Friendship achieves silver

Published by Kerrie Beck for Longhurst Group in Housing and also in Communities, Environment

Friendship Care and Housing is celebrating a fantastic result following its latest inspection by Investors in People. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of its staff, Friendship has received a Silver Award, which puts theMidlandsbased Housing and Care service provider in the top 3% of companies nationwide. Friendship received its first Investors in People Award in 1998.

The inspectors identified many strengths, including strong use of our ‘Golden Thread’, which is Friendship’s chosen performance management cycle. Known as Plan, Do and Review, it is Friendship’s way of ensuring continual improvement of the company and helps its people to understand how they fit into strategic plans and objectives. 

Strong communication and training that encourages continuous learning throughout Friendship were among other practices that led to the inspectors to recommend the Silver award. In 2010-11, the Friendship Training Team organised 262 courses with over 3,100 staff nominations. The amalgamation with Beechdale Community Housing, which took place in July, was also a contributing factor.

Other strengths identified during the inspection were:

• staff performance awards
• a sound work/life balance and family-friendly company policies
• support for lone-working staff
• a strong recruitment process
• the level of staff commitment