Last month, local
food service provider, Bidfood in Paddock Wood, was awarded the prestigious Health and Wellbeing Accreditation by Investors in People. This was a world-wide company first, awarded as a result of the depot’s focus and dedication on their employee’s psychological, physical and social welfare. The Paddock Wood depot took part in various in-depth assessments for the chance to be awarded the well-respected certification, in a bid to support their goals to further develop their people strategy, and to create an environment for achieving high performance, sustainability and growth. Assessments ranged from investigative reports to interviews carried out with 47 employees, selected purposively due to their job roles making them ideally placed to discuss health and wellbeing related issues. Activities that contributed towards the accreditation included focusing on health and wellbeing areas such as cancer support and mental health assistance. Talking about the accreditation, Paul Devoy, CEO of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate Bidfood on their Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Accreditation. This is a sign of a great employer with a clear commitment to the wellbeing of their employees. “Bidfood should be extremely proud of this achievement and the dedication it demonstrates to safeguarding the wellbeing of their people.” Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it takes to lead, support and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results. The framework reflects the latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to outperform in any industry. Investors in People enables organisations to benchmark against the best in the business on an international scale. Derek Moore, General Manager at Bidfood in Paddock Wood, said: “Following on from achieving a Gold Accreditation from Investors in People, the initiative to develop a strategy around our employees’ wellbeing was for us as a depot, a key way to demonstrate to our people that they are respected and valued. “Through adopting a straightforward approach and an easy to follow plan, the objective was to support the team in health related matters. “We believe that it has enhanced staff morale, improved efficiency and reduced absenteeism, with a number of colleagues taking up the supporting materiel on offer.”
