Research to support the evaluation of investors in people: Employer survey (Year 2)

This report covers the findings from the second year of a two-year evaluation of Investors in People (IiP). The overall aim of this research is to provide a quantitative assessment, from the participating employer’s perspective, of the effectiveness of the IiP accreditation process and any impact associated with IiP recognition. The objectives of the project were to explore employers’ experiences and satisfaction of working towards IiP accreditation against their original expectations, the role that the IiP centres play in the accreditation process, the prominence and role of IiP within employers’ HR and business strategies and the impact on the employer of working towards and gaining IiP accreditation. The second year examined whether there are indications of changing levels of impact of IiP among recently recognised employers compared to a similar group of new recognitions from Year 1. This involved re-interviewing some employers interviewed at Year 1 to establish whether the benefits resulting from IiP recognition have been sustained or indeed increased, or whether instead they have faded with the passage of time. A total of 716 telephone interviews were conducted between 11th September 2012 and 2nd November 2012 among two distinct groups: 429 interviews with employers becoming recognised for the first time in the period July 2011 to June 2012 (‘Year 2 new recognitions’) From the 550 employers that were interviewed as new recognitions in the first year of the survey (so had been newly recognised in the period July 2010 to June 2011), 513 agreed to be re-contacted and 287 were re-interviewed.