Carrington West is a UK based technical recruitment company. Founded in 2011, the company has grown to a £50m turnover business with almost 75 employees.
Their success is only down to people and a collective goal to “be better” at everything they do.
From inception, people were the focus of their vision. Carrington West believes that creating a working environment that is happy, healthy and empowers everyone to do their best is the starting point for every aspect of the business doing well.
Investors in People spoke to James Fernandes, Managing Director about what being nominated for an award means to them and what it would feel like to win.
Why did you enter The Investors in People Awards 2021?
We are proud of what we have achieved. We are proud of our people who engage with our L&D programmes 100% and of those that have progressed their careers as a result. What better way to say we are proud?!
Are there any goals or challenges you hope an award will help you achieve or solve?
We have ambitious growth plans, and we want to continue attracting and retaining the best employees we can. We look for people that are open to learning and have a mindset that drives them to be the best possible version of themselves. By winning an award for L&D, we can more easily communicate how much importance we place on learning and improvement.
Tell us what distinguishes you from other companies in the category you’re shortlisted in.
We haven’t set out to reinvent the wheel – just make it better. Everyone shortlisted is doing a fantastic job of improving L&D in their own company and would be deserving winners.
Our particular industry has fewer professional development frameworks than some others, so we have had to work hard to create, deliver, and continually improve a programme that delivers against our vision and values, our business needs, and the industry’s standards.
What does being shortlisted mean to everyone at your company?
We celebrate our successes together as a team, and we regularly communicate how everyone’s contribution has led to every success.
In this case, our L&D programme benefits everyone at the company. Still, more importantly, it would not be a successful programme unless everyone, whatever their role or experience level, engages with it.
What would it mean to win?
We would be honoured and humbled to have our L&D programme recognised by the IIP. We recognise and reward improvement, whatever the starting point or benchmark, so it is a badge we would wear with pride.
How does being shortlisted benefit your customers?
We provide a professional service to our customers (hiring managers and job seekers). We work with them to provide staff that deliver results or to find the job of their dreams.
In either scenario, we can only do this in the best possible way if we are armed with continually improving skills, exceptional knowledge and high degrees of professionalism. This all comes from our L&D programme.
How would you use being the recipient of this award to influence others?
We also have a responsibility to contribute to improving people development and best practices in the recruitment industry.
There are over 39,000 recruitment companies in the UK, of which the vast majority are small enterprises of less than ten employees (REC, 2020).
Those companies that have “scaled up” successfully are very much in the industry spotlight and need to lead the way in setting the standard for others to follow.
What can we expect to see from your organisation in the next 12 months? (And beyond!)
We are growing, not to just a bigger company, but a better one. Whatever our headcount is 12 months or beyond, we will be doubling efforts to ensure that our growth is fueled by individual and collective improvement.
What advice would you give to anyone applying for The Investors in People Awards 2022?
Do it! The feedback we have had from past applications and the process of articulating our successes has helped us grow and evolve. No company should be afraid of laying bare its inner workings. After all, feedback is a gift!
