On its first attempt, Dalton Electrical has gained gold accreditation from Investors in People, a UK-based organisation with international reach that encourages the latest workplace trends, leading practices and employee conditions required to create outperforming teams. It is the first New Zealand company to achieve the rating.

The latest framework focuses on three key areas: leading, supporting and improving. Within these sit nine performance indicators based on the features of organisations that consistently outperform industry norms. Organisations are assessed against these indicators using a performance model made up of four levels: Developed, Established, Advanced, High-Performing. In order to achieve the minimum level of accreditation against this framework, an organisation must meet all nine indicators at ‘Developed’ llevel. 

Since 2014, nine Dalton Electrical staff have experienced swimming at sunrise in the Marlborough Sounds, scaling rock faces blindfolded and pushing themselves to their mental and physical limits at Outward Bound – a number managing director Bruce Dalton says he hopes to increase. 

He says his aim is to have all Dalton Electrical managers and supervisors attend an Outward Bound course. “Quite a few have already done a 21-day Classic course, and we are encouraging the rest to do a five-day Professional course,” he says.

Dalton has some clear goals in mind when sending his people to Outward Bound. 

“The aim is to see them return with improved communication skills, an ability to lead people in a calm way, an ability to better cope in stressful situations, reinforcement of the importance of coaching and goal setting and an understanding of how much you can achieve in a day. And we are seeing those attributes in everyone when they return. Better leaders create a better business.”

While some employees are apprehensive before they travel to Anakiwa, he says everyone loves it afterwards. 

“Outward Bound has certainly helped our culture and also contributed to our staff being energised and focused. We use a number of training providers and have a business coach. While there are positives and negatives with all training, Outward Bound is a clear leader in teaching resilience and communication skills. We strive to be the first choice of industrial electrical company as seen by both customers and employees, and Outward Bound certainly helps us achieve this goal.”