The impact of Investors in People on employer-provided training, the equality of training provision and the “training apartheid” phenomenon

Citation

Hoque, K. (2008), "The impact of Investors in People on employer-provided training, the equality of training provision and the “training apartheid” phenomenon", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 16 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2008.04416ead.012

The impact of Investors in People on employer-provided training, the equality of training provision and the “training apartheid” phenomenon

Article Type: From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 16, Issue 5

Hoque K. Industrial Relations Journal (UK), January 2008, Vol. 39 No. 1, Start page: 43, No. of pages: 20

Purpose – Studies the effectiveness of the UK government’s standard, Investors in People, in encouraging employers to invest in training. Design/methodology/approach – Uses data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey to analyse the impact of the Investors in People standard, comparing it with data gathered in the 1998 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. Studies the training provided in the workplaces that had gained the Investors in People award and in workplaces that had not gained the award, looking at training incident and duration, and the extent to which training was encouraged by managers. Findings – Reports that the analysis of the 2004 data found a similar positive relationship between Investors in People and training provision to that found in the 1998 data but notes that there was very little improvement in the numbers of non-management employees receiving training, even a slight fall in numbers. However, highlights that the proportion of managers and employees in Investors in People workplaces who felt that training was encouraged in organizations had improved on 1998. Also reports that Investors in People was no more successful in 2004 than it had been in 1998 in improving the amount of training given to unskilled or unqualified employees. Overall concludes that the impact of Investors in People is patchy. Research limitations/implications – Describes the analysis of the data. Originality/value – Asks if Investors in People has addressed training inequality in the UK. ISSN: 0019-8692 Reference: 37AF929

Keywords: Training, Standards, Central government, United Kingdom