Having held the Investors in People accreditation for over 18 years, we are celebrating our achievement of being awarded the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) Gold accreditation.

Investors in People work with organisations across the world who listen to and develop their employees. Their teams help businesses to engage with their employees and to develop a culture that aligns and delivers their objectives. Ultimately it is a standard for people management enabling benchmarking of the effectiveness of leadership and management.

By working with Investors in People and continually striving to improve, South West Lakes Trust (SWLT) has retained its IPP accreditation since 2001 and this time has improved on its previous award of Accredited.

The Trust was particularly commended for its positive and open communication allowing everyone to understand its aims and to progress towards them. Employees were highly praised for their commitment to the success of SWLT and for their enthusiasm to deliver key outcomes.

Assessor Joanna Gillingham said ‘Congratulations to everyone at SWLT for maintaining Investors in People accreditation and for improving your level of accreditation to GOLD. This is a great achievement and everybody at SWLT should be really proud of this outcome.’

In her report Joanna said, ‘Having worked with SWLT for a number of years, I’m delighted to have conducted this assessment and be able to report that the culture and practice at the Trust continues to be based on shared values, a passion for the vision and aims of the Trust, and an open and transparent way of working that supports both individual and operational performance’.

The charity, which now employs a core team of around 60 people, cares for and provides access to South West Water’s reservoirs in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset and also manages the China Clay museum, Wheal Martyn, on the outskirts of St Austell. In addition, following the merger of Bournemouth Water into South West Water, SWLT was awarded the contract to manage the recreation assets of Bournemouth Water Leisure.

The Wimbleball team with the Chief Executive of SWLT, Andy Parsons, receiving their Bronze award at the Bristol Bath and Somerset Awards in November 2018. 

David Robertson, Chair of Trustees, was delighted to receive the outcome of the IIP assessment: ‘I’m especially pleased to hear that we have been recognised for the support given to employees in developing their knowledge and skills to meet organisational and personal ambition, and for the trust in the leadership of the charity and confidence in its future direction’.

Since 2015, a robust performance management process has been developed. Andy Parsons, Chief Executive, said, ‘We have strengthened our individual performance assessment over recent years and this is now a two-way process and a positive system for our employees who have the opportunity to influence their quarterly and annual goals.’

Andy went on to say, ‘We are thrilled with this result; to be awarded Gold is a true reflection of the dedication and value of our employees. IIP expect the Gold accreditation to be awarded to the top 2 percentile of organisations assessed, so my thanks goes to each and every one of our employees who have made this recognition possible.’