News
MI store drums up an award
Rob Hughes May 15 2008, 11:58am
Drumwright beats competition to become a hit with its staff
Berkshire-based Drumwright, one of the UK’s top drum stores, has been awarded the Investors in People Standard.
Drumwright, at Woodley, which has 13 employees, measured up to the requirements of the award, which provides a framework for improving performance and competitiveness through training and development.
The company’s Managing Director, Chris Wright (pictured with his wife, Brooke), said he had opted to apply for Investors In People, partly to ensure that best practices were implemented in the shop.
He said: “We are very lucky in that all our staff are drummers and very enthusiastic about their work. But we find that we have all sorts of plans for staff development and training on paper, but unfortunately all too often the important gets shuffled out of the way by the urgent, and merely ends up in the good intentions tray.”
“I used to work with the Hertfordshire Training and Enterprise Council so I knew the value of implementing staff training. Now, in addition to our daily half hour staff gatherings, we have a weekly hour-long session devoted to training.”
“The biggest challenge for our internal communication is that, being a busy shop with some part-time workers, we are never all together at the same time. We’re currently looking at ways of effectively communicating with everyone. The Investors in People process has also highlighted the need for management development.”
As a direct result of taking part in Investors in People accreditation, Drumwright’s management team of five is meeting their Investors In People assessor, consultant Everton Jackson, for team development sessions.”
Wright, who is also honourary treasurer of the MIA added: “We do a lot of work with the community, supplying schools with their percussion instruments and sponsoring charity events, and we hold regular masterclasses for customers with some of the greats, like Ian Paice, the legendary Deep Purple drummer. But sometimes you have to take a fresh look at the core of the business – the people – and to support and channel their enthusiasm.”
Commenting on Drumwright’s achievement, Trish Fraser, Managing Director of Quality South East, the Investors in People Centre for the region, said: “Achieving the Investors In People Standard can be challenging at times, so Drumwright is to be congratulated for its drive and determination.”
“I am particularly pleased that Chris Wright has called on the expertise of consultant Everton Jackson to work with his young and dynamic management team. Taking the decision to go for Investors In People encourages staff to get really involved with the company, leading to increased productivity.”
drumwright.co.uk
