Origins In the United Kingdom, factory inspectors were appointed for the first time in 1893. In 1896 to look after its women and child workers
Rowntree's appointed their first inspector - a Mrs E M Wood.
Edward Cadbury of
Cadbury Brothers in 1909 called together employers to discuss industrial welfare work and as a result 25 employers formed an association with Mrs Wood of Rowntree's as Secretary. The work of 'welfare workers' came to public attention during a trade show in 1912 at
Olympia in London. Thirty-four of the employers present decided that the WWA be founded as...
an association of employers interested in industrial betterment and of welfare workers engaged by them. The outbreak of
World War I in 1914 led to many women and children taking up the work of men, particularly in the larger munition factories where the appointment of welfare officers was made compulsory by legislation and was monitored by the
Health of Munition Workers Committee. This led to the rapid expansion of female welfare workers. There were concerns about the training of welfare staff, and in 1917, at a gathering in Leeds of the seven welfare associations formed during the period it was agreed that they merge by forming the
Central Association of Welfare Workers which to accommodate the regional associations established the beginnings of a local branch structure. The Association's position was also enhanced during the war years by nationally driven encouragement of workers to join
trade unions to reduce the occurrence of industrial strife. Another development which increased the numbers of company staff dealing with labour and welfare matters occurred with the inclusion of managers, mainly men, from the
North-western Area Industrial Association to assist with discipline, dismissal and industrial relations in increasingly unionised organisations. In 1918, to avoid confusion as to its purpose the Association changed its name to the
Central Association of Welfare Workers (Industrial) (
CAWWI).
The post—World War I period In November 1919, following merger with welfare associations for men the Central Association of Welfare Workers (Industrial) was renamed the '''Welfare Workers' Institute''' and now had a membership of 700. The 1950s were marked by government efforts to improve productivity both through introducing more modern management practices and increase labor supply through encouraging migration of people from the
British Commonwealth also known as the
Windrush generation. In 1955, responding to these changes, the IPM sought to increase the professional standards and standing of its members by introducing an externally moderated examination scheme, and restricting entry to full membership to fully qualified or practising personnel officers over age 35 with several years' experience. Membership in 1956 stood at 3,979.
Chartered status Chartered status was achieved in 2000 and the IPD was incorporated under
Royal Charter from 1 July of that year to become known as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and reported it had a membership of 120,000 practitioners. In June 2013 the CIPD commemorated its centenary year. ==CIPD membership==