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The quality of training has improved dramatically since the launch of the Government's Investors in People initiative, according to a report by the Sussex-based Institute for Employment Studies.

The report, Evaluation of Investors in People in England and Wales 1994-1995, shows that of the 1,136 employers surveyed, more than two-thirds had changed their training practices as a result of seeking IiP status. Less than a fifth said they would have made the same type of changes as quickly in the absence of the initiative.

Nearly 60 per cent of employers said there had been an improvement in the overall quality of the workforce, particularly in improving employee commitment and increasing understanding of wider business aims and objectives. Two thirds of those who had experienced a changed business performance said that the investors initiative had contributed positively to that change.

One of the report's authors, Jim Hillage, said: "Employers consider that Investors is having an impact on their training and development and, through the improved quality of their workforce, on business performance. Many of those employers who have not yet seen an effect from investors believe they will do so."

The initiative, launched in 1991, sets a national standard of best employment practice against which employers can review and improve the performance of their staff. So far, about 1,200 employers have achieved the standard. Another 12,400 have made a public commitment to do so.

Evaluation of Investors in People in England and Wales 1994-1995. IES Report 289. BEBC Ltd, PO Box 1496, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset BH12 3YD. Price Pounds 35.00.