, who really care about delivering a service and making a difference to the whole hospitality industry and the people who work in it. This is the best team of people I have worked with, which is a credit to the culture of the organisation."
● "The dynamic of the whole organisation is driven by the desire of each individual to make a difference to the hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors and we are encouraged and supported on a daily basis to ensure we make the biggest impact we can in our particular area. We are all empowered to make decisions that are right for the business and are rewarded and recognised for doing this."
● "Family values are really important to the organisation and the team who work here. Every person is cared about as an individual, each team member contributes to the success of the organisation and this is celebrated."
● "Friendly people, open doors and approachable top management. Regular company updates and meetings. Opportunities to suggest new practices and get them implemented. Flexible approach to how we work."
LEARING CAN BE FUN
Organisations who make the difference when it comes to developing their workers are those that ensure their culture and values are an integral part of all training and development.
People learn more quickly in a relaxed and supportive environment, and will better comprehend the service and style your business is trying to deliver to your customers.