By Dan Migliozzi, Head of Sales at warehouse automation specialists, Invar Group.
In the fast-paced world of logistics, company culture has emerged as a powerful driver for success. At Invar Group, we understand the significance of cultivating a strong organisational culture that not only aligns with our core values and resonates with our customers, but one that also empowers our employees and allows them to thrive.
The recent formation of our People and Culture division – supporting 111 employees across our UK and European teams – has seen us step up our commitment to nurturing our talent. Its targets sit beyond traditional HR functions, with the team serving as the driving force behind fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and inspiring work environment.
By investing in and caring about our people, we hope to strengthen a culture where talent thrives and innovation flourishes. And in a bid to achieve this, we have identified a set of guiding strategies to support our vision.
Fostering a Shared Vision: Promoting Our Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values
At Invar, we hold a strong commitment to what we call the ‘Invar Way’— a holistic embodiment of our Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values (PVMV). We firmly believe that aligning our employees with a shared PVMV creates a sense of identity and belonging within our organisation. It ensures that everyone understands the bigger picture and their instrumental role in achieving it.
For this reason, we have built a strong fabric of core values — integrity, collaboration, passion, and innovation — which have set the foundations for nurturing a cohesive and motivated workforce that strives for excellence and delivers exceptional results for our customers.
By communicating and reinforcing these principles, we aim to inspire our employees to embrace the Invar Way, embody our core values, and work collectively towards a common goal — we aim to ensure each and every employee knows that they are working on a crucial part of something greater.
Elevating Recruitment and Onboarding Practices
For us, building high-performing teams requires more than simply recruiting and retaining top talent, it’s also about prioritising cultural fit. Our recruitment strategy is focused on finding candidates that resonate with our core values, enhancing the potential for a harmonious fit within the organisation.
Furthermore, we understand that the onboarding process is pivotal in helping new employees integrate seamlessly into the organisation. We are committed to continually improving our onboarding experience, to ensure that our new recruits are well-equipped to contribute effectively from day one.
Investing in Talent Development and Career Growth
Empowering our employees to reach their full potential is not just a goal; it’s a core component of our people strategy. Through initiatives like our appraisal scheme, we identify and develop the right training programs, ensuring opportunities for continuous growth and skill enhancement. Listening to our employees and providing them with the tools they need to thrive, both personally and professionally, is absolutely key to supporting talent development.
By investing in talent development and career growth, we aim to not only foster a sense of loyalty and commitment among our employees, but we also wish to help them remain at the forefront of their respective fields, throughout their career.
Supporting Work-Life Balance and Creating a Positive Work Environment
We recognise the crucial role that work-life balance and a positive work environment play in the well-being of our people. Therefore, our people strategy includes initiatives that actively support work-life balance, such as the introduction of Smarter Working Days, a scheme in which individuals can gain an extra day of holiday each month if they meet their objectives.
Furthermore, the majority of our contracts are home-based, meaning that people have the flexibility to work how and where they like. But importantly, our offices provide a much-needed physical focal point for building a sense of community, a space that brings our teams together beyond work. In the coming months, we will be developing a structured programme whereby staff can vote on charity initiatives they would like to engage in.
A positive and productive work environment is one where clear job descriptions, regular feedback, and effective management practices encourage accountability. Employees that understand their roles and responsibilities fully can take ownership of their work and reap the rewards from their efforts.
Encouraging Collaboration, Knowledge Sharing, and Continuous Improvement
The power of people working together, pooling their expertise, and encouraging creativity is incredibly important to us. By fostering a culture of collaboration, we create an environment in which ideas flow freely, and best practices are shared across the organisation.
Invar’s journey has been punctuated by periods of growth and change, and we encourage our employees to embrace the mindset of taking on challenges face on, striving for continuous improvement. Identifying opportunities for innovation and promoting a working environment of learning, agility, and adaptability are essential components of our culture.
Overall, we hope that our continued efforts to put people at the heart of everything we do will enable us to stay ahead of the curve and create a workplace where collaboration and trust flourish — an environment where both our company and individual team members can thrive together.
