Our People
Our goal is to make A.G. BARR a great place to work both now and in the future.
- 12% of Employees gained formal qualifications in 2010/11
- Investor in People status achieved
- Safe and Sound working initiative introduced to all sites
- 24% reduction in the number of RIDDOR accidents
We recognise that our employees are critical to the future success of the Company. We invest in our employees to increase our capability to deliver our business objectives. We aim to attract, retain and develop outstanding people by creating a culture where we support each other, where each individual is encouraged to reach his or her full potential and where we recognise and reward performance. Each employee has their own agreed personal development plan detailing the planned learning and development activities which will help them deliver their individual, team and business goals.
96% of employees have attended our internal training programmes over the past year, covering a wide range of topics such as Management Skills, Personal Development and Health & Safety. In addition, 43% of employees attended external training courses and 12% have gained formal qualifications under our stewardship during the year.
Investors in People
In 2010/11, A.G. BARR achieved the prestigious Investors in People Bronze recognition. Investors in People helps organisations improve performance and realise objectives through the management and development of their people. This external assessment of our performance has allowed us to benchmark our performance, as well as identifying areas for further improvement. We will continue to work with Investors in People to review our Continuous Improvement Plans for each of our sites in 2011/12.
Health and Safety
Safety is led from the top, with the A.G. BARR board of directors monitoring Company performance. The Safety Executive, chaired by the Finance Director and advised by the Health & Safety Manager, develops safety policies and strategy. The Management Safety Committee implements and reviews compliance with policies and procedures and the local safety committees ensure local implementation of Company safety procedures and practices.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR)
The year to January 2011 has seen a 24% reduction in the number of RIDDOR accidents from 17 to 13. This has resulted in a 5% reduction in total days lost in 2010/11 (396 to 377). The severity of RIDDOR accidents has also reduced by 17% (from 23 to 19).
Internal H&S Audits
The annual audit programme comprises seventeen internal audits, where sites are measured against good safety practices, safety improvements, compliance against safe working systems and Company safety guidance notes.
All sites have shown improvement in their audit score compared to last year. The most notable improvement came from the Scotland Direct Sales Delivery (‘SDSD’) operation, with an increase of 11% in their score compared to last year.
Right: TV personality Preeya Kalidas receiving a giant cheque on behalf of The British Asian Trust from A.G. BARR Commercial Director, Jonathan Kemp. The donation was given by Rubicon, following a competition run at county cricket grounds. The presentation was made at the Friends Provident t20 Finals at Southampton’s Rose Bowl ground in Hampshire during August. Rubicon was an official partner of the t20 series.
The poster for an A.G. BARR Staff Open Day at our Cumbernauld site where over 1,200 people attended, helping to raise a phenomenal £2,200 on the day.
Safety Initiatives
For the second year running, the Safe and Sound at Work Initiative was rolled out to all sites. The two objectives of this initiative were to identify areas of further safety improvement in the workplace and to continue to reduce the number of accidents in the workplace. The safety initiatives applied to all A.G. BARR locations and ranged from hazard spotting, near miss reporting and operator safety inspection training programmes, to safety projects targeting a reduction in vehicle and people accidents. These initiatives helped many of the sites improve their audit score and ensure that a good safety record is maintained. The greatest improvement came from the SDSD operation, where the moving annual total (‘MAT’) for RIDDOR accidents reduced by 71%, moving from a MAT of 7 to 2.
o complement the existing library of A.G BARR safety induction materials, a new safety DVD has been produced. It covers sales vehicle delivery safety, focusing on accident prevention, manual handling related injuries, falls from vehicles and personal safety for the delivery team.
Reward and Recognition
By benchmarking our pay and benefits, we ensure that our reward systems are competitive. We also link business and performance to individual reward systems, motivating our people to perform to high standards and to contribute to business success. In line with this, we are extending Individual Performance Related Reward further across our organisation to strengthen the link between performance and reward.
In the past year, we have introduced total reward statements for all employees, which bring together an individual’s complete pay and benefits elements in a single, easily understood document. We continue to operate numerous share related employee benefit plans such as SAYE and AESOP, which both encourage share ownership and act as a component part of the reward structure.
