Bermuda Press (Holdings) Ltd is celebrating the first milestone on its path to earning an Investors in People designation.

The Investors in People Standard is an international framework and mark of excellence for people management across 75 countries, enabling organisations to realise improved business results and strategic targets.

IIP International announced its sixth-generation Standard last September and BPHL is the first organisation in Bermuda to progress towards this particular accreditation.

The “Working With” milestone is achieved by the organisation undergoing a full benchmark exercise against the international standard and business improvement frameworks, involving a number of staff and managers. The organisation has implemented an active plan based on the benchmark outcomes and is committed to continuing its journey towards formal accreditation.

This active plan was approved by IIP Bermuda and IIP International, with Jenny Smatt, the Island’s licensed IIP adviser, presenting a “Working With” Investors in People certificate to company chief executive Jonathan Howes, human resources manager Kathy Ann Paynter and the advocate team champions.

“Achievement of this milestone speaks volumes about the commitment of the organisation to optimise organisational performance by engaging, empowering and more effectively managing people,” Ms Smatt said.

“One element of the process involved training an internal people advocate team who are knowledgeable about the framework and are instrumental in the change effort. This is important for establishing and sustaining the leading practices that will ultimately become part of the organisational culture.”

Ms Paynter said: “We are fully committed and focused on the development of the BPHL family and strengthening operations, while achieving highest standards of employment practice.

“We recognise that to achieve this designation we will require dedication from all our employees. We are looking forward to the innovative ideas and have been encouraged by the positive energy displayed by our advocate team champions.”

Mr Howes said: “This is an exciting next step for BPHL. The company is only as good as its people, and the IIP programme will help to ensure that we are using best practice as managers. Our employees are critical to our success; acknowledging this, empowering a positive culture within the organisation, is very important to me.”

Eric Jenkinson, the principal at Management Solutions, a local company that holds the IIP licence for Bermuda and the Caribbean region, said this was a “significant achievement” for BPHL.