Solicitors have often wondered how businesses apparently largely reliant on machines and production lines to produce goods destined for boxes or cans could make the claim that 'our people are our most important asset'.

However, increasingly law firms are making this maxim their own and putting it into practice.

The transformation of this generally accepted, but little acted-upon, clich-- into a guiding principle of success in legal practice is well under way.The experience of two firms which have decided to embark on the route of the national Investors in People (IiP) standard is likely to be helpful to other solicitors either considering taking the route to IiP or more generally looking to manage their people better.Castle & Co is a four partner, two office firm in West Sussex combining traditional high street practice with commercial work.Ashurst Morris Crisp is a major international commercial firm with an outstanding reputation in the City.Both Castle & Co and Ashurst Morris Crisp are at the stage of moving from 'public commitment' to taking steps in readiness for assessment.In the case of Castle & Co, the recruitment of a new partner has meant looking afresh at the firm's business plan.

But because the timetable for attaining IiP is set by the firms themselves this flexibility is perfectly possible.Significantly, both firms' reasons for embarking on IiP are similar.

Already successful, both were starting from a position of strength.

However, competitive pressure in their respective markets made both firms realise that they had to keep on improving the way they trained and developed their people.More specifically they wanted to:-- maintain a one-firm culture.

A significant strength in a modern firm is the ability of different departments and levels of people -- partners, fee-earners and support staff -- to work together effectively for the long-term benefit of the firm-- obtain the best value from their already significant investment in training-- improve existing personnel procedures, such as induction and appraisal-- find new ways to build career structures and improve job satisfaction for fee-earning and support staffOne instinctive reaction to people-related initiatives in law firms is that it is all just a bit too 'soft'.

The thinking might be that being nice to staff has got little to do with the difficult, hard-nosed business of running a profitable firm? However, firms which have embarked on IiP are convinced that they are doing so for sound commercial reasons.

The amount of time and effort required to reach the standard demands that this be the case.The standard itself is based on the rationale that the achievement of business objectives is the yardstick for measuring how well people are trained and developed.The partners of both Ashurst Morris Crisp and Castle & Co who are closely involved in the IiP project welcomed the fact that the standard does not insist on a vast increase in training in the traditional sense - sending people away on expensive courses.

The words used throughout IiP literature are 'training and development' and the emphasis is very often on the latter.Instinctively lawyers recognise that to a large extent people in firms learn by observing and assisting m ore experienced practitioners, by gradually being exposed under supervision to more complex work and by taking on more responsibility for relationships with clients and discussing their experience with peers and seniors.

That is exactly what is meant by 'development' and the IiP standard encourages firms to plan and coordinate this development rather than leave it to chance.Both firms found the initial diagnostic stage of seeing how they compared to the standard's indicators helpful.

This stage involved consultants obtaining the views of a sample of people at all levels in the firm and reviewing existing personnel procedures.

This is a good point for a firm to take stock of what it wants to achieve through the standard.Funding by Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) of consultancy costs is usually available for this initial phase even if a decision is made subsequently not to proceed.

TECs and consultants doing their job properly will encourage firms when it is, and when it is not, appropriate to embark on the road to IiP.THE STANDARDInvestors in People (IiP) was a government initiative developed in 1990 as a national business standard for the effective investment in people.The IiP standard is administered by the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) around the country.

The standard is based on four principles:-- a public commitment by the leaders of an organisation to develop all its people to achieve its business objectives-- the regular review of training and development needs, plus planning to meet them-- action to train and develop individuals-- evaluation of the investment in training and development to assess achievement and improve future effectivenessEach principle is supported by 'indicators' which are used at the assessment stage to confirm that the principles are being practised.The formal steps required to attain the IiP award are:-- a review of current practice against the standard-- the preparation of an action plan to bridge the gap between the firm's current practice and the standards required by the plan-- making a commitment to the local TEC to achieve the plan-- assessment, involving a site visit, discussions with staff and reviewing evidence to show consistency with the principles and indicatorsTraining and Enterprise Councils are able to offer funding of up to 50% to subsidise the cost of consultancy advice.