Commercial In Confidence

Recommending that this organisation continue to be recognised by The East Midlands Regional Recognition Panel as an Investor In People

ASSESSOR: TRACEY PEPPER
ASSESSOR’S REGISTRATION CENTRE: EAST MIDLANDS QUALITY CENTRE LTD
ORGANISATION CONTACT: TANYA BERESFORD
DATE[S] OF ON-SITE ASSESSMENT: 7TH April 2006

Introduction / Background

Infotel Solutions Limited was founded in 1988 by David and Ann Cordner. It was originally set up as a hotel membership booking and information service and has now grown its services into five individual business streams which consist of Hotel membership package sales, Infotel reservations, Find me a conference sales, Find me a conference reservations and Find me a hotel room. These business streams are supported by the IT Team and Accounts Team. The business currently employs around 54 people. Both founder members are looking to take a back seat in the business and are currently developing the Directors to take over the day to day running of all operations.

Objectives for the Review Visit

Review Type and Plan

This was a full review against the current version of the standard. It consisted of assessing documentary evidence, conducting interviews, observing and listening to people carrying out their work and visiting the web site.

Documentary evidence included:

Strategic Plans of Business Streams
Quality Policy Statement
Induction
Staffing Structure
Training Manuals
Monthly 1:1 documentation
Director Presentation to staff

Sample for Interview:

I interviewed 15 people which represents approximately 28% of personnel.

The main objectives agreed were:

• To assess whether Infotel Solutions Limited meets all areas of the current Investor In People Standard.


• To provide recommendations for further improvement.

1. A strategy for improving the performance of the organisation is clearly defined and understood.

The purpose of Infotel Solutions Limited is “to attain excellence in our dedication to providing hotel and conference reservation and marketing services.”
The mission is defined in the Quality Policy Statement to:

1. Maintain a first class, cost effective service to member hotels, improving their occupancy levels and thereby profitability.


2. Offer clients an efficient, effective method of reserving hotel accommodation at the best discounted rates available.


3. Reward staff for their dedication, loyalty and enthusiasm by ensuring that they are well paid and work in an aesthetically pleasing environment.

The strategy for achieving the aims is based on continually striving to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service by:

1. Ensuring staff are friendly and helpful, working smart, not hard.


2. Constantly reviewing and developing our procedures.


3. Keeping abreast of new technology.

This is then underpinned by specific written strategies for each business stream and clearly defined targets that are understood by everybody.

Directors and Managers described involving people in developing and understanding Infotels future plans through formal presentations, engaging people in developing new approaches to services e.g. a selection of web site packages for hotel members, devising new strategies with staff and informal discussion.

Everybody interviewed confirmed their understanding of the targets for the business, their teams and themselves. They knew how they could contribute to achieving them and described revenue targets, discount targets, enquiry conversion targets they work to, promoting partnership packages and working to deadlines and standards in accounts. People also described how the bonus system had recently been changed from team to individual targets and had been communicated to them, giving people the chance to ask questions and raise issues individually with Directors as they wished.

From the interviews with the Founding Director and all staff interviewed, there was a clear and consistent view of the strategy for staff to provide a good service to customers whilst working in an environment that treated people with respect and wanting to provide people with a job that should improve their quality of life whilst delivering to customers.

2. Learning and developing is planned to achieve the organisation’s objectives.

The majority of people at Infotel Solutions Limited are employed to sell. Hence, Directors recognise and prioritise the importance of selling skills for the majority of staff. Other priorities identified include procedure and system training, IT skills and induction.

Resources are determined and identified at Board Meetings and through the strategic planning process within each business stream. Learning and development is delivered through coaching, Training Manuals and external courses as appropriate.

Learning and development interventions are all designed to convert enquiries and proactive calls into sales and increase the revenue for the business.

The impact of the learning and development is measured through the achievement of targets. Performance is monitored on all measures through the IT system and automated reports are reviewed in teams and at board level. Examples of measures include calls taken and those converted.

