HomeAccreditationsWe Invest in People
Know your organisation better. Keep making it better.
Most organisations care deeply about how they treat their people. What's harder is seeing clearly how well it's working and knowing where to focus next.
We Invest in People is a three-year accreditation and continuous improvement framework. It gives you a clear, evidence-based view of how well you lead, support and develop your people, bringing together leadership intent, real employee experience and the impact your people practices have on your organisation.
Culture is the environment people work in every day: the behaviours they experience, the expectations they feel, and the values that shape decisions. Leadership is the force that creates that environment.
In strong cultures, people know what's expected, feel safe to speak up, and see leaders acting on what they hear. That's what lets people contribute fully, adapt quickly and work well together.
The two most common people challenges organisations report are keeping and engaging their people and developing the quality of their leadership. Both show up in turnover costs, in performance, and in how easily an organisation can grow. With a formal approach in place to develop a strong culture, improvement becomes deliberate rather than accidental.
Independent Insight. Structured Improvement. Real Recognition.
Every assessment explores what your leaders intend. What happens in practice day to day, and what your people actually experience. Strong organisations show alignment across all three, and the gaps between them are where the opportunities sit.
Accreditation lasts three years and your practitioner stays with you throughout, with touchpoints at 12 and 24 months. When it's time to renew, you go through the process again as a chance to set new goals, keep moving forward and celebrate your achievements.
Your survey results become a single benchmark score, comparable against the average across all organisations using the survey and against your industry and size band. You'll know where you stand, how you compare, and where your effort will have the greatest impact.
We Invest in People is recognised by employees, talent markets and procurement teams. It gives your board, partners and stakeholders independent confidence in how you treat your people and strengthens how you're seen by the people you want to attract and keep.
Three principles. Nine indicators.
We Invest in People is built around three principles: Leading, Supporting and Improving. The framework is flexible and outcome-focused, designed to work for any organisation, so it adapts to how you actually work rather than imposing a fixed model.
How your organisation inspires people, lives its values, and builds a culture of trust and ownership.
Indicators
How your organisation manages performance, recognises contribution, and structures work to get the best from people.
Indicators
How your organisation builds capability, drives continuous improvement, and plans for the future.
Indicators
Each indicator contains three themes, and every theme shows what good looks like from early foundations through to high-performing, embedded practice.
The journey to accreditation
An assessment is a guided journey. Each stage builds on the last, creating momentum, clarity and a shared understanding of what it means to invest in people.
Step 1 of 8
More than a procedural step. It marks the moment an organisation says it's ready to grow.
Our expert practitioners use a structured, evidence-based approach built on three principles, which is what makes every judgement fair, balanced and rooted in real experience.
Evidence comes from three places: what people say through surveys, engagement discussions and leadership conversations; what people do through observations of collaboration and communication in practice; and what the organisation shows through documents, data and examples of practice in action.
Think of the four levels as layers of strength in how your organisation supports its people. As you move up, your approach becomes more consistent, more confident and more people centred. Standard sets the foundation, Silver makes it consistent, Gold makes it strong and aligned, and Platinum makes it exceptional and sustainable.
The level you achieve is determined by your assessment. Every theme is assessed against four maturity levels: Developed, Established, Advanced and High Performing.
The foundation
The essentials are in place: clarity, fairness, steady leadership and a supportive environment. The organisation is doing the right things and people experience it.
Awarded when: all nine indicators are met at Developed
Established & Embedded
The essentials are still there, but now they happen more reliably across the organisation. Communication becomes two-way and engaging, people feel more involved, development is intentional, and leaders are more proactive. People begin to see real momentum.
Awarded when: all nine indicators are met at Developed, and at least seven of nine are met at Established
Positive Outcomes
Consistency creates alignment. Leaders, teams and systems are pulling in the same direction. Decisions are guided by results, data and insights, and continuous improvement becomes part of everyday life. People feel valued, motivated and confident.
Awarded when: all nine indicators are met at Developed and Established, and at least seven of nine are met at Advanced
Consistent High Performance
Everything that was strong before is now embedded, lived and sustained. People have a genuine voice, learning is continuous, and the organisation is agile and future-focused. It is a culture where people feel trusted and proud, with results, data and feedback driving ongoing refinement as things change.
Awarded when: all nine indicators are met at Developed, Established and Advanced, and at least seven of nine are met at High Performing
Each indicator is assessed of its lowest-rated theme. That means accreditation reflects consistency across all three themes rather than isolated strengths.
