Highly Commended: Going for gold to empower employees

Judges also Highly Commended Nicola Ryan, Head of People’s Services at Rowlinson Knitwear for her ‘transformative policies’ that have helped to drive the success of Rowlinson as an employee owned business which included spearheading a cultural revolution that centred on being employee owned, embedding strong values and demonstrating exceptional care for all employees.

Through setting up an Employee Council as a hub for ideas, implementing an open door management style and providing a raft of engagement opportunities, Nicola has driven the businesses vision to be a ‘great place to work for and work with’. This has seen an increase in customer satisfaction from 43% to 98%, employee satisfaction up from 34% to 100% and achievements including gaining Gold IIP award, achieving 23^rd in the Best Work Place awards and developing excellent recruitment and retention.