Virgin Trains has achieved gold Investors in People status – the most prestigious IIP award from the UK’s most successful framework for business improvement through people in the UK.
Involving 124 in-depth interviews across nine locations, Virgin Trains now joins an exclusive group of UK employers eligible to use and display the sought-after gold IIP logo and plaque, and enjoy its benefits.
Praising Virgin Trains’ activity across the board the IIP review report was particularly impressed with their high levels of employee engagement saying:
“Virtually everyone feels they can make a difference to the success of the company. There is an abundance of examples provided where people have been motivated and encouraged to explore their ideas and managers spending more time actively listening to their teams.
“Virgin Trains employees were found to have high levels of pride in their work. A culmination of shared vision, effective communications, employee engagement and good leadership inspired most employees to adopt a shared responsibility for the success of the company.”
The report also found that, “almost without exception people regard the organisation as a great place to work.”
The company was also commended for integrated organisational development and communications, role modeling by senior managers as well as being a learning organisation.
Trish Sangster, People Development Manager at Virgin Trains, expressed her delight:
“The gold award is recognition of the efforts we have made to support our employees so that they can realise, and hopefully exceed, their expected potential. The success of our business relies on our investment in our staff – they are at the very heart of our organisation and make us what we are today. Their feedback and ideas for improving the business are crucial to moving our business forward.
“We are particularly pleased that our enhanced customer service delivery was recognised as part of the IIP report. Enhancing our customer service experience is critical to the growth of our business. The report shows that everyone at Virgin Trains has an excellent understanding of the need for excellent customer service and can relate to the benefits on a personal level – something we are immensely proud of.”
Virgin Trains first achieved IIP accreditation in 2007 and September 2010 saw Virgin Trains successfully recognised for the second time. Virgin Trains currently employs 3,100 staff running 330 train services daily and carrying more than 25 million passengers a year.
