Staff, Board members and invited guests of Cunninghame Housing Association attended an event at the Scottish Parliament last week to receive three Investors in People awards in recognition of being a great employer, an outstanding place to work and a clear commitment to sustainability.

Achieving Investors in People Platinum Accreditation, the Association said, highlights that it is a truly high performing organisation that is operating at the pinnacle of people management practice using Investors in People to drive the business forward.

Investors in Young People Gold Accreditation is the only people management standard that focuses on an employer’s recruitment and retention of young people.

Cunninghame Housing Association said this represents a true commitment to the training and development of young people and demonstrates that it is an employer of choice for young people.

In addition to meeting the Investors in Young People Standard, IIP found additional evidence to accredit Cunninghame Housing Association at the Gold level. The Association said this is a fantastic achievement, and testament to its effective practices around youth employment.

The Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Award represents a true commitment to employee wellbeing and demonstrates a solid foundation of good practice which remains challenging and aspirational for many organisations.

By embedding good health and wellbeing practices, overall performance improvement can be encouraged rather than just minimising sickness and injury. Indeed, having a health and wellbeing programme in place can support a culture of happy and healthy employees, in turn providing improved productivity, attendance and motivation. Cunninghame Housing Association said it has achieved all of the above elements.

Kevin Stewart, minister for local government and housing, said on making the three awards: “My congratulations to Cunninghame Housing Association on its outstanding achievement. The commitment, leadership and support they have given and continue to give to their employees delivers not only a more contented workforce, but a more productive company which brings benefits to the wider community.”

Frank A. Sweeney, chief executive of Cunninghame Housing Association Ltd and its Group of Companies, added: “In 1999 we became the first Housing Association in Ayrshire to achieve IIP Accreditation. In 2014 we became the second organisation in Scotland to achieve IIP Gold, Investors in Young People and Investors in Health & Wellbeing. In 2017 we have now become the first Housing Association in Scotland with over 50 staff (CHA Group of Companies has 127 staff) to be awarded Investors in People Platinum, Investors in Young People Gold and Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Award.

“We have a fantastic staff working throughout the Cunninghame Housing Group of Companies and this achievement is testimony to not only their performance but to the investment made in our staff by the CHA Board of Management.”

Kenneth Gibson MSP, who hosted the event, said: “I was delighted to host a reception for Cunninghame Housing Association at Holyrood. CHA is one of Scotland’s most ambitious and innovative housing providers; a true leader in its field. These awards recognise the strength of CHA as a ‘people’ organisation with an excellent team spirit which works hard to continually build on the positive, ongoing relationship between management, staff and tenants. I have no doubt these awards will be a springboard for CHA to move forward to even greater success.”

Peter Russian, chief executive, IIP Scotland, added: “This is a remarkable achievement for Cunninghame Housing Association. To have secured these three accreditations is a real sign of the commitment that they have to their people, and this is good news for everyone. Most importantly it means that local communities can be assured that their needs are well served by the team at CHA who clearly have the skills and commitment needed to provide really good service to their customers.”