Publica proud to achieve Investors in People accreditation which highlights our commitment to staff

Publica is delighted to have been awarded the We Invest in People standard accreditation for Investors in People (IIP).

It means principles and practices around supporting people are in place and everyone understands how to use them to make work better.

Jan Britton, Managing Director at Publica, said; “I am pleased to say Publica Group Ltd is an Investors in People organisation.

“Publica is a Teckal company owned by Cotswold, Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire District and Cheltenham Borough Councils. We provide most of what you would think of as council office services for the districts and HR and ICT services for Cheltenham.

“Since 2017 Publica has returned £10m savings to our councils through sharing services.  However, when I joined the company as Managing Director in 2019 I felt that in the emphasis on savings and transformation, something had been lost in relation to people.

“The company made a good start in establishing its identity as an employer, founded on corporate values of authenticity, flexibility, modernity and thoughtfulness, which clearly resonated with employees at the start of a new venture. But by 2019 this first flush of excitement had passed and there was a need to reinvigorate the plan for Publica’s people. 

“The people side of the business wasn’t neglected. There was a lot happening in different directions, including a new pay structure that was settling in after some teething troubles. This has parallel management and technical tiers that enable us to reward employees for their professional experience without them being in line management roles, in contrast to most local government models. What was lacking was an overarching strategy for making Publica a great place to work.

“We opted in to Investors in People not because of the allure of an award but because IIP really does provide a comprehensive framework for good people management. I get the impression that IIP is regarded as a bit old hat these days, having its roots in a 1990 initiative by the John Major government, but it really is not; the IIP standard has been updated through successive generations, it is as relevant today as it ever was – and benefits from being tried-and-tested.

“We missed achieving IIP status at our first evaluation in 2021, hard on the back of Coronavirus. Our employees stepped up brilliantly throughout the lockdowns. At one point we had a third of our workforce seconded to Covid response or community support. 

“Missing the mark in 2021 wasn’t a huge surprise. It was early days and Covid hadn’t left us with much scope to do the work we needed to do. Neither did it leave us unsure what to do next. The framework was there and the evaluation report and feedback from our IIP assessor was first class. 

“Achieving the accreditation this year was a boost. We have always said that the journey is more important than the destination but the award itself does no harm as a tangible sign of progress.

“There is, of course, more to do. The higher silver accreditation is our motivational target for reassessment in two years’ time. In the meantime, my thanks go to everyone at Publica who has contributed to our progress towards being a great place to work.” 

Paul Devoy, CEO of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate Publica. Being accredited with We Invest in People is a remarkable effort for any organisation, and places Publica in fine company with a host of organisations that understand the value of people.”