IiP was first developed in the early 1990s by businesses and national organisations in the UK. The content of the standard is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is relevant and up to date. When the last review and revision of the standard took place in 2004, over 35,000 organisations had achieved IiP and it impacted on approximately 40% of the UK workforce.

The standard uses the business planning cycle which is based on three main principles:

• Plan – an Investor in People develops effective strategies to improve the performance of its organisation through its people.
• Do – an Investor in People takes effective action to improve the performance of its organisation through its people.
• Review – an Investor in People can demonstrate the impact of its investment in people on the performance of the organisation.

Everyone is familiar these days with the famous IiP logo that can be displayed by organisations that achieve the standard and who can call themselves Investors in People.

What are the benefits of Investors in People?

An organisation that carries out the process and achieves and maintains IiP can expect to experience an improvement in its performance arising out of:

• Improved training delivery and evaluation.
• A clear link between an individual employee's objectives and business plans.
• Improved communication systems leading to a better understanding by staff of their own and the organisation's aims and objectives.
• Improved management processes.
• Improved motivation and morale.
• Decreased absence rates.
• Lower turnover of staff.
• Better management of change.
• Continuous improvement.
• Increased competitiveness.
• Recognition as an Investor in People.
• Enhanced and attractive image.

If an organisation becomes an Investor in People, what next?

The award of IiP has no shelf life provided that the organisation carries out regular reviews – at least one review every three years – and ensures that the relevant systems and processes are still in place to enable it to meet the standard and keep on improving.

How can Touchstone Renard help my organisation become an Investor in People?

The standard is a written document setting out the 3 Principles, 10 supporting Indicators and 39 Evidence Requirements that form the framework for the achievement of IiP. Although it is possible for an organisation to achieve IiP without the benefit of external assistance, most receive help from an expert who will save the time of managers and lead staff objectively and with credibility through the relevant stages to ensure that the process is successfully completed within an agreed time frame.

If you select Touchstone Renard to help your organisation achieve IiP, we will assign a consultant with an experienced business background that best suits your situation. Your consultant will pay you an initial visit to discuss your organisation and explain the process to you in more detail.

To start with, your consultant will review your organisation as it is, compare it with where it needs to be and then design the steps that need to be taken to achieve IiP and the likely timescale. The approach we use has been developed since the standard was first introduced many years ago. It provides a highly confident picture of where your organisation is compared to the needs of the standard.

At that point, we will be able to offer you a quotation of fees and programme for the work.

If you decide to proceed, your consultant will start to gather evidence from your organisation by speaking to some of your staff, reviewing some of your documentation and having other discussions with you and / or your managers. The process will be carried out as objectively as possible with the aim of avoiding inconvenience or disruption to enable you to carry on with business as usual.

The evidence gathered will focus on the 3 Principles (set out above), 10 Indicators and 39 Evidence Requirements laid down by the standard. The 10 Indicators point to whether an organisation has adopted the 3 Principles, while the 39 Evidence requirements demonstrate whether this is ultimately correct.

After gathering all the evidence, your consultant will present you with a report which he or she will explain to you, showing the areas in detail where you need to carry out further work to meet the requirements of the standard. Your consultant will be pleased to help you carry out all the necessary work but you will have the option to carry out some or all of the tasks yourself if that suits your needs.

If you wish, your consultant will also be able to brief or train your staff or prepare documentation.

How long will it take my organisation to achieve Investors in People?

The time involved in achieving IiP will vary depending on the size and type of your organisation, how far you meet the requirements of the standard at the start of the process and how quickly you wish to proceed. The timescale can be as little as three months or as long as eighteen months. You should not feel disappointed if the timescale is several months because this is not at all unusual.

How can Touchstone Renard help my organisation maintain Investors in People?

Once your organisation has become an Investor in People and is displaying the well known logo, you will of course wish to maintain its status and you might even consider taking your achievement a stage further. Touchstone Renard can help with this.

To remain an Investor in People, it will be necessary for your organisation to show that it is still meeting the standard by carrying out regular reviews, at least once every three years. Touchstone Renard can help you achieve this on a programmed or ad hoc basis, whichever best suits you.

Your assigned consultant can help you well in advance of your review by preparing a programme tailored to your needs to enable you to ensure that you are continually meeting the requirements. Then you won't have to feel concerned when it is time for your review.

If, on the other hand, you suddenly remember that your review deadline is looming and you are not sure whether your organisation still meets all the requirements of the standard, you don't need to worry if you contact us. We can quickly assign a consultant who will help you undertake a dummy assessment to identify gaps and carry out any tasks necessary before your real assessment arrives.

What is Investors in People Profile?

IiP Profile is a new framework that takes Investors in People organisations a stage further into areas of people management and development, building on the good practices laid down and already achieved under the standard.

IiP Profile is based on the same 3 Principles as the basic standard with 10 Indicators of Good Practice. The evidence requirements focus on top managers, managers and people, allowing a more in-depth review to be carried out and identifying more precisely the areas that could do with improvement.

For each Indicator of Good Practice, an organisation can achieve Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 with Level 1 demonstrating achievement of the basic standard and Level 4 demonstrating excellence.

IiP Profile was developed in response to the requirements of existing Investors in People who were aspiring to greater heights of achievement and overall performance.

What Next?

If your organisation wishes to explore the possibility of becoming an Investor in People or if you would like help in maintaining your Investor in People status or you are interested in Investors in People Profile, then please contact Phil Austin or Richard Wood for a discussion without obligation on +44 (0)207 101 0788, or e-mail us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..