To reach a higher level, at least seven of the nine indicators need to be at that level. There are no required or fixed indicators, so organisations progress from their strongest areas.
This approach rewards depth, reliability and sustainability. It gives you a clear picture of where you are today and what stronger, more consistent people practice looks like as you improve.
86%
confirm they have a motivated and engaged workforce
85%
report a positive impact on quality of leadership
85%
report improved employee engagement
80%
say they can attract quality applicants
80%
report a positive impact on staff wellbeing
72%
report a positive impact on training practices
Source: Investors in People Accredited Community Survey
9 out of 10 clients report satisfaction with their experience
8 out of 10 would advocate for the process to others
These results come from organisations across our accredited community, all independently assessed and continuing to build on what they found.
Legal Services · Platinum
“Working with Investors in People is an incredibly powerful relationship, one that's built up over the past 29 years. It feels like a true partnership, rather than just an accreditation, because we get that objective review and discussion around what we're doing and how we can improve things.”
— Roger Bull, Managing Partner
89% of newly qualified lawyers stayed on in 2025, with over a third of partners having trained at the firm.
Read the success story
Packaging and Storage · Platinum
“We are very clear that in the current climate of challenge and uncertainty, our people are our greatest asset. The better we can make our team, the better we can serve our customers. We Invest in People Platinum helps us get there and shouts out to the world that we've arrived at the very top.”
— Involvement leadership team
Profit per head increased by 2,800% in one year, with attrition at 15% against a UK average of 34%.
Read the success story
Education · Platinum
“The Investors in People framework has helped us develop so much over the past 25 years. It's transformed team culture and brought people together who wouldn't normally work with each other. It's made explaining what we're doing so much easier, as we can link them to our Investors in People accreditation to show everyone what's happening for real credibility.”
— Nichola Newton, Principal and Chief Executive
90% of staff say their views are considered and their ideas taken seriously, up 10% in three years. Winner of Employer of the Year: Platinum, The Investors in People Awards 2025.
Read the success storyA complete picture of your people practices
People and wellbeing belong together. We Invest in Wellbeing is designed to integrate with We Invest in People as a combined assessment, giving you a complete picture of how your organisation leads, supports and develops its people across both performance and wellbeing.
Find out about We Invest in Wellbeing →
We Invest in People is a three-year accreditation and continuous improvement framework from Investors in People. It assesses how your organisation leads, supports and develops its people across three principles and nine indicators, with accreditation awarded at Standard, Silver, Gold or Platinum following a practitioner-led assessment.
Timelines vary depending on the size and complexity of your organisation. A typical journey includes a scoping session, leadership insight conversations, an assessment survey, engagement discussions and observations, and a findings report. Your practitioner will agree a timeline with you at the outset.
Cost depends on the size and complexity of your organisation, including how many people take part and how many sites are involved. The best starting point is a conversation with our team, who will understand your situation and recommend the right approach.
Each level adds another layer of maturity. Standard sets the foundation, Silver makes it consistent, Gold makes it strong and aligned, and Platinum makes it exceptional and sustainable. As you move up, your approach becomes more consistent, more confident and more people centred.
The survey gives an indication of how engaged your people are against the key themes of best practice within the framework. It tests alignment with the framework rather than measuring general sentiment or employee experience. Alongside engagement discussions, observations and your own data, it forms part of a rounded picture gathered by your practitioner.
Yes. The framework is flexible and outcome-focused, designed to work for organisations of any size or sector. It adapts to what your organisation does rather than imposing a fixed model.
Accredited organisations demonstrate a 10% efficiency premium on average compared with organisations without accreditation, and organisations that lead, support and develop their people well are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable. Alongside that, the Investors in People Community Impact Survey, 2024 found, 86% of accredited organisations confirm they have a motivated and engaged workforce,85% report a positive impact on quality of leadership and 80% say they can attract quality applicants. Accreditation is also recognised by procurement teams and stakeholders as independent assurance of how an organisation treats its people, which increasingly shapes decisions about funding, collaboration and long-term relationships.
We Invest in People assesses how your organisation leads, supports and develops its people across nine indicators. We Invest in Wellbeing focuses on how people feel, how well they're supported, and how effectively wellbeing is embedded in everyday practice. The two can be taken separately or together.
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