A pilot scheme to boost training has been pronounced a success by Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister whose own department has joined six companies in being awarded Investors in People (IIP) certificates.

At an awards ceremony at the Rosedon Hotel on Monday, Mr. Lister was told that the IIP assessor had never seen a Government department reach such high performance levels.

The IIP programme encourages companies to set up training targeted at improving both the employee and employer.

And now Government, which funded the pilot project, hopes to see it flourish Island-wide as private businesses chip in.

Mr. Lister said: "It has had a tremendous impact on my department when you see staff in a large organisation who have a sense of ownership.

"In order to get the certificates, they must be able to understand management and staff goals. Communication in the workplace in Bermuda is not particularly strong from top to bottom.

"It enhances understanding, be it management and staff, be it the races, whatever.

"Within our Ministry we are really excited about the opportunity to introduce Investors in People to Bermuda.

"Within the next two to three months we expect to get our own body, IIP Bermuda, up and running.

"Our goal is to have this run from one end of the island to the other.'' Companies honoured for completing the project on Monday were: Aberfeldy Nurseries, The Veney Group of Companies, Continental Motors, Air Care Ltd., Esso City Auto Market and the Rosedon Hotel.

Mr. Lister said: "We have already invited people to join that board. It will have its own executive officer and we will begin the search for that person quite soon. We will be training Bermudian assessors and trainers.

"The body will encompass both public and private sectors. We're looking to the business community to provide about 60 percent of the funding in the first year of IIP Bermuda.

"We have already got commitments for a third of that funding so we feel very confident of getting that funding.

"In the next three months we hope to get around ten companies lined up for the second round - it takes 18 months to get accreditation but they are then monitored for five years to see they maintain their standards.

"We are aiming to get a minimum of 100 large companies and a similar number of smaller companies of between ten to 20 employees each.

"Then we would have 40 percent of all the companies which have more than ten employees in Bermuda.

"When employees and managers move, they will take the experience they have gained with IIP.'' But he admitted some companies, particularly with North American trained managers, were unaware of the IIP programme which is popular in Europe. He said: "We have to educate them.'' Jeff Stirling, of Continental Motors, said: "It's been a great incentive for us to push ahead with our training. It's great, we really recommend it to other companies.'' Premier Jennifer Smith said the programme would provide highly skilled and qualified individuals for the local marketplace.

She said: "It was set up in April, 1998 and I am pleased to announce that seven of the eight companies have successfully completed the programme -- a success rate of 87 percent.'' The National Training Board's Terry Bond said: "It helps motivate staff, and promotes staff retention and communication between managers and workers.

"Staff say: `We're like a family here' and they take care of each other. They are excited about going to work, they enjoy it.

"As the standard becomes more widely known people will apply to companies who do IIP.'' Eric Jenkinson, who helped set up the scheme in Bermuda, explained that IIP was now an international standard, recognised in 23 countries.

He said: "There are 15,000 accredited organisations in the UK and 22,000 working towards it. That takes in 34 percent of the UK's total workforce.

"The US and Canada want to start but Bermuda got there first.

"The benefits for firms are lower labour turnover, lower absenteeism, higher morale and better communication and higher levels of performance.'' BUSINESS BUC