Flint Bishop awarded Investors in People Gold standard for second time

We have been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) Gold accreditation until 2025. The firm received the award following a rigorous assessment process and detailed positive feedback from employees.

The scores achieved this year have far surpassed those of the assessment in 2019, with all indicators scoring above the legal-industry average and the Investors in People benchmarks.

The achievement follows a sustained period of growth and the most successful financial year to date for the business with turnover climbing to £17.58m in 2021/22, an increase of 16.6% on the previous year. Total headcount also reached record levels with the introduction of 107 new staff over the last 12 months.

IIP assessor, John Walden, noted the firm’s “values and behaviours are firmly embedded and there is an overall positive stance on equality, diversity and inclusion”. He added that there is “a well-considered and benchmarked reward and recognition strategy in place and collaboration is encouraged and prized”.

“Here everyone is treated the same. If the company is successful,
we all share in the success, which motivates you to want Flint Bishop to succeed.”

 

Head of HR Holly Dixon said:

“We are delighted that Investors in People has certified the firm with the gold standard for a further three years. With only 17% of IIP accredited organisations achieving the gold standard, we should be all be extremely proud of this achievement.

“The Investors in People assessment is an important process for the firm. It enables us to understand our performance at leading, supporting and improving our people and culture strategy, as well as playing a vital role in employee engagement and in attracting new talent to Flint Bishop.”

“From the top, culture is ‘do as I do’, rather than ‘do as I say’.
I have worked for other companies, but never one with such engaging leadership.”

 

Chief Executive Qamer Ghafoor added:

“It is a great achievement for the firm to once again be recognised by Investors in People with the gold standard. It is pleasing to see that values, actions and behaviours demonstrated by the management team are reflected by the staff to deliver an excellent service to our clients and is testament to the firm’s ongoing commitment to developing and taking care of our people.

“I would like to thank all those members of staff who participated in the survey and onsite interviews, for providing both honest and constructive feedback, demonstrating that the culture required to be an Investors in People Gold organisation is firmly in place.”

“I have never worked for a company with so many training and progression opportunities.”

 

Key highlights

John provided the following points in his evaluation of the firm:

• Led from the front by Qamer – CEO.
• Embedded values and behaviours.
• Excellent service for clients/customers.
• Good terms and conditions of employment and benefits package.
• Dedicated, committed, expert, flexible, responsive, caring, and passionate staff.
• Positive communication and consultation processes.
• Everyone understands their contribution to the success of Flint Bishop.
• A strategy and plan for growth that is shared and understood.
• Positive stance on equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• A well-considered and benchmarked reward and recognition strategy.
• Support for staff through the pandemic.
• Faith in Qamer through his approachability.
• Collaboration is encouraged and prized.
• Providing people with the tools, skills, knowledge, and information to be effective.
• Regular appraisal and 1:1s.
• Good access to learning and development and a culture of continuous learning.
• Support for people whilst hybrid working.
• Data collection on quality, compliance, training, and HR processes, identifying good practice.

What our employees said

Here are some more comments provided by some of our staff as part of the Investors in People survey:

“We’re encouraged to support and help each other by having a no blame culture.”

“I get all the information for me to do my job effectively through team meetings, client briefs, policies and procedures, CPD and webinars, and file reviews.”

“Positivity, loyalty and working together as one team comes from the positivity and passion of the CEO and it rubs off on you.”

“I am very clear on the scope of my decision-making, and my manager trusts me to get on with my job and make day-to-day decisions.”

“No one is as passionate as Qamer; his passion is infectious.”

“We all have objectives that relate to our job, our team and company goals, and our career ambition.”

“We are continually recognised through feedback from our manager, through quarterly meetings and in emails.”

“We have an annual update from Qamer, and I think a six-monthly follow up, as well as quarterly email updates and team meetings to keep us well informed on what is required, and they also provide feedback on our performance.”

“We all strive to achieve our best and this is encouraged and supported.”

“I have never worked for an organisation that is so open and shares everything, the CEO is so open.”

“I get a lot of support from my manager to help me do my job to the best of my ability, he is very supportive.”

“I think the amount of time Qamer and Holly put into keeping us updated is really good and on top of that, we have regular team meetings.”

“A lot of my development has been coaching from my manager or more experienced colleagues.”

“Qamer thanks everyone at his presentations, which is really nice. I was never thanked in my previous company, and especially not from the CEO.”

“This is a great company to work for, they care about staff and customers in equal measures.”