In touch : Investment in People

Christchurch’s Life Pharmacy Northlands has become the first retail pharmacy in the country to achieve accreditation, under an international standard, as an Investor in People. The IIP Standard provides framework within which organisations can address key management issues like planning, communication, performance management and learning and development.
The standard – which focuses on outcomes not processes – originated in the UK in the early ’90s and currently one third of the UK’s workforce are working in an organisation involved with the standard. It has been available in New Zealand since 2001 and accreditation involves meeting 10 standards.
“Attraction and retention of good people are key drivers of our human resource strategies. We see the IIP process as means of measuring the success of these strategies,” Life Pharmacy HR manager Jan Jones says.
The company has adopted IIP accreditation as part of its overall human resource strategy and will move all stores towards accreditation over the next two years.
Kim Lischner, business manager for Life Pharmacy Northlands, says the standard is particularly useful in pharmacy businesses. “Our business is about people. We employ 35, mainly female. Pharmacy school doesn’t teach you about managing and motivating people. So, like many professional services people, we need help in improving their performance and making this place where they want to come and work.”