Investors in People is the national Standard which sets out a level of good practice for training and development of people to achieve business goals.

The Standard was developed during 1990 by the National Training Task Force in partnership with leading national businesses, personnel, professional and employee organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD).

The work was supported by the Employment Department.

The experiences of the UK's most successful organisations, large and small, representing all sectors of the UK economy, were very positive and the Standard received the full endorsement of wide range of interested parties. The Standard provides a national framework for improving business performance and competitiveness, through a planned approach to setting and communicating business objectives and developing people to meet these objectives. The result is - what people can and are motivated to do matches what the organisation needs them to do. Investors in People is cyclical and should engender the culture of continuous improvement.