Print this pageHow Investors in People helped Lynn Shannon develop her career and improve the services offered by Hampshire Deaf Association
Some 32,000 organizations have achieved the Investors in People (IiP) standard, which was launched in 1990. These employ more than 27 per cent of the UK workforce. Recent research carried out on 2,000 IiP-accredited organizations found that 80 per cent had increased their customer satisfaction levels as a result, while 70 per cent had improved their competitive edge and productivity. But aside from the business benefits, employees also gain.
Lynn Shannon began working as a volunteer for Hampshire Deaf Association 15 years ago. She then became a permanent employee, before beginning her rise to the top. With the support provided by the organization's commitment to IiP, she became chief executive in July 2004.
Lynn explains how the Hampshire Deaf Association's commitment to IiP has:
boosted her confidence and belief in her professional ability
enhanced her skills
attracted more volunteers and a committed workforce to better support deaf people in Hampshire.
Offering opportunities and providing confidence
The working environment fostered by IiP has provided significant encouragement for Lynn, her staff and volunteers.
She says:
"When I started as a volunteer, I lacked confidence and didn't really have any great career ambitions. I wanted to work with the association because my own deafness had presented challenges in my life and made me passionate about widening access to services for deaf people, particularly helplines such as Samaritans and other counselling services.
"It was terrific to find that there were people in the organization that believed I had the skills and gave me the opportunities and encouragement to gain experience.
"IiP was introduced here seven years ago, just as I became a senior manager. Most of my experience was on the job, an apprenticeship if you like, but IiP has made everything more focused in career development terms. Many people here have developed new skills and grown in confidence like I have."
Boosting skills and rising to the top
As Lynn has progressed, her skills have grown through the framework for training and development that IiP provides. And her learning didn't stop once she became the boss.
She says:
"I've gained many skills. Probably the most important lessons were in supervision and appraisal - learning to listen to staff and give feedback. The training and development I've received under IiP has made me much more confident in leading a team. The most recent course I did was on leading and management for CEOs - so I'm still learning."
Making the organization more effective
As chief executive, Lynn believes that IiP has provided real benefits to the charity and the people that work there. Without IiP, she says, the organization wouldn't have been able to grow so dramatically.
She says:
"Before IiP, the charity had no real direction. Once we went on the path towards accreditation, everyone started to pull together. Previously, we had no formal induction programme and no supervision or appraisal. IiP made us realise that we had to recognise these issues, for staff and volunteers.
"When I started as a volunteer, we only had five people in the office. About 15 others were working here, mainly in our residential facilities. Now we've managed to grow to more than 50 staff and 50 volunteers. Much of the reason why is because this is such a rewarding place to be.
"As chief executive, IiP has shown me the value of providing staff and new managers with the opportunity to go on courses and get qualifications. This has helped us work better as a team and this has been translated into the services we can offer deaf people in Hampshire."
