PEARSON CASE STUDY
We interviewed Anne Ashworth the Head of Employee Apprenticeships at Pearsons to find out why apprenticeships are important and here is what she said:
Why are apprenticeships important to your business?
For us apprenticeships enable us to bring diverse talent into the business and invest in them to stay and grow. They also enable us to recognise existing talent and develop these people further so that their skill set stays current and enables us to better plan for the future.
What sort of apprenticeship roles do you have in your business?
We currently have over 40 different standards operating in our business such as project management at levels 4 and 6, all of the levels of management, bid writing, business improvement, data analysis and a raft of different digital and technology apprenticeships.
Do you regularly recruit apprenticeships into your business, and why?
We recruit apprentices into our business throughout the year. Our recruitment is about the business needs and we work closely with all parts of the business and our HR Business Partner colleagues to identify apprenticeship roles and to plan for them as part of our workforce planning activity. We aim to forward plan and have a pipeline of new apprenticeship roles for at least three months into the future.
What difference do apprenticeships make to the sector that you work in?
We work in the education and learning sector so apprenticeships fit very well with our culture and our mission ‘To add life to a lifetime of learning’. It brings learning alive in our business with our apprentices demonstrating how learning is put into practice that has a business benefit and tangible results.
Where do apprenticeships fit into the future of your business and your sector?
Apprentices are our flagship development programme for the UK they provide managers with innovative ways to develop their teams, to keep the skills in the team current, and to future-proof their teams. The perspective that the apprentices bring, because of their diverse backgrounds is a huge benefit to our managers.
What attributes do you look for in candidates that apply to your apprenticeship roles?
These depend on the roles but generally, we want people that fit our Values:
- ‘We ask why?’
- ‘We ask what if’
- ‘We earn trust’
- ‘We deliver quality
- ‘We make our mark’
We look for candidates that are positive, motivated, keen and ambitious. Candidates that want to learn, have found out about us and like what they now know. Candidates that want to develop and be part of our future.
Anne Ashworth, Head of Employee Apprenticeships at Pearson.
Liveryman and Apprentice Ambassador for the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers/ApprenticeFutures
More about Pearsons:
- Pearson was rated 56th in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers table as rated by their own apprentices
- They hold the annual celebration of 'success' event and annual 'binding' and 'free' event with the Stationers Company
- Every year their apprentices are nominated for regional and national awards and many have won!
- They have a network of apprentice ambassadors
- Two of their apprentices are Young Apprentice Ambassadors and two are on the Leadership Council of the National Society of Apprentices, they also participate in ERGs
- They are supporting care leavers and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through connections with the Children’s Society and Westminster City Council.