HR and Standards

This factsheet explains what British and International standards in HR are and why they matter. It introduces the British and International HR standards already published or under development and outlines the CIPD involvement in their development.

Whether or not organisations have a dedicated HR team, they will at some point need guidance on ethical and effective human resource management practice in areas such as workforce planning, recruitment, inclusion and diversity, learning and development, and human capital reporting. British and International standards provide such guidance. International experts develop them, in collaboration with key stakeholders. These standards advocate responsible people management practices and support the organisations that adopt them to improve their organisational resilience and sustainability.

Organisations large or small, and regardless of their sector or field of activity, use British and International standards, for example on quality management, health and safety, business continuity, and environmental management. Standards provide an agreed way of doing something, or the detailed technical specifications for making something or the quality requirements for management systems. The aim of standards is to provide a reliable basis for organisations and people to share the same expectations about a product or service.

British and International Standards are developed through the collaboration and consensus of experts in specific fields. Such experts are brought together by national standards bodies, including the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO). These standard-setting bodies, and the committees of experts they set up, represent key stakeholders for the standards being developed, including government agencies, industry, academia, industry and employer bodies and special interest and user groups.

British and International HRM standards focus on specific areas of people management practices for organisations. They complement the CIPD’s professional standards, which define what it means to be a ‘people professional’, whether working in HR, learning and development (L&D), organisational development or employee relations, not just in terms of their knowledge and skills, but also shared values and the ability to make ethical and evidence-based judgements.

Why do standards matter?

Standards matter to organisations wanting to ensure the safety and quality of their products and services, and to optimise the efficient coordination of systems and processes across increasingly complex supply chains. They matter to government as they provide a basis for public policies and amplify regulation. They matter to the standards users because they ensure the quality, safety, and specifications of a product or service. The principal driver is economic as standardisation creates value by building global interoperability which supports global supply chains and international trade.

Why do HR standards matter?

In 2011, the British Standards Institution (BSI) set up a committee to develop national standards in people management, and to contribute to international standards in human resource management led by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

These standards provide guidance, to constructively challenge organisational leaders to develop organisational cultures that support good work, and recognise the value of the people working for an organisation.

People metrics are essential to organisational decision making. As the demands from organisational leaders, stakeholders, shareholders and investors for analytical and predictive insights increase, and as technologies and systems evolve and collect more data, it’s likely that future people management practices will change. Metrics standards are designed to support a data-driven, evidence-based approach to making people management and development decisions in a sustainable and principled way.

There are also standards for organisations that influence future organisational priorities relating to governance, organisational resilience, and risk.

British human capital standards

The terms ‘human resource management’ and ‘human capital’ are used interchangeably in this factsheet to reflect the ‘suite’ of standards developed nationally and internationally.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) publish British standards in human capital. It works with experts representing employers, academia, and industry and professional bodies. As well as the CIPD, this includes the University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).

The suite of British standards on human capital developed by BSI Committee HCS1-1 provide a principles-based framework for valuing people, inclusion, and diversity, and learning and development.

The standards are all based on principles for valuing people in organisations:

People working on behalf of the organisation have intrinsic value, in addition to their protections under the law or in regulation, which needs to be respected.
Stakeholders and their interests are integral to the best interests of the organisation.
Every organisation is part of wider society and has a responsibility to respect its social contract as a corporate citizen and operate in a manner that is sustainable.
A commitment to valuing people who work on behalf of the organisation and to meeting the requirements of the standard is made and supported at the highest level.
Each principle is of equal importance.

This principles-based approach supports organisations in making sound decisions about investing and developing their people. The technical guidance provided in standardised people management processes and practices is intended to help organisations better understand their role in the network of relationships between employees, contractors, volunteers, supply-chain partners, and customers.

These standards provide a framework for organisations to establish managerial accountability and flexible, innovative, and sustainable practices to achieve the full potential of their people:

BS 76000 Valuing people in organizations (2015): This standard promotes a structured approach to help organisations assess how their HR policies and practices promote long term effectiveness, shared values, and social sustainability to ensure the mutual respect and contribution of everyone who works on their behalf.
PD 76006 A guide to learning and development (2017): This provides an essential ‘roadmap’ to using learning and development to develop individual potential and support organisational performance. It includes identifying priority learning and development areas, innovative ways to meet learning needs, and options to evaluate the success of learning practices.

International human resource management standards

In 2011, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) formed a Technical Committee (TC 260) to develop human resource management standards to offer guidance for organisations in aligning their HR practices for their own benefit as well as their stakeholders. These standards inform organisational processes, practices and systems in people management and development. They are being developed by experts representing 35 participating member countries, including two experts nominated by the CIPD to represent the UK.

