IIP Silver award

Advance is delighted to have hade its Silver Investors In People accreditation extended for a further year.

It’s most recent survey of colleagues revealed that, despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis, staff have continued to demonstrate huge commitment to our customers.

96% of respondents said that they feel their behaviour reflects Advance’s PRIDE values, while 94% feel they have a say in decisions that affect their role. In addition, 90% of staff said that they are aware of Advance’s equality, diversity and inclusion policies, which reflects the organisation’s commitment and efforts to be an inclusive employer and service provider. While overall satisfaction was down slightly on last year, it remained fairly high at 81%.

The survey also highlighted areas for improvement, in particular around pay and reward with 28% of staff reporting that they don’t feel they are rewarded in ways which match their motivations.

Chief Executive, Julie Layton, said:

“I’m incredibly proud of our workforce. There are few groups who have been under more pressure during the past years than those working on the front line in the social care and social housing sectors. Throughout the pandemic, our colleagues have continued to go out into the community to provide essential support to our customers. And now, as many of us are feeling the squeeze from the rising cost of living, some of our staff are among those hardest hit.

“I am grateful for the commitment and care that our staff have shown and continue to show as they change lives every day but I know, too, that gratitude must be reflected in fair wages that recognise and respond to increasing costs. The Board and I are absolutely committed to improving pay for Support Workers which has been unsustainably low for too long. We want to see commissioners applying the recommended uplifts to contracts so that we can go beyond paying the Living Wage and we stand with colleagues across the sector to call for increased funding for social care generally.

“For all our colleagues, we want to continue listening and responding to feedback so that we can ensure Advance is an attractive and enjoyable place to work where people are recognised and valued for their contribution and able to deliver the very best services to our customers.”