Staff meals out, 'thank you' drinks and listening to the workforce, helped Henderson Green, a building services engineering consultancy firm, gain Investors in People status.
Staff at Henderson Green were often treated to meals out, or a few drinks to celebrate success and to thank everyone during very busy periods. Far from believing this to be a trivial side of the business, Henderson Green regard it as essential for staff morale.

Henderson Green was originally formed in Jersey in 1980. Since 1999, the Southampton office has grown steadily to become one of the main engineering services consultancy practices in the south of England.

Lisa Watts, CAD manager at the Southampton-based firm, helped the firm work towards achieving the Investors In People accolade as early as Christmas 2006.

'The IiP assessor's decision is primarily made on the basis of how the staff feel they are consulted, listened to and valued, so all the staff were encouraged to be involved and give their opinions from the very beginning,' said Lisa.

'One of the things that really impressed the assessor was that all the staff were invited to put forward their thoughts on what they believed made a good manager. All the ideas were collated and formed the company's 'manager capabilities statement', which is now an integral part of how staff are managed and developed,' added Lisa.

Other team building events included a climb to the top of Snowdon which raised nearly £2000 for charity.

The IiP status follows the company's recent Area award in the ethical category of the Federation of Small Businesses 'British Small Business Champions' award.