These human resource management standards have been developed and published by ISO TC260:

ISO 30400: Human resource management – Vocabulary: Presents terms and definitions used in this suite of human resource management standards.
ISO 30401 Knowledge management systems: The requirements for effective organisational knowledge management.
ISO 30405 Human resource management – Guidelines on recruitment: Effective recruitment processes and procedures for anyone involved in recruiting.
ISO/TR 30406 Human resource management - Sustainable employability management for organizations: Guiding principles for developing and implementing sustainable employability policies.
ISO/TS 30407 Human resource management– Cost-per-hire: Measures to determine the economic value of the effort taken to fill vacancies.
ISO 30408 Human resource management – Guidelines on human governance: Guidelines for effective and responsive organisational human governance system to foster stakeholder collaboration.
ISO 30409 Human resource management – Workforce planning: Guidelines for organisations on effective responses to current and projected workforce requirements.
ISO/TS 30410 Human resource management – Impact of hire metrics: Measures to determine the impact of critical positions on organisational performance.
ISO/TS 30411 Human resource management – Quality of hire metrics: Options to measure the quality of hire.
ISO/TS 10667 Assessment service delivery – Procedures and methods to assess people in work and organizational settings (part 1 and part 2).
ISO 30415 Human resource management - Diversity and inclusion: A framework for the principled approach to inclusion and diversity to enable an organisation to demonstrate its commitment to valuing people.
ISO 30415 Human resource management – Learning and development
ISO 23326 Human resource management – Employee engagement – Guidelines
ISO 30414 Human resource management - Human capital reporting: Guidelines for organisations on human capital reporting. ISO 30414 is supported by metrics detailed in a cluster of Technical Specifications:
- ISO/TS 30421 Turnover and retention
- ISO/TS 30422 Learning and development
- ISO/TS 30423 Compliance and ethics
- ISO/TS30425 Workforce availability
- ISO/TS 30427 Costs
- ISO/TS 30428 Skills and capabilities
- ISO/TS 30430 Recruitment
- ISO/TS 30431 Leadership
- ISO/TS 30432 Workforce productivity
- ISO/TS 30433 Succession planning
- ISO/TS 24178 Organizational culture
- ISO/TS 24179 Occupational health and safety.

Standards that TC260 workgroups are actively developing include:

ISO/AWI 30434 Workforce allocation
ISO/AWI 30435 Workforce Data quality
ISO/AWI TS 30436 Diversity and inclusion metrics
ISO/AWI TS 30437 Learning and development metrics.

The CIPD's role in developing British and International standards

We’re proactively engaged in developing these British and International HR standards. We lead the UK approach and make clear that managing and developing people requires a strong ethical underpinning. We believe it’s important to share our expertise, knowledge, and our evidenced-based point of view to support people management practices in smaller organisations and countries where professional practice may be less well established.

Because we believe that people and their development are an important source of value creation, our investment in these British and International standards is strategic. The aim is to make sure the standards are principles-led, specific, consistent, and measurable, and benefit organisations, their stakeholders and wider society. Currently two of CIPD staff and several CIPD members are actively involved in developing and reviewing standards.

Get involved

As experts on people, work and change, people professionals have a vital role to play in developing standards. No matter what area of people management and development you are interested in, you can volunteer and contribute your expertise in the network of committees and working groups.

To get involved in you must become a member of a national or international standards committee. This requires the support of a nominating organisation, such as a trade association, professional body, or academic institution, to represent their views.

Anyone interested in participating in a national or international committee should contact the national standards setting body – see a list of participating member countries and the contact details for each national standards setting body.

But anyone can comment on standards during the essential public consultation phase, for example by registering on the BSI standards development site.

Standards and the law

Standards aren’t the same as regulation or legislation, but the technical detail of standards often informs drafting of policy guidance, regulation, and legislation by governments.

Because legislation can change, standards rarely cite the law within their technical content.

Organisations need to meet their legal obligations but complying with a national or international standard shows they take their responsibilities seriously and demonstrates commitment to doing things well.

Useful contacts and further reading

Contacts

British Standards Institution (BSI)

BSI Committee HCS1/1 Human capital

BSI Committee HCS1/2 International human resource management

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

ISO/TC260 Human resource management

Books and reports

MULVIE, A. (2018) Working with external quality standards and awards. London: Routledge.

MULVIE, A. (2018) Working with external quality standards and awards: strategic implications for human resource and quality management. CIPD Applied Research Conference. Reviewed in Bitesize research.

WONG, W., ANDERSON, V. and BOND, H. (2019) Human capital management standards: a complete guide. London: Kogan Page.

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all our priced publications currently in print.

Journal articles

ANDERSON, V. (2017) HRD standards and standardization: where now for human resource development? Human Resource Development International. Vol. 20, No.4, pp327-345.

CIPD members can use our online journals to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR.

Members and People Management subscribers can see articles on the People Management website.

This factsheet was last updated by Heather Bond: Standards Adviser, CIPD

Heather represents the CIPD as an expert on the British and International Standards Committees that develop human capital and human resource management standards. She is the independent Chair of the BSI’s International Human Resource Management Committee and leads the delegation of UK experts responsible for UK input to the work of ISO Technical Committee 260 Human Resource Management.