Misconceptions about… Investors in People

By Dave Clarke and Jed O’Mara

After the first of our “Misconceptions About…” blogs on Apprenticeships, now for something completely different!  Here, we look at some of the common feelings about Investors in People, and bust a few myths…

It’s not linked to business performance

The common misconception is that Investors in People is only about improving your employees, and doesn’t have tangible business benefits.  In fact, the “Investors in People, Managerial Capabilities and Performance” study conducted by the Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management in January 2010 showed that IiP helps continually improve business performance in many areas, improving productivity, cutting inefficiencies, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, saving time and money, increasing sales and profitability.

It’s only for larger companies

Being recognised as an Investor in People is wrongly seen as a way for large companies to advertise that they train their staff.  In fact companies of all sizes have achieved Investors in People status and size of a company certainly isn’t a barrier when it comes to investing in its workforce.  What better way is there to show not only staff but clients that a company is committed to continuing professional development than declaring that you are an Investor in People?

It’s only about training

On the contrary! Learning and development is just one of ten Management Themes that form the backbone of Investors in People.  The others include company strategy; planning to achieve; communication; equality of opportunity; taking ownership and continual improvement of company performance.  Training is the most obvious solution to many business concerns, but is not always the best, and IiP helps to identify what the best ways are to strengthen your company.

It’s expensive, time consuming and bureaucratic

Investors in People is wrongly thought about as not only expensive, but also time consuming and bureaucratic.  This cannot be farther from the truth; in fact, rather than being a prescriptive set of guidelines that you have to follow, it is completely led by you, the company.  You can spend as much or as little time and money as you want on Investors in People, and the perceived level of bureaucracy is a complete misconception.

IiP stands for Investors in Paper

IiP is sometimes flippantly referred to as Investors in Paper, highlighting the misconception that it’s about documentation on a large scale.  IiP is not achieved or met by compiling large amounts of paperwork in a portfolio based manner to prove how an organisation meets the various evidences required.

It is more about a holistic client centred approach linked to interviewing a representative number of Directors, Managers and staff that believe in how their company plans, manages performance, involves and empowers, trains and develops and evaluates the benefits of training. This is not proved by paper but by speaking with people who have seen, heard and felt positive differences all working towards improving company performance.

It’s just about getting the badge

Investors in People isn’t about getting a plaque to go on the wall in reception.  In fact, it is a business improvement framework that drives a culture of continual improvement by focussing on developing your staff and the environment in which they work.  Even if you start down the path towards IiP and the decide not to go for the Award, you can utilise any of the individual elements of the framework to improve the workplace, increase productivity and morale within your organisation.

If you want to find out how Investors in People can help your organisation in more detail, please call 0845 60 20 101 or email info@exemplas.com