Colas Isle of Man has become the first company within the Manx construction industry to receive the highest accolade from Investors in People, the UK’s leading best practice standard in personnel management.

Just 12 months after attaining the IIP Silver Award, Colas has been awarded Gold Award status following a visit from IIP Assessor Mike Lynch. The Gold Award reaffirms the company’s commitment to its workforce and it is only the third private company in the Isle of Man to achieve the highest IIP award.

Normally, Gold status can be applied for three years after attaining the Silver Award. However, in special circumstances where an organisation, on reaching Silver status, is so close to the criteria for the Gold Award, it can apply for Gold accreditation within 12 months of attaining Silver.

Colas Isle of Man Group Managing Director Steph Lowe said the Gold Award was recognition of the willingness of staff to strive to achieve greater things.

‘This is again testimony to the Company’s commitment to the training and development of our staff,’ said Steph. ‘It demonstrates that our staff are engaged at all levels and involved directly with the Company’s strategic targets and continuing success. My thanks go to everyone who took part in the assessment and the continuing support of the whole Colas team.’

He added: ‘Having achieved Gold status, our aim now is to become an IIP Ambassador, a champion for the standard’s framework, where we will be shown as an example to other organisations of what they need to achieve to gain IIP accreditation. We will, of course, also need to undergo regular reviews by the IIP to maintain our Gold status.’

The Gold Award is the culmination of a seven-year programme of staff development and assessment, following the first visit by IIP in 2006. The Bronze Award was attained in 2009, followed by the Silver Award last year.

For the Gold Award, IIP Assessor Michael Lynch visited the company for two days, interviewing a quarter of the 65-strong workforce.

In his report, Mr Lynch was impressed by the ‘high staff morale’, the work ethic of employees at all levels of the business and the strong core values that everyone works towards. He praised company’s leadership, in particular the open and trusting approach of senior managers, and focused on the ‘feedback culture’ within the company, with the feedback from managers a major factor in the high morale.

In turn, the assessor commented on the respect staff have for senior management, and the use of the IIP framework to underpin a ‘strong focus on continuous improvement’.

Laurence Skelly MHK, Political Member for the Department of Economic Development with Responsibility for the Construction Industry, presented the award to Steph Lowe at the Colas Group’s Broom House headquarters in Malew.

Mr Skelly said: ‘I would like to congratulate the team at Colas Isle of Man Group on achieving IIP Gold accreditation. IIP is a highly effective framework to optimise business performance and efficiency through an organisation’s workforce.

‘The award of this Gold status coming only a year after being awarded Silver status demonstrates a commitment to a culture of continuous improvement. I would encourage other local companies of any size to consider participating in this valuable programme.’

Photo - Laurence Skelly MHK (second from right), Political Member for the Department of Economic Development with Responsibility for the Construction Industry, presents the IIP Gold Award to Colas Isle of Man Group Managing Director Steph Lowe. Also pictured, left to right, are Director of Products and Processes John Fayle, Director of Finance John Kelly and Director of Quarries and Waste Seymour Corkill