Bermudian companies are being urged to join a new initiative which will help train staff and make their businesses more efficient.

Last night Premier Jennifer Smith signed an agreement with UK-based Investors in People and officially launched the Bermuda branch of the training scheme.

And this morning more than a hundred industry leaders will attend a breakfast at the Hamilton Princess Hotel to listen to the Chief Executive Officer of Investors in People UK, Ruth Spellman on why they should now sign up with the project.

Her message is that by investing in training, efficiency is improved, teamwork comes more easily, time wasting is reduced and because the company is running more efficiently, profits increase.

Ms Spellman said: "Impact of the Investors in People standard on bottom line performance is well documented. In studies in the UK, 70 percent of organisations have used the standard to improve their competitive edge and productivity. Half have reduced staff turnover. Sales and profits have increased dramatically.'' Investors in People was set up in the United Kingdom in 1990 by a UK government group called the National Training Task Group and encompassed many trades unions and professional bodies across Britain.

The success of the initiative has grown so that it is now a well-recognised symbol and companies that have reached the certification of `Investors in People' are seen as good companies to work for.

One of the success stories of Investors in People in the UK was in helping address recruitment problems faced by the Army.

The British Army was having problems getting enough personnel to enrol, a situation which has now turned around, in part, the army says, to Investors in People.

The scheme has helped the army attract more staff by offering world-class training in many fields, and has helped the army modernise its working practices and attract more diverse ethnic groups to the force.

Ms Spellman joined the organisation two years ago and has flown to Bermuda to launch the Island version of the initiative. She will be meeting with the Premier and Terry Lister, Minister of Development and Opportunity about training on the Island.

Ms Spellman said: "Investors in People is a strategy for survival and growth to counteract the corporate anorexia which has afflicted so many organisations in the 1990s. Too often cuts and more cuts have left the workforce demoralised, apathetic and with too much to do. It is about working smarter and competing in the knowledge economy.'' She said Investors in People has four basic principles: to commit all your people, plan and involve them, take action to address development needs and measure returns.

Ms Spellman said the best advert for the initiative were companies that have taken part, and which have seen the advantages and benefits it can bring to not only the people in an organisation, but to the organisation itself.

"Investors in People is the core people standard for the 21st century. It has no equal and no serious rivals,'' she said.

"Remember, if you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right.'' Ruth Spellman