Beard has been awarded Investors in People (IIP) ‘Health and Wellbeing Good Practice Award’. This is the 16th year that Beard has received an IIP award. It has been accredited by Investors in People since 2003 and achieved Gold award status for eight years since 2011, which is one of the highest awards that a company can achieve. It now holds both Gold status and the ‘Health and Wellbeing Good Practice Award’.
There are only 8% of organisations in the construction industry in the south of the UK, that are accredited with this latest Health and Wellbeing Award, so Beard is one of an elite few.
The accreditation shows Beard’s commitment to providing a healthy and safe working environment and its support for its staff, maintaining and enhancing their personal health and wellbeing at work. This, in turn, supports the ongoing development of its people and the business as a whole.
While health and wellbeing are important in all companies, it is even more important in a construction environment. Beard’s strapline is “Maintaining a great place to work. Healthy, happy people, living well.” This award is a testament to the fact that Beard lives up to the words that it puts in place.
Mark Beard, Chairman of Beard Construction, said:
“At Beard we put our people at the heart of everything that we do, from employees to our supply chain. Maintaining their health and wellbeing is fundamental to us. Both are vital to Beard, to our culture and to the way that we operate. “We go out of our way to ensure that we treat people fairly, reward people well and provide our employees with training and development from the graduates who have just walked through the door up to director level and those that have been a part of Beard for years.
“Maintaining a working environment where everyone can and wants to give of the best and go home at the end of the working week in a healthy positive state is an ongoing challenge. We will continue to work hard to ensure everyone who works for Beard enjoys the experience.”
Cath Parish, Investors in People and Health and Wellbeing Practitioner who assessed Beard said,
“I was delighted to be Beard’s assessor for this very prestigious award. The Investors in People Health and Wellbeing Award shows the main elements of good practice that really can make a positive impact – not only to the people working in Beard, but also for the business as a whole. “Supporting the health and wellbeing of staff is part of Beard’s DNA as it underpins its culture and values of being ‘friendly, efficient and committed’. This is what makes Beard stand head and shoulders above other construction organisations. I would like to offer my congratulations to the whole Beard team on their great achievement.”
Investors in People describes the benefits of gaining the award as,
"Organisations that are Accredited by Investors in People Health and Wellbeing Award are working proof that commitment to the health and wellbeing of its employees produces a more positive and productive work force. High staff retention and internal promotion result from its inclusive and flexible approach to people management. The Health and Wellbeing Award from Investors in People helps to create an environment which allows an employee to flourish by putting the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of staff at the forefront of everything they do."