Equiniti ICS Accreditations

Equiniti ICS is an active Trade Member of AIIM International, the worldwide community that provides education, research, and best practices to help organisations find, control, and optimise their information.

Equiniti ICS was recognised at the Pay & Benefits Awards 2012, winning ‘Product of the Year’ for our auto-enrolment solution. The awards, which are hosted by Pay & Benefits Magazine, celebrate exceptional performance in the areas of payroll and benefits, with ‘Product of the Year’ awarded for “creativity and skill in identifying and addressing a need for payroll and benefits professionals”.

The Employee Benefits Group is owned by Centaur Media.

Employee Benefits Group consists of the UK's leading benefits publication, Employee Benefits. This magazine is published monthly and is written for benefits practitioners in large UK companies.

www.employeebenefits.co.uk was first launched in September 2000 primarily as an archive for Employee Benefits magazine. It was relaunched in October 2006 as a resource for busy benefits and HR managers needing the latest information at the click of a mouse.

Equiniti ICS Ltd has been recognised as a leader in business management, picking up an award for Deloitte Best Managed Company. Criteria considered by the judges in determining the winner included:

• Strategy
• Operations management
• Human resource management
• Financials and growth potential across all key functions of the business

The Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme was open to companies from all 32 counties on the island of Ireland and is the only awards programme that considers business performance from every perspective.

Equiniti ICS was first accredited with the Investors in People Award (IIP) in 2004, and has maintained this status since then. IIP provides a framework to enable businesses to achieve success through their most valuable resource - their staff. It has helped us ensure that everyone performs to an optimum standard and that we give our people the right knowledge, skills and motivation to work at the peak of their efficiency.

The EFQM 'Mark of Excellence' award is based on the Business Excellence Model, and is a self-assessment programme designed to highlight operational areas that can be improved. Evaluations are carried out by members of staff rather than management.

The journey towards winning the award began in 2003 when Equiniti ICS began working with the Centre for Competitiveness. We now have continuous improvement plans which ensure strong customer focus, and a working atmosphere in which change and innovation are an integral part of everyday life.

Equiniti ICS has achieved ISO 9001, an international qualification of global quality assurance and quality control standards. The rigorous application process demands the best standards of production, updating records, maintaining equipment, training employees and handling customer relations. The governing international consortium is recognised worldwide.

Equiniti ICS has experienced many benefits from following the ISO 9001 standards including improved product, process and service quality, and increased customer satisfaction levels.

The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) was established to promote and develop the science of payroll and pensions management and to advance education involving the study of payroll and pensions management skills.

Equiniti ICS was judged 'Employer of the Year' at CIPP's 21st conference and awards ceremony in 2005.

The award recognises excellence in the workplace and considers investment in people and processes, technology, training and development opportunities as well as employee benefits, facilities and management.

Six Sigma is a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process - from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

Six Sigma contributes towards up to 50% process cost reduction, cycle-time improvement, less waste of materials, a better understanding of customer requirements, increased customer satisfaction, and more reliable products and services.

The ISO 14000 accreditation is an environmental management system standard. It provides a framework for managing environmental responsibilities so that they become more efficient and integrated into overall operations. Companies who comply experience many benefits, both financial and operational, including cost savings, decreased insurance costs, increased staff morale and better public perception.

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) was developed in the late 1980's by the Central COmputer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA, now the OGC), and by the mid 1990's it had become the world-wide de facto standard in service management. A set of best practices standards for service management was created in response to the growing dependence on IT to meet business needs and goals. ITIL provides businesses with a customisable framework of best practices to achieve quality service and overcome difficulties associated with the growth of IT systems. It is organised into sets of texts which are defined by related functions: service support, service delivery, managerial, software support, computer operations, security management, and environmental.

Equiniti ICS has been accredited with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Payroll Standard Accreditation which is awarded to payroll software products that satisfy the requirements of the payroll standard. This helps employers identify payroll software products with the essential features necessary to calcluate PAYE, NICs, and statutory payments and perform a range of other payroll functions. Equiniti ICSs Perito Payroll is a highly flexible payroll solution that meets all of HMRC's requirements.

Equiniti ICS has attained Microsoft Gold Certified status as a member of the Microsoft Partner Program demonstrating our expertise with Microsoft technologies and a proven ability to meet our customers' needs.

One of the requirements for attaining Gold Certified Partner status requires Equiniti ICS to employ Microsoft certified professionals. These members of staff specialise in customisation, installation, configuration and application of the Microsoft CRM system. As a further aspect of the assessment process, Equiniti ICS's customers were required to provide references for the company, paying testament to the company's skills, abilities and expertise.

As a member of Oracle Partner Network and participant in the Oracle BPO initiative, Equiniti ICS can offer BPO Powered by Oracle, with access to Oracle's comprehensive set of best in class technology, applications, programmes and service. Oracle users can now outsource payroll to Oracle-skilled experts to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Equiniti ICS has been awarded the ISO 27001 accreditation. One of the most widely adopted security standards in the world, ISO 27001 covers known security issues, and control requirements and steers companies along a quantifiable path of assessments and improvements.

Compliance shows that information security is being taken seriously and that effective steps are in place.

The coveted Payroll Supplier of the Year Award recognises the essential and high-quality support provided to employers by suppliers of payroll outsourcing solutions. It recognises those suppliers who have gone the extra mile to provide an excellent service.

Equiniti ICS won the 'Wake up to Waste' Campaign competition which asked Northern Irish Businesses to address the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The competition, which was sponsored by Tesco, involved submitting 20 ideas that demonstrated how the company had implemented strategies to reduce waste, recycle goods and reuse materials.

The Business Growth award category required evidence of growth in product range and provision of services, client base, staff numbers, new markets, profitability and sales turnover. Equiniti ICS has a proven track record, trebling staff numbers and opening new offices in London, Glasgow and Newbury in the past five years.

The Excellence in Business Practice award required evidence of excellence and innovation in management processes, customer service, operational procedures and product/service development. We have invested heavily in ISO Quality Accreditations, EFQM and Investors In People programmes to ensure that our workforce is well trained and that procedures are in place to make our business processes more efficient and cost effective.

Our "Highly Commended" accolade in the Belfast Telegraph Awards in 2004 recognises our contribution to providing innovative solutions to both the UK and Ireland. We are committed to investing heavily in research and development to find new and innovative solutions for our customers.

The CIPP is committed to raising the profile and awareness of payroll as a profession, and organisations that achieve this accreditation demonstrate dedication not only to the learning and development of their payroll department, but the profession as a whole.