Managers identify team learning and development needs and the activities planned to meet them when reviewing performance with the team, talking to team members during monthly 1:1s and listening to calls to customers to provide on the job coaching.

The people interviewed explained how they are engaged throughout these processes and had no hesitation in confirming how they are involved in identifying their learning and development needs, how they are achieved and what they expect to be able to do as a result.

3. Strategies for managing people are designed to promote equality of opportunity in the development of the organisation’s people.

Top Managers and managers encourage all staff to contribute ideas to improve performance and have very proactive and visible roles. Strategies include:

• Directors operating a hands-on approach and having daily contact with staff to encourage ideas for improvement.


• The design of the building to incorporate a central meeting area for staff to encourage sharing ideas.


• Involvement in planning through presentations, meetings and 1:1s.


• Encouraging staff to present ideas for improving the business e.g. new and varied membership packages

Managers interviewed are genuinely committed to being fair and making sure that people have equal access to support and learning and talked about recognizing the need to support and motivate individuals in different ways i.e. coaching, showing, providing manuals, motivating in 1:1s and making sure that any intervention is a two-way experience.

People interviewed were very definite in their belief that managers are genuinely committed to making sure everyone has appropriate and fair access to support. As one person described, “We want to be the best and training is supported that is going to help us achieve more.”

People gave examples of improving their own and other people’s performance. Some examples include:

• Sharing expert knowledge on a system with others.


• Helping in projects to learn more.


• Developing new ideas to improve revenue potential.


• Listening to other colleagues taking calls and dealing with different scenarios.


• Sitting with other teams to understand more about other business streams.

People confirmed that they are involved in working up new ideas and changing ways of working and this is continuing to be developed through the recent appointment of a team leader and supervisor role within one team.

4. The capabilities managers need to lead, manage and develop people effectively are clearly defined and understood.

The Directors and managers cited key skills, behaviors and knowledge requirements that they need in order to lead and develop the team effectively. These were:

• People skills including motivation, coaching, feedback.


• Selling skills.


• IT skills.


• Team Working.


• Business Awareness.


• Product Knowledge.


• System Knowledge.


• Behaviors were described and included dealing with change in an effective way; treating people as you would want to be treated, tailoring behaviours to suit individuals, remaining calm, and working in a way to enhance the lifestyle of staff whilst delivering to customers.

These were defined sufficiently and consistently by all Directors and managers interviewed and were confirmed by the people interviewed.

Directors and managers are being supported in their development through coaching and mentoring of each other, attending external management training such as the Institute of Directors programme, Sales Seminars and Lead to Succeed Programmes.

5. Managers are effective in leading, managing and developing people.

Managers explain that they are effective in leading, managing and developing people in the following ways:

• By developing the team working environment and encouraging staff to work together to achieve targets.
  
• By motivating people to perform well and achieve targets.
  
• Using feedback and listening in on customer calls to help develop the individuals approach in a constructive way.
  
• By discussing performance reports and holding reviews.
  
• By holding 1:1s with staff.

Directors and Managers have 1:1s and Board and project meetings when they review their own performance and that of the business which helps them to agree further development as appropriate.

Managers gave examples of how they give people constructive feedback through:

• Feedback on the job and discussing selling and negotiation techniques.


• Holding 1:1s with staff to review performance.

One manager described how the team was “a group of professionals, dedicated to what they do” and used this as the starting point for providing constructive feedback in a way that met his teams needs.

Another explained the approach of “praising things done well, suggesting ways to improve and fact finding with the person so that they could come up with what they thought”.

People echoed managers’ comments on how they are effective in leading, managing and developing them and how they give constructive feedback. People talked about holding regular, meaningful discussions about improved performance and how the team was drawn together to perform.
People described discussing the monitoring reports with managers and using target boards to understand how they were doing.

