The beauty of an inside job

Despairing of gaining any recognition on the back of the furore over 1999, one of these heroes has set out to achieve it for itself. Glasgow mechanical and electrical design engineers Henderson Warnock decided to gain the prestige it wanted internally - by going for IIP.

A fairly new firm - it was established by partners Neil Henderson and Harry Warnock five years ago - it has already grounded itself firmly as one of Glasgow's most successful practices. It has received a Small Business of the Year Award and was a runner-up in Scottish Television's Business Game.

''IIP is all about having a different attitude,'' said Warnock. ''We have always kept an open mind when it came to running the business. Traditionally in this profession people work in their own wee cubicles, heads down, no fun. We wanted to change that.

''We have a real nineties attitude - the office is open plan, everybody knows what's going on in the company. We started out with the philosophy that if we trusted our employees they would respond to that - and they have.

''Feedback has been very positive. People are fed up with grey suits. Other professions have been changing their ways in the last five to 10 years - ours hadn't. We decided to make a start.''

The firm committed to IIP 18 months ago - it seemed to be what it had been trying to achieve since its inception. It was a way of achieving confirmation and recognition of the changes it was making to the mechanical and electrical de-

sign engineering profession.

It was Glasgow Development Agency which introduced Henderson Warnock to the concept, and which supported the firm throughout its run at accreditation.

''It gave us a regular, gentle kick on the backside,'' said Warnock. ''It brought us into seminars and held our hands, reminding us we were going through IIP and not to let it slip on to the back burner. It was always pushing us along, educating us, reminding us the process wasn't as difficult as we thought.

''Our office manager came along to the second or third seminar. Halfway through she said, 'This almost seems too easy'. We knew we'd have help putting it all together - it just needed a bit of work.''

All the company had to do to gain IIP status was write down and formalise its existing procedures. It had a long-established record of staff involvement and so it took less than a year to complete the process.

It wasn't all plain sailing. ''Our staff was a little reluctant at first,'' said Warnock. ''They thought it would be like Quality Assurance procedures - all paperwork. Once they realised it was about helping both them and the company to improve they came round to the idea and were very enthusiastic.''

Response from its peers to its IIP success has been a little muted for Henderson Warnock. There are still so few others in its profession which have even considered IIP as a process for growth that the most common reaction so far is a glazed expression.

Accreditation has had its effect in other ways, however. So successful has the company's growth been in its five years, it has been entered in the annual Building Services Awards run by the Chartered Institute of Building Service s Engineers.

It is one of only two companies to have been shortlisted for the Up and Coming Consultancy of the Year Award - a real pat on the back from its peers.

''We would recommend IIP to anyone,'' said Warnock. ''It's difficult to put a number of hours on how long it takes, but if you sit down and work out a strategy it's a relatively simple process.

''It takes time to see the effect of becoming IIP accredited. We achieved the standard at the end of last year - but we are already seeing benefits and results. It has made us appreciate our staff more.

''There are no more ivory towers, people all get to know each other better. IIP is a sincere and genuine, all-purpose programme for staff development and company growth. If morale here is anything to go by, it's indispensable!''