Heron Bros, has become the first organisation from any sector in Northern Ireland and first construction company throughout the entire UK to be awarded with Investors in People Platinum accreditation.

In achieving the highest possible IIP status, Heron Bros has demonstrated that the company and its people are going above and beyond to ensure their on-going success. This achievement demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to high performance through good people management.

Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it takes to lead, support and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results. Underpinning the Standard is the Investors in People framework, reflecting the latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to outperform in any industry. Investors in People enables organisations to benchmark against the best in the business on an international scale.

Following a thorough assessment process from both IIP NI and IIP UK, Investors in People Assessor Gill Fairley, commented on the company:

“Heron Bros can be regarded as an exemplar of excellence in people management practice. The organisation demonstrated significant strength across all nine of the indicators that underpin the Investors in People Framework.”

Recognising and rewarding high performance is one of the most challenging aspects of the IIP framework for organisations, yet Heron Bros has demonstrated strength in this area that can only be described as outperforming their IIP peers.

The drive for continuous improvement can be regarded as part of the DNA at Heron Bros. In fact, the loyalty which employees have at Heron Bros goes far beyond what is normally observed in typical workplaces.

Heron Bros has a solid values-based and people-focused culture which has enabled them to achieve high performance and sustained growth. Heron Bros should be justifiably proud to be amongst the elite of IIP organisations who are operating at Platinum level.”

Grainne O’Kane, HR Manager at Heron Bros reflected on the global accolade:

“The IIP award recognises the commitment, experience, skills, integrity, dedication and professionalism of our people and business. The IIP Platinum Award is not only the result of progress and developments within the last few years. Rather, this prestigious accreditation is testament to the values of the founding Heron Brothers. Our core values of passion, relationships and forward-thinking continue to underpin and drive the Heron Bros Team as we look ahead to 2017 and beyond.”

Commenting on the award, Martin O’Kane, Deputy Group Managing Director at Heron Bros said:

“I am delighted to announce that Heron Bros has been awarded Investors in People Platinum Level which makes us the first company in Northern Ireland from any sector to receive this level. We have also become the first construction company throughout the whole of the United Kingdom to receive this level of award. Investors in People is a prestigious and global award with 15,000 members across 75 countries which recognises the commitment, experience, skills, integrity, dedication and professionalism of our people and business. To put this achievement into context, only 0.17% of accredited businesses across the globe achieve platinum status.”

Martin continued:

“Heron Bros is committed to employing the best people to ensure we retain the in-house knowledge and expertise required so that we continue to deliver the high quality service our clients expect. We believe in providing ongoing training and development opportunities for all of our employees and providing a work place environment that inspires them to be the best that they can be. Our approach has resulted in a committed workforce that is dedicated to Building the future together.”

To keep up to date with Heron Bros news you can visit their website, www.heronbros.com or follow them on Twitter or LinkedIn. For more information about Investors in People you can visit www.investorsinpeople.com