Research to support the evaluation of investors in people: Employer survey

Since the UK Commission took over strategic ownership of the Investors in People Standard (IiP), a programme of evaluation has been developed to assess the impact of IiP and identify areas for improvement. This report is based on the findings of the first of a two-wave quantitative employer survey as part of this ongoing evaluation. Telephone interviews were conducted in August to October 2011 with 1,000 employers who had either been recognised with IiP for the first time or renewed their recognition in the 12 months prior to the fieldwork. The core objectives of the survey were to explore employers’ views and experiences of working towards IiP accreditation and the changes made to meet IiP Standard, as well as the support needed and received throughout the process. The study also measured the prominence and role of IiP within employers’ Human Resource (HR) and business strategies, the impact on these employers of working towards and gaining IiP accreditation and their overall satisfaction with IiP. The majority of employers interviewed were accredited before the new delivery arrangements (i.e. the regional IiP Centres introduced in April 2011) were put in place, therefore the survey can be seen as a baseline for future monitoring and evaluation. In the second wave of the survey the new recognitions from 2011-2012 will be compared against the new recognitions from this wave of the study to assess any changes which may have been brought about through the new delivery arrangements.