NI organisations celebrate at Investors in People event

Thirty-five local organisations have been presented with Investors in People (IiP) status at a special ceremony held at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

The event, which is Northern Ireland's third Investors in People Group Celebration Event, took place on Friday 15 March, and was attended by Mrs Carmel Hanna, Minister for Employment and Learning, who gave an address about the importance of effective training and development.

Mrs Hanna said: “Tonight’s ceremony is an outstanding illustration of how Northern Ireland is leading the way when it comes to investing in people. The 35 organisations here to celebrate their achievement are helping to spearhead the drive for future economic success.

“This region is the fastest growing IiP region in the UK and that is vital to our future economic development. Organisations and businesses in all sectors have to ensure that they have a knowledgeable, skilled and adaptable workforce if they are to succeed.

“They can only achieve that by investing in their people in the same way that they invest in bricks, mortar and machinery. That is exactly what IiP is all about. It encourages the sort of partnership that is essential for any organisation to compete successfully – they invest in their people and their people invest in them. The result is a ‘win-win’, in which the organisation gets its dividend in output, while staff see the improvement in their own performance, skills and abilities.”

Amongst the companies that received IiP status at the ceremony were AVX Limited, Coleraine, Holiday Inn, Belfast, Ministry of Defence, Lisburn, UNITE Solutions Ltd, Belfast and Laird Contracts, Bangor

The Minister said that 543 organisations in Northern Ireland had now been recognised as Investors in People. She added: “This is well ahead of the UK average, and those organisations that have achieved the standard have shown the sort of forward thinking that others should follow.

“Effective training and development is a must. No matter what the size or sector of business, the bottom line is that we have to continually strive to improve performance, competitiveness and flexibility if we are to compete on a local, national and world stage."

(CL)