Investors in people: how a large public sector organisation in the UK dealt with a national training initiative

This research constitutes a study of the Investors in People (IIP) initiative. It presents a case study of the implementation of the initiative in a UK public sector organisation, the Bene-fits Agency, which administers social security payments on behalf of the UK government. The initial premise is that the claims made on behalf of IIP should not go unchallenged and that a critical analysis of the initiative is required in order that an informed debate should take place. Building on that premise the research seeks to inform that debate. The relevant literature, academic and non-academic, is surveyed and a discussion on the most suitable research methodology to increase the stock of knowledge is conducted. The selected methodology is that of case study and the research consisted of eleven semi-structured interviews with managers within the Benefits Agency. The data collected from these interviews is presented and then analysed with reference back to the literature.