The Mayor of Newtownabbey, Alderman Billy Webb, welcomed ten Newtownabbey businesses to the third Investor’s in People Programme sponsored by Newtownabbey Borough Council and the Department for Employment and Learning.

Building on the success of previous programmes and the commitment of the Council to assist local organisations improve their business practice, the ten Newtownabbey businesses took the first steps to invest in their people and the future success of their business.  

The programme challenges participants to benchmark their current management practices and make improvements in relation to how they strategically plan, effectively manage, create the right culture, develop people and manage individual team and company performance.  Support is provided through group workshops, on-site tailored consultancy and an interactive web site containing an extensive resource library.

At the end of the programme each company will be independently assessed against the Investors in People Standard. The IiP Standard is a business improvement tool designed specifically to advance an organisations performance through its people.

Participating companies will not only be in the position to gain accreditation of a best practice standard but also gain feedback through the assessment process to drive continuous improvement actions.

At the official launch of the programme today, Alderman Billy Webb, Mayor of Newtownabbey reinforced the importance of this programme and said

“I know from personal experience the great benefits to an organisation in embracing the principles of IiP and in the present economic situation it is imperative that businesses avail of all opportunities, such as this, to give themselves the edge over their competitors.  I have no doubt the businesses taking part in this programme will quickly see their time commitment as a good investment.  I wish them well and look forward to hearing about their experiences in the programme”.

For further information on the programme please contact Ciara Newell on 028 9090 5351 or email Ciara.newell@delni.gov.uk