LITERATURE REVIEW: INVESTORS IN PEOPLE STANDARD [IIP]
This literature review examines the Investors in People (IIP) initiative from several perspectives. These perspectives are as follows: (a) the IIP standard; (b) IIP links to organisational learning and continuous development; (c) IIP links to human resource development (HRD); (d) IIP links to human resource management (HRM); (e) IIP links to quality management; and (f) benefits to organisations committing to the IIP initiative.
The Investors in People (IIP) initiative is sponsored by the government of the United Kingdom (UK). The initiative seeks to improve the management of human resources through a framework of best practices implemented by organisations. The driving principle of Investors in People is that investment in the training and development of people is essential to business success, especially over the long-term (Emberson and Winters, 2000).
The IIP initiative was developed in consultation with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trade Unions Congress (TUC). The initiative was introduced in 1990 and continues as a government sponsored initiative in 2004.
Four principles provide the basic structure of the IIP initiative. Additionally, there are 12 indicators of the successful implementation of the IIP within an organisation of the good practices related to the principles. These principles represent good practice. Lastly, there are 33 measures of good practice that serve as evidence of a company's successful implementation of good practices (Denny, 2002).
The measures of good practice tend to be somewhat fluid and general rather than specific. The prescribed good practice for an employer to provide useful and relevant communication to an employee relative to the employee's work performance, as an example, does not require an employer to demonstrate that a formal performance evaluation system is in place at the company. Rather, a com...