Investors in People has become a respected quality mark since its launch in 1991, and its website suggests that, typically, an organisation can expect to take up to 18 months to qualify. Cheryl Hadland, managing director at Tops Day Nurseries, remembers it rather differently. For her nursery, she says, it took 'maybe three months from start to finish.'
However, that apparent overnight success for the Bournemouth-based nursery came on the back of years of work on quality assurance systems.
Dissatisfied with its local training provider, Tops worked up its own teaching programmes.
Ms Hadland says, 'Staff were having assessments and we had training plans.
We had already won a national award for training, and I was at university studying for a Masters. We were advised to go for Investors in People because we were pretty much doing it all already.'
Tops is just one of some 800 nurseries and 37,000 businesses that have gained the Investors in People Standard, UK wide.
The standard is designed to make businesses more competitive by developing and managing their staff effectively through a range of plan-do-review strategies (see box).
Ruth Spellman, chief executive of Investors in People UK, says: 'Our work with the childcare sector is hugely important to us, given its vital role in giving children a good start in life. The Investors in People Standard is a straightforward, proven framework for delivering organisational improvement through people - and is currently used by over 800 nurseries across the UK.
'For those within the sector, working with children can be enormously fulfilling, but also challenging at times, and it's vital that managers have the skills and experience to support their staff in performing to a high standard.
'Ensuring that staff have a clear understanding of what is expected of them is vital to a motivated team, and should go hand in hand with a consistent appraisal and reward structure to encourage employees to go the extra mile.
It is also important that properly structured training and development opportunities are offered to staff, in line with individual roles and skill sets.'
Effective communication
She points to recent research by Investors in People, which shows how management style - particularly effective communication - can have a significant impact on staff performance.
She adds, 'The research also revealed that the most popular type of manager is someone who delegates responsibility to their staff, followed by someone who is firm but fair, and someone who looks after employees' careers. This is vital information in helping nursery managers better understand how to keep staff motivated and delivering effectively.
'By entrusting employees with more responsibility, and mapping out a path for progression within the organisation, nursery managers can ensure their employees do the best job they can, whilst contributing to the success of their organisation well into the future.'
Tops Day Nurseries gained the standard in 1997, and since then has retained the mark three times. Ms Hadland acknowledges there is a cost involved, but believes it is a price worth paying.
She recalls losing out on a Government contract by failing to state clearly that Tops had Investors in People status, and says that was a lesson well learned.
She also believes that apart from the commercial value, there is a benefit in taking a regular overview of the way the company operates.
'Investors in People is an opportunity to look again at what you are doing from a strategic perspective. Obviously, things had changed for us over the years, from having only one nursery with 25 staff when I started in 1990, to having nine nurseries with 270 staff now. Systems have to change, and it is helpful to look at them afresh.'
Solid planning
Scottish nursery Clever Tots, like Tops, also bucked the usual Investors in People timescale. The Peterhead setting gained the quality mark within a month of opening in November 2000. But its owners had invested years of solid pre-planning.
Sheila Cruickshank, who runs Clever Tots with business partner Jackie Stephen, says, 'We were working towards Investors in People before we ever opened. It took about two years for us to get the nursery up and running, and we took on board Investors in People right from the beginning.'
That meant that nursery policies and staff procedures were well established from the outset and Sheila Cruickshank says that, for her, the process was hugely beneficial.
'I could deal with the children, run a nursery with my eyes closed, but ask me about paperwork, about inductions and appraisals, and I hadn't a clue!'
she says. 'Gaining the standard proves you are in partnership with your staff and looking to improve and develop them all the time.
'The renewing process means you take a second look at things, it makes for a better business, better for you and for staff and for parents.'
Investors in People
* The Investors in People Standard provides a framework for improving business performance and competitiveness through good practice in human resource development.
* To achieve the Standard, an organisation must successfully adopt and maintain its three fundamental principles: Plan - developing strategies to improve the performance of the organisation, from business goals to leadership strategies; Do - implementing those strategies, acting to improve the organisation's performance; Review - evaluating and adjusting those strategies, measuring their impact on the performance of the organisation.
* Assessment costs vary depending on the company's size and location, but may be around 550 per day.
* Organisations that achieve the standard may display the Investors in People logo, and are reviewed at least every three years.
* The Investors in People Standard is promoted and developed by Investors in People UK, a public body whose main stakeholder is the Department for Education and Skills.
* The Investors in People Standard is delivered by a partner network: in England, the network of Investors in People Regional Quality Centres; in Scotland, contact Scottish Enterprise (SE) or Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for details; in Wales, the Business Skills Delivery Team at the Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Welsh Assembly Government; and in Northern Ireland, the Department for Employment and Learning.
More information
* For more information on Investors in People UK, see www.iipuk.co.uk
CASE STUDY: CAROUSEL NURSERIES, DUMBARTON
Carousel Nurseries co-founders Anne Jenkins and Claire Rowan credit Investors in People with setting their business on the road to success.
Anne Jenkins remembers: 'Both Claire and myself had been very much hands-on, focusing on the practical side of changing nappies, carrying out activities with the children, and then putting the paperwork in plastic carrier bags to take home.'
The pair opened their first nursery in 1995. Now they have a staff of 83, operating three nurseries, plus an out-of-school club, in Dumbarton.
Their local enterprise company invited them to pilot a Building a Better Business route to Investors in People. They gained the standard in 1997 - subsequently confirmed by re-assessment in 2000, 2003 and again this summer.
Anne and Claire share a background in personnel and had robust personnel and training structures in place from the start. That helped them to encourage staff - often with low self-esteem - to consider moving from childcare into management.
Anne describes with pride the example of one employee who arrived, aged 17 and unqualified, looking for a cleaning job. Nine years on, she is the company's regional curriculum co-ordinator with a string of qualifications.
Anne says, 'When we did the pilot, we were a very young company. Initially, we had been very reluctant to let go of the reins.
Investors in People forced us to take a step back. To grow, we had to delegate and recognise our staff's abilities. All staff across the board are now involved in setting and reviewing quarterly Key Result Targets, individually, for their teams and for their nursery, and also contribute at company level.
'Investors in People enabled us to involve and empower our staff to create a vision for the company. The rest is history!'