Council recognised for its efforts investing in people management

Pictured receiving the council's bronze Investors in People (IIP) accreditation from Eddie Salmon, IIP assessor, are: (front l-r) Dr Theresa Donaldson, Chief Executive; Mayor Brian Bloomfield MBE and Councillor Owen Gawith, Chairman of the council's Corporate Services Committee; (middle l-r) Adrian Donaldson, Director of Corporate Services; Diane Wilson; Caroline Magee; Lee Evans; (back l-r) John Leebody; Gary Wilson; David Henderson and Brian McIlroy.

The accreditation recognises the local authority’s commitment to high performance through good people management.

Since its establishment in April 2015, the council has stressed its commitment to delivering value for money services to local ratepayers.

Commenting on the IIP award, the Mayor, Councillor Brian Bloomfield MBE, said: “As part of the accreditation process for the new council, employees were interviewed by an Investors in People assessor. They spoke openly about the change management process, the management style within their area of work, performance areas, team working and the culture of the organisation.

“To have obtained a bronze during a period of reform and within such a short time period is excellent. This represents a true commitment of the council to its employees. This demonstrates a solid foundation of good practice which remains challenging and aspirational for many organisations.”

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, commented: “We’d like to congratulate Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Investors in People accreditation is the sign of a great employer, an outperforming place to work and a clear commitment to success. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council should be extremely proud of their achievement.”

Council Chief Executive, Dr Theresa Donaldson, added: “As a relatively new organisation it is important to us to have obtained this IIP accreditation. It is a morale boost for our staff to see that their hard work at all levels across the organisation is recognised.

“Aside from the many benefits such as increased productivity, reducing absence rates and keeping people doing jobs they are good at and enjoy; at the end of the day we are all one team and regardless of which job officers do their contribution is very important to our overall team.”

Councillor Owen Gawith, Chairman of the Corporate Services Committee, concluded: “I wish to pass my congratulations to all the staff within the council and in particular to the Human Resources and Organisational Design Unit who co-ordinated the accreditation process.

“There was certainly a lot of work involved and on behalf of all the elected members of the council I wish to convey my congratulations to the Chief Executive and all employees of the council.”