Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Independent builders merchant buying group NMBS has achieved the Platinum standard of the Investors in People accreditation, in recognition of its culture of support and leadership.
Platinum is the highest possible level of accreditation available through Investors in People. To achieve the standard, firms must be able to demonstrate high performance in at least seven of the nine assessment indicators, which are:
- Leading and inspiring people
- Living the organisation’s values and behaviours
- Empowering and involving people
- Managing performance
- Recognising and rewarding high performance
- Structuring work
- Building capability
- Delivering continuous improvement
- Creating sustainable success.
Vicky Spofford, HR & facilities manager at NMBS, says: “This year has been a real challenge for everyone in the industry, but I think we’ve become a stronger, more inclusive team as a result. Communication between the NMBS team is better than ever, and we’ve introduced massive improvements in IT that have given us the flexibility to continue working remotely. In many areas, our productivity has actually increased.
“NMBS always has a significant training budget every year to make sure people have the skills they need to do their job. This year, that training has been more about learning new technology, reviewing our existing business processes and finding new and better ways to do things. A lot of my role has also been to make sure we understand everyone’s personal situations, and to help wherever we can to make sure they are comfortable working from home.”
Another way in which NMBS has continued to reward its staff is to create the ‘Extra Mile Award’, which allows team members to nominate a colleague who they believe has gone over and above their day-to-day tasks.
NMBS managing director Chris Hayward adds: “We are thrilled to have achieved Investors in People Platinum accreditation for 2020. NMBS works tirelessly to support its team members and to help them grow, both personally and professionally, as they continue through their careers. To have achieved that standard during 2020, which has been one of the most challenging times anyone in business has seen in many years, is testament to how hard everyone at NMBS has worked, and how we continue to support each other.”
