Vauxhall Motors Certified One Of Britain's Top Employers

LUTON. UNITED KINGDOM – April 4, 2011: Last night, Vauxhall Motors was announced one of the Top Employers in Britain for 2011 by the Corporate Research Foundation (CRF) Institute.

The CRF Institute endeavours to identify front-runners in HR and announced the leading organisations at its awards dinner last night at The Landmark Hotel in London, in recognition of their exceptional employment standards.

Vauxhall Motors, the only British manufacturer consistently producing cars since 1903 and also the largest van manufacturer in the UK, offers a multitude of positions and challenges within its organisation, from engineering to sales and marketing. The company works in close partnership with its employees and the unions and is fully committed to all of them throughout their careers and beyond. Vauxhall is thankful for the unrelenting dedication and engagement of its employees even in difficult times, such as the recent economic crisis and during the uncertainty that had been hovering over its van plant. The announcement last week that the next generation Vauxhall and Opel Vivaro will be produced in Luton is a great testimony to its fantastic workforce. What's more, employees in Ellesmere Port were entrusted, as the only plant, to produce the Astra Sports Tourer for the whole of Europe as a result of their outstanding achievements. This exceptional commitment from management, staff and the unions, is also well illustrated by the high scores allocated to Vauxhall by the CRF across Company Culture, Working Conditions as well as Pay & Benefits.

“We are extremely proud of our employees and value our relationship based on trust, dedication and passion for the job in hand,” said Phil Millward, Vauxhall’s HR Director. “Together, we are actively building the future of manufacturing in Britain, offering an array of skilled and high profile jobs within our organisation as well as highly commended graduate and apprenticeship schemes."

The Top Employer certification is based on independent research carried out by the CRF Institute and audited by Grant Thornton. It shows that Vauxhall Motors has outstanding HR policies and offers excellent working conditions.

Fifty-eight organisations were certified in this year’s Britain’s Top Employers project and companies were judged on the basis of their scores in the following HR-related areas: Primary Benefits, Secondary Benefits & Working Conditions, Training and Development, Career Development, and Company Culture.

“The combination of an aging workforce, the economic recovery, and staff shortage in certain industries is making employers increasingly aware of the importance of selecting and retaining the right people and making sure that they come to work every day feeling motivated and engaged,” says Steven Veenendaal, CEO of the CRF Institute. “The 58 certified organisations have put the welfare of their employees at the top of their list of priorities and are doing exceptionally well in offering their employees the best working conditions. You will see that translated in the long-term sustainability of these companies.”

The CRF Institute has 20 years’ experience in supporting organisations in creating genuine and differentiated employer brands.

The Britain’s Top Employers project is a unique combination of HR policy-based research, certification and promotion. All participants have completed a comprehensive research programme called the HR Best Practices Survey, designed to give deep insights into a company’s performance across 11 key areas of HR practice.