Kirsten Brown, compliance officer at Kingsmith Care Ltd, explains why Emma King should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
Compassion, integrity, respect – these are the core values of Emma King, Owner of Kingsmith Care (KSC). It is with these values firmly in mind that Emma started KSC four years ago. The business now has 23 staff.
KSC, with its ethos ‘every action matters’, is all about providing top quality; people centred care to vulnerable, elderly people in their homes.
Fundamental to the success of the company is Emma’s belief that she can only provide this exceptional care by having a team of carers who understand and respect these values, and are able to demonstrate them consistently.
She shows her outstanding leadership qualities (a status recognised and awarded at the latest CQC inspection) by offering regular flexible working, providing emotional and practical support, listening to concerns and asking for feedback – which in turn enables her to continually improve.
Carers are encouraged to advance themselves through ongoing training programmes (funded by the company) and KSC is one is one of few companies to pay the London living wage. Incentive payments and ad-hoc gifts are a regular occurrence – a manicure, flowers, or a carefully chosen cake are just some of the thoughtful ways in which Emma looks after her staff. We have an exceptionally low staff turnover rate and the team holds her in high regard.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
