Investors in People award for FSG
On Monday, 11 February, Roy Noble OBE, DL of BBC Radio Wales, a deputy Lieutenant of Mid Glamorgan, visited Llantrisant-based engineering company FSG Tool & Die, to present FSG with the plaque for successfully achieving the Investors in People (IiP) Standard Leadership and Management Model.
Roy also took the opportunity of a guided tour of the new facility and the chance to meet FSG’s engineering apprentices (see photo below).
Family-owned FSG Tool and Die is a market leader in design and manufacture of precision toolmaking, with customers in key sectors including automotive, metal and plastic packaging, hot forging and press tools.
Roy Noble commented; “FSG has been training and developing young people for over 45 years. Their track record with Modern Apprenticeships is well documented and I was delighted when the company was recognised with a National Training award in 2006.
"What is not widely recognised is the excellent support for young people in the community working with other organization such as the Education Business Partnership. It has given me great pleasure to present an IiP Standard award to a company that recognizes the importance of vocational training for our young people.”
Welsh Assembly Government Deputy Minister for Skills, John Griffiths, said: 'I congratulate FSG Tool and Die for achieving the Investors in People Standard and now the best practice Leadership and Management Model. IiP recognition is not easy to attain, but the benefits which can be gained from working towards this standard are enormous and I would encourage companies and organisations of all sizes and sectors to get involved.
“Investors in People has made a big difference to the success and prosperity of many employers and employees in Wales and is one of the most respected benchmarks of excellence in business. Working toward the Leadership and Management model shows that a business builds its management team for even more success in the future.'
FSG is an ISO9001 accredited company, with over 84 employees, which has invested in the very latest equipment including automated manufacturing processes, The company prides itself on providing its customers with first class service. It is this dedication to quality that has enabled the company to expand, even at a time which has seen so much UK engineering work moving off-shore to low-cost economies.
2007 was a busy year for FSG, including as it did, the relocation to new premises, but that did not deter the company from simultaneously progressing its IiP Standard application, which meant undertaking quality and process audits and implementing significant changes throughout the organisation.
However, as MD, Gareth Jenkins states, “Standing still was not an option. We have serious plans for growth for FSG, and if we are to succeed we need to move forward on all fronts. Our new premises provide us with room to expand and our new processes provide us with the ability to cope with that expansion. We believe the IiP is as important to our future success as our new factory.” Having decided to opt for Investors in People, management training and communications became an early focus. But as Gareth explains, “This has been a long hard road. Staff and Management have undertaken rigorous personal assessments, including personality profiling, to ensure that we are putting the right people in the right jobs – and that they have the training to succeed. Communication is essential in engineering and communications training has been one of the key elements of the IiP Standard process for us.”
All the hard work is now paying off and the company is very proud to have been awarded the IiP Standard, Leadership and Management Model – an achievement that very few companies, particularly in the engineering and management sectors can match.
Following positive feedback from external Assessors and employees, FSG has continued to look for at further improvements. “What we heard was extremely encouraging,” comments Gareth, “But we know we can’t rest on our laurels – we are due for re-assessment in three years and there are areas we want to improve before then. One aspect which middle-management felt would be particularly useful would be increased financial awareness and information, to assist them in prioritisation and decision-making process.
“We wanted to have a better understanding of the communications within our business, particularly in relation to attracting and retaining staff,” adds Gareth. “Our aim has been to benchmark our performance against the best engineering companies in the UK, to measure our progress and then to target specific areas for improvement. The IiP process has already helped us to raise our game.” FSG made a deliberate decision to actively involve both operational managers and shop floor staff.
As Gareth explains, “This meant that everyone understood why we were undertaking these activities and making these changes, and so ensured co-operation throughout the company.” FSG has put significant effort into enabling staff to visit other companies to share best practice. One of the most successful examples of this has been the “apprenticeship-swap” whereby FSG apprentices exchange places with engineering apprentices in customer companies, building understanding, sharing knowledge and improving communication throughout the supply chain.
“We have not yet been able to implement all the recommendations made of our assessor,” says Gareth, “but we are working on it. Some significant business benefits are already apparent. We face a constant step change in technology and the resultant effects in terms of the up-skilling of our people. We now face this challenge with a far greater understanding and confidence.
“When our customers come to us, we want them to know that they are dealing with an organisation that is dedicated to providing quality solutions, and which wants to work closely with other companies up and down the supply chain,” concludes Gareth. “Many people don’t recognise that engineering is a people business – our product is in fact the value-add that our highly skilled staff provide which turns metal into engineering components. We know our business is based on our people, a fact demonstrated by our achievement of the IiP award.”
