Honeywell ED&S Southend has been pronounced the proud winner of the regional Innovative People Management award, organised and judged by the sector’s governing body, the Engineering Employers’ Federation.

The award, which honours businesses that are finding new ways to engage their workforce in driving improvements and securing their futures as UK-based manufacturers, particularly recognised the innovation of Honeywell’s Honeywell Operating System (HOS) deployment.

Vernon Parker, Southend’s HOS Site Leader, explains: “During our HOS deployment we were really focused on making sure the whole workforce was engaged in the journey. From our new and innovative communications mediums, tiered accountability meetings, coaching, and investment in training, we made sure there was a clear understanding and involvement in HOS from the very beginning.

“Through Kaizen – Honeywell’s continuous improvement tool, Rapid Problem Solving and improvement projects we ensured that everyone could get directly involved in the improvement of – and development of – the business.”

In addition to winning this award, Honeywell ED&S was shortlisted for another two. As the regional winner the company will now be automatically entered for the national Best Factory Awards being held in January.

Vernon continues: “We are thrilled to be entered for these national awards. We have a fantastic story to share; as well as measurable business benefits achieved through HOS, our cultural survey has allowed us to get direct feedback from every employee about how positively they feel about the changes.

“Our absence rates have reduced significantly, and through our annual Positive Employee Relations survey we have seen employee satisfaction with workplace conditions improve significantly. This is of utmost importance to us, and will continue to be so as the company grows further.”