The Children’s Centre has, for the first time, been granted star status accreditation in the 2010 ‘Best Companies to Work For’ award scheme.
The accreditation of ‘Two Star’ status reflects the outstanding levels of employee engagement that the charity has demonstrated.
‘Best Companies’ accreditation follows the elite ‘Michelin style’ star rating system, and participating organisations receive a ‘Best Companies’ index score which determines their star rating compared to a fixed standard. This accreditation is based on staff feedback which ‘Best Companies’ obtains through detailed, anonymous employee questionnaires.
This accreditation process represents the largest employee survey ever undertaken in the UK, and this year embraced a record 1,086 organisations and over 270,000 employees. Fifty ‘extraordinary’ organisations achieved ‘Three Star’ status, 140 ‘outstanding’ organisations achieved ‘Two Star’ status and 220 ‘first class’ organisations were awarded ‘One Star’ status.
John Knight, chief executive of The Children’s Centre, explained, "We are delighted to have achieved ‘Best Companies to Work For’ accreditation in our first year of application. Despite recent difficult economic conditions, our task has been to deliver even more services to children, young people and their families.
"I am extremely proud of our team of 140 dedicated staff who have all risen to this challenge. We are currently providing a service to around 1000 clients each week, with teams working each and every day of the year, and often 24 hours a day to provide Island-wide support. Without their considerable contribution in placing our clients’ needs first, we could not continue to be the organisation that we are today."
The Children’s Centre develops, manages, and pioneers a variety of community initiatives and services aimed at enabling children, young people, and families to realise their full potential. They are an independent Manx charity – undertaking their own projects and working with others – to put children, young people, and families first.
The ‘Best Companies’ accreditation is the first of its kind to be awarded to an Isle of Man based charitable organisation. The accreditation focuses on workplace engagement and aims to show the level to which employees feel personally involved with their organisation.
The eight key factors measured are wellbeing; personal growth; fair dealing; company leadership; employees’ feelings towards their managers, team and company; and what the company gives back to society.
John added, "Our ‘Two Star’ status serves to not only raise The Children’s Centre’s profile on and off the Island, it also demonstrates the Third Sector’s determination to invest in our people and to approach our service delivery in a business like manner."
