27 November 2014

The Go-Ahead Group has been recognised as an Investor in People (IiP) and in just a year has achieved the Silver Award.

The IiP framework is used to measure and assess an organisation's commitment to achievement through its employees - and accepting that people's strengths, ambitions and ideas are the engine of success.

Particular strengths highlighted in the assessment included:

  • the quality of leadership
  • the strength of team relationships
  • effective use of skills and talents
  • level of employee engagement and involvement
  • open and honest two-way communication
  • responsiveness to feedback
  • and commitment to continuous improvement

Awarding the company, IiP specialist Janet Duncan said:

"There's no doubt that directors remain committed to continuous improvement. You have worked hard to implement changes to ensure that the organisation demonstrates best contemporary employment practices and your achievement of this award is very well deserved."

Receiving the award, Group Chief Executive David Brown added:

"It's testament to the people here that we've achieved this. I'm proud of the team here. They work hard to be the best they can be- they listen to each other and are great at sharing what works."

Developing its people

Go-Ahead is committed to investing in its staff and aims to be an employer of choice in the transport sector. It values the insight gained from employee feedback and understands how employee engagement contributes to the success of the group. There's evidence of a supportive and positive culture across the business and fair leadership structure. While there are times when recruiting external expertise is necessary the company is proud of growing its own leaders - with 65% of the 23 senior director appointments made of the past year as internal promotions. Diversity forums have been established to continue to ensure there's no bias towards either gender and that all appointments and internal promotions are made on the basis of merit.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
The Go-Ahead Group
Sarah Boundy, Group Corporate Communications Director                         07808 568 667
sarah.boundy@go-ahead.com
www.go-ahead.com Go-Ahead

Go-Ahead is a leading UK public transport operator, providing high quality services in the bus and rail sectors. Employing around 26,000 people across the country, over one billion passenger journeys are undertaken on our services each year. We are committed to operating our companies in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible way and are proud to have been reaccredited with Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change. In addition to the travelling public, our customers include the Department for Transport, Transport for London (TfL) and local authorities.

Bus

Go-Ahead is one of the UK's largest bus operators. With a fleet of around 4,700 buses, we carry nearly two million passengers every day. Our operations are focused on high density commuter markets. We have a strong presence in London, with around 24 per cent market share, where we provide regulated services for TfL. We operate deregulated services in Oxford, East Anglia, the South East, Southern and North East England.

Rail

The rail operation, Govia, is 65 per cent owned by Go-Ahead and 35 per cent by Keolis. It is the busiest rail operation in the UK, currently responsible for nearly 30 per cent of all UK passenger rail journeys through its four rail franchises: Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern (which includes the Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland.

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