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First assessed against the Standard in 1995, re–recognised in September 2004 and met the requirements for the revised Standard in the pilot assessment.

Catherine Johnstone Recruitment provides permanent and temporary office workers, ranging from office juniors to senior directors, to more than 500 clients in the public and private sectors in London and the South East. The company, which has a turnover of £5 million, is privately owned with 17 permanent staff and over 160 temps

Catherine Johnstone Recruitment was already a successful agency employing 12 people recruiting permanent and temporary office staff when they were first assessed against the Investors in People Standard in 1995.  Recognising that they had the potential to grow the business, the two partners, Catherine Johnstone and Veronica Davies, knew that they had to put a formal structure and business processes in place to achieve their business goals.  Having first achieved the Standard in 1995, the company was reassessed in 1998, 2001 and again in September 2004. At the same time they also achieved the requirements for the revised Standard during the pilot assessment.

Investors in People has provided Catherine Johnstone Recruitment with the framework to manage their employees effectively giving the partners time to concentrate on managing the business.

"Investors in People made us realise that we needed proper business processes in place so that our people were clear about exactly what their job was and exactly what we expected from them", says Partner Veronica Davies.  "We have always been a very people–friendly business but we had been almost too friendly, too informal in the way we did things which meant that people were sometimes unclear about what was required of them and what they needed to achieve in order to be successful. 

"We needed to introduce formality to document plans, procedures, assessments – essentially the way we did things.  We became more professional in our approach to doing business without losing the friendly character of the business and our people really enjoy working here.  In fact, our people are happier because they know exactly what they have to do and how to find out if they're unsure about anything."

Catherine Johnstone Recruitment uses the Investors in People Standard to guide their approach to new employees from their first day with the company.  A full two week induction explains exactly what is required of people, helps to identify training needs and allows people to get on with work so that they become more productive at an early stage.

"Our induction procedure takes a little time but helps us to identify people's skills and strengths, areas to work on as well as explaining our procedures" comments Davies.  "If training is needed, we find out early and make sure it happens so that people can get up to speed far more quickly.  Most people need to develop in one area or another so we certainly don't consider these as weaknesses.

"We've just put the whole company through the European Computer Driving Licence to make sure our IT skills are everything they should be.  We recognise that people with the right skills are far more productive because they don't waste time trying to do things they're not equipped for.  If you help people to acquire the right skills, they're happier and more motivated and their contribution to the company's bottom line is far greater.  It's actually quite obvious."

The Investors in People Standard has also helped the company to develop a more effective appraisal programme for its people, which documents what has been discussed and individual goals and timescales for achieving them.  This helps to ensure that decisions that are taken during appraisals are put into action and that people are clear about what is expected of them.

"Having a motivated workforce and effective business procedures in place has made us a much more flexible business and able to adapt to the changing world and new regulations" comments Davies.  That has been a major asset over the past five years with the increase in red tape we've had to face, especially as we're a small business that can't employ a department to deal with it all.  We've recently had a DTI inspection and they were amazed that there was not even one minor infringement of the new 'Conduct of Agency' regulations.  They say that's virtually unheard of but it shows that we're on top of our business."

"You can measure and assess your success with Investors in People in a number of ways" muses Davies.  "I can point to the fact that in 1995 we were a company with 12 people and a £1.5 million turnover and that now we have 17 people and a £5 million turnover, which is an enormous increase in productivity.

"In 2003 we won an 'Employer of the Year' Award and were a finalist in the 'National Business Awards' in the training and development category and we could only do that with the lessons we have learned from Investors in People.

"I've got the facts and figures to demonstrate we're more successful but I don't need them to know that I have a happy, motivated and productive workforce; I see it every day."