There was a minority that thought the feedback was a little impersonal through the computer system and needed to be balanced by the regular 1:1s.

• Through constructive feedback during 1:1s and team meetings.
• On the job delivering immediate thanks and praise.
• Promotion.
• Financial rewards and bonus schemes.
• Time off.
• Employee of the month.
• Winning trips to New York for the achievement of stretch targets.

People were very clear about how they contribute to Infotel Solutions Limited and believe they make a positive difference in many different ways. People described:

• Having a professional and friendly manner on the telephone with customers and building up a rapport.
  
• Using negotiation skills positively.
  
• Working with new people to help them learn.
  
• Converting enquiries into bookings and making sure customers enjoyed the service so that they would repeat the business.
  
• Developing and evolving their role so that the business benefits from updated accounting and reporting practices.
  
• Developing the web based business to encourage more customers.
  

A very high majority feel valued and recognised for their contribution and explained that Directors and managers show their appreciation through 1:1s, informal thank yous, and making specials efforts to keep in touch with progress towards targets and celebrating and rewarding people in many different ways when they are met.

7. People are encouraged to take ownership and responsibility by being involved in decision-making.

Directors and managers at all levels promote a sense of ownership and responsibility for making decisions and taking ownership of them. The people interviewed confirmed that this worked in practice and gave examples of being involved and taking ownership for decisions.
Examples included:

• Having self managed teams that are empowered to develop and change systems and ways of working to improve the business. An example is the IT team and the web site development.
  
• Encouraging a Sales Executive to put proposals forward for enhancing hotel membership packages and then giving him the responsibility to research and deliver on the project.
  
• Agreeing new projects for new Directors to take the lead in and become more involved in the business.
  
• Developing ideas in teams and introducing pre and post conference calls for customers.
  
• Changing rota’s on teams.
  
• Updating systems to work more efficiently e.g. Input to the full button on the booking system.
  
• Negotiating and implementing a budget monitoring system for departments.
  
• Taking full responsibility for deciding the specifications for new PCs, agreeing pricing and purchasing them on behalf of the business.
  

8. People learn and develop effectively.

Managers described ways of making sure that people’s learning and development needs are met. They cite:

• Reviewing needs at 1:1s, team meetings, project meetings and strategy meetings.
  
• Facilitating learning during team meetings.
  
• Agreeing time with staff to provide on the job coaching.
  
• Providing opportunities for external training or working with others in other teams.
  
• Reading training manuals and following up with individuals.
  

People describe their learning and development needs, what they had learnt and how they were applying them. Examples include:

• Negotiation skills so that they can better manage conversations when discussing discounts.
  
• Open / Closed questioning techniques to help with more effective communications with customers.
  
• Learning about the booking system so that they could work efficiently.
  
• Call recording to hear first hand how a call had been managed and how to improve it further.
  
• Learning about the business from Directors so that they could adapt and transfer previous selling skills to the industry.

People explained their induction as effective, whether they were new to the company or new to a role. They felt welcomed and they were told about the business, its ways of working, and given the opportunity to work and observe in all areas of the business. Individuals described then having individual coaching by colleagues or Directors to help them with product knowledge, system and selling skills.

9. Investment in people improves the performance of the organisation.

Directors recognise and could describe the investment that has been made in people’s learning and development in terms of money and time and quantified the improvement in business performance as a result. There has been an average of 20% growth in revenue across all business streams in the last year and the Directors recognise that this could not be achieved without the people fully understanding how to do their jobs and being given a sense of achievement through doing the job well.

Some examples of specific learning and development activities and how they have improved the performance of individuals, teams and the business were shared across all interviews and included:

• Web Design training enabling the individual to develop the website for the business, enhancing the service to customers and ooking on line.
  
• On the job coaching to develop communication skills with customers in order to improve confidence and achieve targets. Has since gained promotion.
  
• Call monitoring and individual feedback has improved conversion rates by 10%.
  
