BF&M’s commitment to employee development and communication has been recognised with the UK Investors in People (IiP) Gold status award.The insurer is the first and only company in Bermuda to achieve the Gold level.It was given the award the highest level that a company can achieve after its recent triennial assessment.“BF&M has demonstrated that it continues to be strongly committed to leading, managing and developing its people effectively,” an IiP spokesperson said yesterday.“BF&M has already proved it is a world class organisation within the insurance market, and now it has proved that the company is a world class Investor in People.”IiP is a worldwide standard which provides a benchmark of good practice in the way people are managed and developed to deliver organisational goals, together with a framework for ongoing evaluation and improvement. The Standard was developed by industry, employee and training organisations and National Government in the UK in 1990, drawing on the experience and best practice in the most successful organisations in all sectors of the UK economy.In order to achieve recognition as an “Investor in People” a company must show that learning and development are at the heart of the organisation’s senior management and are aligned in how they communicate strategies and priorities with the employees.“On behalf of all the employees of BF&M, I want to express how proud our organisation is to have not only achieved the requirements of the Investors in People, but to have been recognised at the Gold level,” said John Wight, president & CEO of BF&M. “Very few companies out of thousands that are assessed each year by Investors in People achieve the Gold level, and it is testament to the great people that I have the pleasure to work with at BF&M.” Mr Wight added that, “I was particularly pleased with the comments from IIP that BF&M has developed an atmosphere and culture of truthfulness, trust and teamwork within all aspects of the business that has resulted in everyone feeling valued as a stakeholder.”BF&M is the holding company of BF&M Insurance Group.