We got a letter this morning, congratulating Corixa Communications on having been an Investor in People for over a decade. In fact, we first qualified for the standard in 1997, in IoP’s infancy.
Since then, the standard itself has changed almost beyond recognition, and many of our ‘invested in’ people have moved on or away from the South West, got married, emigrated, had babies, left work completely, and generally experienced all the life changing events that tend to mark those interesting years between graduation and hitting middle age.
But our commitment to the principle of investing our people – and expecting them to invest in us – remains the same. Keeping people well informed, being open and honest – on both sides – about our expectations of each other, and dealing with everyone fairly and consistently, are even more important than training. And with or without a certificate on the wall, mutual respect is what binds a team together and makes it more than the sum of its parts.