Investors in People Chief Executive, Ruth Spellman, will join TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, in a signing ceremony that will seal the new relationship. Each organisation has pledged to promote the positive role of the other in getting more workplaces to implement the Investors in People Standard and provide and advocate Skills for Life courses, and the quality of their content. In addition, Investors in People UK will share unionlearn platforms to run the newly developed “Engaging in Investors in People course”.

The signatories aim to maximise the potential of workers, and organisations by positively recognising the role of unions, and union learning representatives as well as highlighting the business benefits of employee development. Their agreement also aims to ensure equality and diversity, promote continuous professional development, lifelong learning, and respect for people at work. And it will seek ways to help more people access literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of other Languages courses.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary said: “Our new partnership with Investors in People will put our two organisations in the forefront of promoting the Government’s drive to increase learning and skills in the workplace. Together we will actively work to make sure that greater numbers of employers and workers take up the learning challenge and boost their organisation’s effectiveness.”

Ruth Spellman, Chief Executive of Investors in People UK said: “Employees are central to the success of any organisation and there is good evidence to suggest that those who invest in their staff's training and development enjoy lower employee turnover, higher productivity and improved staff morale. We look forward to working with the TUC to help employers realise the business benefits of investing in their people.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

· Unionlearn was established under the TUC’s auspices in April this year. It includes the former TUC Learning Services in England, and the TUC Education Service, which covers the United Kingdom. Unionlearn provides a strategic framework and support for the contribution unions make to workforce development and lifelong learning. It raises awareness of the value of learning, and the contribution that unions can make to it. Unionlearn also develops capacity-building in relation to both unions and providers, and provides coordination, dissemination, evaluation and quality assurance in relation to union learning activities.

· Investors in People:

• The Investors in People Standard provides a framework for improving business performance and competitiveness through good practice in human resource development.

• An organisation that has achieved the Standard has been successful in adopting and maintaining its three fundamental principles: Plan - developing strategies to improve the performance of the organisation, from business goals to leadership strategies; Do - implementing those strategies, taking action to improve the performance of the organisation; Review - evaluating and adjusting those strategies, measuring their impact on the performance of the organisation.

• The Investors in People Standard is promoted and developed by Investors in People UK - a public body whose main stakeholder is the Department for Education and Skills.

• The Investors in People Standard is delivered by a partner network:

1. In England, the network of Investors in People Regional Quality Centres.

2. In Scotland, contact Scottish Enterprise (SE) or Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for details of the Investors in People Standard.

3. In Wales, the Business Skills Delivery Team at the Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Welsh Assembly Government.

4. In Northern Ireland, the Department for Employment of Learning delivers the Investors in People Standard.