Improving training and development strategies and staff motivation are the main reasons behind employers’ decision to work towards gaining the Investors in People (IIP) standard, according to a survey by Personnel Today’s sister publication Employment Review.
The survey of 81 organisations – 65 of which have achieved the IIP standard – shows the top three considerations for gaining the accreditation are recognition for existing good practice (87.7%), linking staff development to achieving business goals (73.7%) and attracting better quality recruits (66.7%).
However, the findings show that many organisations are sceptical about the impact the standard can really have on the bottom line, and gaining it did not always yield the results they expected to achieve. While one in five (22.4%) had hoped that IIP status would increase profits, none of them felt that this had been sufficiently achieved to cite it as one of the biggest impacts of gaining the standard.
Instead, the greatest benefit of achieving IIP accreditation was found to be the recognition of existing best practice within the organisation (see chart above).
Employers felt that achieving the IIP standard had the least impact on improving the reputation of the company among their customers, which was cited as a weakness by 11.5% of respondents.
Achieving the IIP standard proves that an organisation has demonstrated that it has been successful in adopting and maintaining the three core principles:
- Plan – developing strategies to improve the performance of the organisation, from business goals to leadership strategies
- Do – implementing those strategies and taking action to improve the performance of the organisation
- Review – evaluating and adjusting those strategies, and measuring their impact on the performance of the organisation.
Once they are accredited with the standard, organisations are subject to regular reviews no more than three years apart – although they can choose to be reviewed more frequently.
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The IIP standard celebrated its 15th anniversary last year. At that point, 34,891 organisations had achieved IIP accreditation.
For more information, go to www.xperthr.co.uk