• Training across teams has given further insight to the hotel packages that are available to other teams so that they have been able to offer more detail to customers when they are enquiring about specific hotel services on offer.
  
• Sales training has enabled staff to negotiate on behalf of customers within their budgets, and close the deal.
  
• One person's own initiative and then development to progress the conference business has resulted in it being one of the highest growth areas.
  
• HBAA (Hotel booking Agents Association) Training has improved skills and confidence to convert enquiries into bookings.
  
• Learnt how to use Auto route so that when customers need advice on locations it can be confidently provided, which builds up the customer relations and helps to hit revenue targets.
  

Directors could describe how they have used the evaluation of their investment to further improve the performance of Infotel Solutions Limited. Some examples are:

• The introduction of self managed teams in sales.
  
• Recruiting sales people with a degree of sales skills already rather than beginners with no experience.
  
• Restructured teams and the introduction of a manager and team leader/ supervisor role to support more people.
  

10. Improvements are continually made to the way people are managed and developed.

Top Managers are constantly evaluating and making improvements to the way people are managed and developed. Some examples shared were:

• Introducing a Coach / Trainer role within the company because time for managers and team leaders is becoming an issue.
  
• Developing a revised appraisal system to support the current 1:1 process.

Managers gave the following examples of improvements to the way they manage and develop people:

• Continually reconsidering how best to motivate individuals and recognise their individual needs.


• The introduction of meetings at supervisor and team leader level with the manager.
  
• Agreement to reduce 1:1s from monthly to bi-monthly.

People who were interviewed gave their perspective on improvements and described Directors, managers and team leaders who supported and motivated them to do the best job possible. People also believed the introduction of the supervisor role had helped them.

They also described working in an environment where their whole life was considered and felt truly supported in times when they needed extra support or had worked particularly hard and been well rewarded for it.

AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT

• Encourage more overt engagement and involvement of people when developing the Strategy Plans for the business. Consider developing them in all areas, including Accounts.
  
• Introduce a company wide training plan that formally links the learning and development needs to business targets and identifies the most appropriate method of learning, the resource (time and £) and how the impact will be evaluated. This would provide a useful structure for the potential trainer / coach and enable the needs identified through the forthcoming appraisal system to be aggregated so that an overall evaluation can take place.
  
• Agree a minimum standard for 1:1s in the business.
  
• Continue with plans to relaunch the Appraisal process and ensure that Appraisers and appraisees receive the appropriate training for it to be effective.
  
• Encourage all directors, managers, team leaders and supervisors to participate in refining the capabilities of the leaders who will manage the change and growth of Infotel Solutions for the future.
  
• As the capabilities are refined, consider introducing them into the appraisal system to help develop and plan leadership development for the future. People at all levels should also know and understand the key requirements of the refined capabilities and be able to offer consistent descriptions.
  
• Continue to develop opportunities for people to be involved in decisions making and putting forward new ideas for innovation.
  
• Encourage links across teams and business streams that help people to extend their product knowledge that can impact on their service to the customer.
  
• Review the induction process and make sure that people are clear about the process for involving them in identifying their learning and development needs and receiving constructive feedback in the longer term.
  

CONCLUSION

I can confirm that Infotel Solutions Limited continues to meet the current Investor In People Standard.

It was clear that the ethos of the business matches well with the principles of Investors In People and this is how Infotel Solutions Limited does business. People are recognised and rewarded for a job well done and the Founding Directors work for the staff so that they can perform to the best of their abilities.

I enjoyed my time talking with people from the teams and observing others at work in a relaxed environment where they were committed to delivering the service to customers that would bring in the business. My particular thanks goes to Tanya whose help in planning the visit made the review run smoothly.

The areas for development within the body of the report are suggested in order to support the business through its continuing growth and succession planning strategy.

As agreed, I have made a note to place a courtesy call in one year’s time to the business.

May I wish you every success for the future, it is very well deserved.