Benefits of IIP

NICKI GAUTIER-HUGHES, HR PROJECT MANAGER, TESCO CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE:

I think sometimes you can get a bit complacent in business. I know we focus on what's in front of you without looking at what's going on around you. We've found that the resources that IIP provide have been invaluable.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE PEOPLE TO YOUR COMPANY?

I think at Tesco we do know that only too well our business wouldn't be the way it was if it wasn't for groups. They're our customers and our people. Our people are so important to us. Without them, we wouldn't have the customer base that we have and we wouldn't be as big as we are. We know our people are our biggest asset and through doing Investors In People, it's really given our staff a sense of pride and let them be recognised for what they do well and that external recognition has really boosted moral here in the centre.

WHAT IS YOUR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITY LIKE?

I think when we went to our initial assessment there were a number of next steps that we'd put in place as part of our action planning. And it's taken us three years to do that but we were really pleased to see by our latest assessment that we were really had achieved all those action points. Viewpoint is a staff survey that Tesco carry out every year with all the employees throughout the whole of the company and some of the key indicators had really shifted since 2006 up until our recent assessment. So staff have really got that sense of pride, they want to come to work for us. They've noticed the impact of the assessment and the fact that we've made these changes based on the feedback from IIP.

We have other parts of the Tesco retailing business such as Tesco Bank, Tesco Mobile and other customer services who want to get involved in becoming Investors In People.