What makes a good employer? How can you determine what the best practices are?

H&T Pawnbrokers are proud of their HR practices and focus on people development, so much so that they decided to seek external recognition for it. In October and November 2011 H&T underwent assessment for the ‘Investors In People’ (IIP) Award. Not only did they pass the evaluation, but they attained a Silver Award. The award is designed to provide a framework for businesses to operate effectively through good ‘people management’; by attaining the award H&T can distinguish itself as having invested in its workforce.

H & T Pawnbrokers seek to develop and support their staff in order that they reach their full potential and recognize that employee development is crucial to the success of the business. It is this that helps H & T go from strength-to-strength, with a further 25 stores open in the UK by the end of 2011, compared with an extra 17 by the end of 2010. H&T considers the focus on employee development as one of their major keys to success.

H&T have shared their experiences, processes and assessors comments to illustrate the HR model that led to the Silver IIP Award.

Employee Development Programmes

Among the HR practices that H&T have are the two employee development programmes; Management Development Programme (MDP) and the Stair Programme.  

The MDP is initiated at deputy manager level and focuses on the technical and behavioural competencies required in management positions. This is achieved through workshops, experience running stores and business development action plans. The final stage of the MDP involves the delegate attending the Development Centre to identify their strengths and development areas.  Of the 85 delegates to have attended this programme since 2010, 85% have succeeded to store manager level.

The Stair Programme is a bespoke development programme, designed for experienced and high performing managers who wish to progress in the career. The programme is tailored to each individuals personal development needs and comprises of a combination of workshops, coaching and personal development opportunities.

IIP Assessors commented that the introduction of the MDP and Stair programme show how H&T are not only good at spotting talent but also committed to developing that talent.

Methods and Tools

H&T use various methods and tools to ensure that their staff are both valued and developed, these methods include; workshops, reward and recognition schemes, employee surveys and performance appraisals.

H&T deliver over 200 workshops each year, these workshops cover; Recruitment & Selection, Appraisal, Health & Safety Management, Diamond & Watch training, Managing your team more effectively, Time Management & Planning, Financial & Commercial Awareness, Disciplinary & Performance Capability Management and Project Management. Certificates are issued for all workshops that have been attended to ensure recognition both at individual and store level.

The reward and recognition schemes are multi-facetted including; generous and competitive employment packages, quarterly and annual bonuses as well as seasonal incentives. The reward and recognition scheme also includes Reward Statements, these detail exactly what an employee’s package is, highlighting all benefits received while promoting the value of benefits not used but available.

H&T Pawnbrokers rewards employee’s ideas. This is highlighted by the Innovations Scheme whereby staff can send in their ideas for the company to take up; this has proved popular, as many current company procedures and ideas have been provided by the store staff.  This is reward through the payment of up to £1000. This scheme was also acknowledged by assessors who observed that there is a real drive for continuous improvement where ideas are rewarded.

As part of the retention strategy, H&T encourage staff to seek opportunities in the company, across Stores, Head Office and GoldBars in order to enhance their skills. Closely linked to this, H&T have also introduced an applicant tracking system which ensures that they fairly evaluate all applications they receive and see the best possible candidates for the roles they are recruiting for; this allows the recruitment and retention of key talent for their business.

H&T work very closely with employees at all levels, from the employee survey and focus groups to annual appraisals for every employee. This two-way communication means that H&T can gauge employee satisfaction while also providing key feedback. IIP assessors were particularly impressed with the well designed Performance Appraisal process, which clearly links individuals’ objectives with those of the organisation as a whole.

Managers have additional reward and recognition schemes, including; an annual share option scheme to help managers participate in ownership of the company and every year H&T holds an annual conference for its Managers. In 2011 the managers were fortunate enough to be invited to Portugal for the Managers Conference, where they learnt about the company’s strategies for the year ahead, shared their experiences with each other and had the top performing managers awarded with prizes. This ethos of collaborative working was recongised by IIP assessors who observed and commented on the way information is shared and ideas are discussed across the business.

Dedication to Staff

These schemes, programmes, tools and incentives all create a talented, developed, satisfied and motivated workforce. The Silver Award symbolizes this dedication to staff and helps H&T be recognized as not only a good business model but also a great place to work. Liz Cook, Human Resource Director for H&T is extremely pleased with the award, ‘We are very proud of the HR and L&D practices in place at H&T, we decided to be assessed for the management standard in order to highlight our dedication to staff with the accredited Investors In People standard. We hope this award will outwardly show the commitment we have to effective human resources management.’

Probably the most complimentary of the assessor’s comments is the observation that employees really enjoy coming to work, an achievement that H&T Pawnbrokers can feel a true sense of achievement about.

For more information about H&T Pawnbrokers, customers can call free phone 0800 838 973 or visit www.handtpawnbrokers.co.uk.