This month's issue of the Ulster Business Magazine featured a Bermudian business woman, Jocene C. Wade.

Ms Wade is group executive vice president of Human Resources and Development for HWP Group.

In September, she went to Ulster to take part in an Investor in People programme co-ordinated by human resources specialist, Jenkinson Consulting.

The Investor in People (IIP) accreditation is awarded to companies which have instituted “best practices” in employee training and development schemes.

In other words, it's a way of assessing how much a company is investing in its staff.

Particularly popular in the UK, IIP is now gaining a foothold in human resources programmes in Bermuda.

In December last year, Air Care Ltd, part of the HWP group, became one of the first Bermudian companies to become IIP accredited.

As well as obtaining a Level 5 NVQ (National Vocation) qualification, Ms Wade also assisted Jenkinson Consulting to assess some of their Northern Ireland clients.

She was involved in benchmarking the training and development departments of the Northern Ireland Sports Council, the Investors in People Quality Unit of the Department of Employment and Learning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Pension Service of Northern Ireland.

During her two week visit to Ulster, Ms Wade was interviewed by Ulster Business about the importance in Bermuda of “people development” within the workplace.

The Ulster Business article stated that: “Although full employment is a feature of its economy, Bermuda is totally committed to developing the skills base of its people as a means of enhancing the level of efficiency and service attained by the Island's home grown businesses.”

Asked by Ulster Business about her impressions of the Northern Ireland IIP systems, Ms Wade said: “I was very impressed with what I saw...and I have been given plenty of food for thought in terms of what we can do in Bermuda.”