Research Update: June 29, 2000

More proof of people as the competitive advantage!

United Kingdom establishes international program of good people practices

In the late 1980's and early 1990's there was a realization that the United Kingdom was losing ground in the competitive international marketplace. Industry, employee and training organizations and the national government came to a consensus that the key to regaining a competitive advantage was to sharply focus on developing and training people. The National Training Task Force in partnership developed the Investors in People Standard in 1990 with other leading national organizations. Some of these organizations included the Confederation of British Industry, Trades Union Congress and the Institute of Personnel and Development. The Employment Department supported the work. The content for the Standard came from experiences and best practices from the most successful companies, large and small, in all sectors of the UK economy. The Standard and the rigorous planning, evaluation and recognition process has been successful in the UK. In 1999 over 35,000 UK organizations had met or were working to meet the Standard. Its users came from every sector in the economy including organizations with fewer than 10 employees to organizations with over 50,000 people.

Investors in People (IiP) is the National Standard which sets a level of good practice for improving an organization's performance through its people. It is a framework that provides the standard, structure and resource linkages to help organizations train and develop people. The primary purpose of the standard is to provide a rigorous process that allows organizations to achieve specific criteria that integrates the development of people with business a business plan.

Click here to read Dr. Krueger's report about his research trip to the UK's Investors in People investors in People web site: http://www.iipuk.co.uk/