The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) yesterday renewed efforts to improve UK productivity by launching a scheme to raise standards of people management.

The scheme, called Headstart, aims to spread best practice by enabling companies to benchmark their performance against organisations in either the private or public sector. More than 150 business leaders attended a special launch event yesterday evening at the CBI headquarters in London.

Speakers at the event included Digby Jones, Director-General at CBI, who said: "This country has suffered from years of under investment because of the unpredictable economic cycle. Benchmarking is a powerful weapon in the battle to improve competitiveness. This scheme shows that the business community is rising to the productivity challenge by taking positive action."

Headstart is one of four CBI benchmarking schemes, each covering a different business activity under the banner heading of PROBE (Promoting Business Excellence). The scheme follows research that shows how effective people management can have a positive impact on competitiveness. It identifies underlying strengths and weaknesses so managers can prioritise actions that will get the best out of the workforce. Issues under the microscope include leadership and culture, employee development, employee involvement and work organisation.

For further details about Headstart or CBI’s PROBE benchmarking scheme, please visit CBI’s website, www.cbi.org.uk

Anna Lagerkvist