Connectr Talent Technology

📣 It's a very special day today as we are celebrating 5 years of partnership with British Airways with a very special look back at the journey and growth of their early careers platform: Speedbird-Z. In an exclusive report we take a deep dive into how British Airways have nurtured a talent pool of over 30,000 young people in the UK, levelling the playing field for diverse talent to enter into the aviation industry and transforming candidates misconceptions of their brand from ‘expensive’ to ‘inclusive’. The platform’s unique mentoring offer has now become self-sufficient as early careers hires who used Speedbird-Z as candidates, give back to the next cohort as mentors. Mel Richardson MBE (Nee Kose), Emerging Talent Manager at British Airways celebrates this huge milestone: “Speedbird-Z has become everything we thought it could be and more. It has not only bridged a gap between school outreach and students applying for our programmes but is now a seamless transition in our talent pipeline. Over the next five years, Speedbird-Z will remain at the heart of our student outreach, where we are looking forward to creating more rich content showcasing the unique and addictive industry of aviation, and growing our representation of digital mentors to inspire even more young people.” 🤝 A huge thank you to the team at BA for putting your trust in us over the years, Mel Richardson MBE (Nee Kose) & Samantha Higgins - you are the dream team, and of course to all of the mentors & those who've been involved over the years and continue to give back to the BA early talent community: Suzanne Bridger, Aodan Chislett-Trim, Lovjinder Singh Gill, George Bezer, Ammar Jamali, Shivani G., Isobel Wallbank, Zoe Harrington, Will Mason-Jebb, Talia King, Yasmin Howell to name a few! Read the full report 👇 #EarlyCareers #CandidateExperience #Aviation

☀️Social Mobility 2024 Summer Wrap Up☀️   We’ve had a very busy Summer in Social Mobility filled with growth and opportunity, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the amazing work we’ve achieved so far. Here’s a glimpse into our impactful initiatives at Phoenix Group: 👥Work Experience +1: Our innovative programme, created by Mohamad Amirul Sidek saw 23 students and job seekers join us across Birmingham, Edinburgh, London & Telford. By extending a ‘Plus 1’ invitation, this enabled us to offer an additional place to those who would otherwise be unlikely to access this type of opportunity. 🎓Career Ready: Collaborating with Career Ready, we mentored and provided paid internships to our largest group yet – 27 students in Edinburgh & Birmingham. Witnessing their development has been incredibly rewarding! 🚀Future in Finance: We proudly launched our sponsored Digital Careers Platform, Future in Finance, in partnership with Connectr Talent Technology. This platform equips young people with essential resources and mentorship from leading UK finance professionals, opening doors to diverse career paths. It offers learning content, mentoring and advice directly from major UK employers in the financial sector, and will greatly help widen access and opportunity. We’re excited to see the impact we can make using this fantastic tool. 🔍Apprenticeships: We’re thrilled about our upcoming cohort of school leaver apprentices joining our degree-level apprenticeship programme. Focusing on ‘potential over polish’ we’re committed to fostering a diverse and talented group of future leaders. The talent we saw was exceptional and we can’t wait to welcome them soon! A huge thank you to our Social Mobility Lead Vicki Hopkins for her guidance and knowledge, to Mohamad Amirul Sidek for his continued support of our initiatives, and to Rakesh Thakrar for sponsoring Social Mobility at Phoenix and making this all possible. Special thanks to all mentors, volunteers and colleagues who’ve contributed their time and helped us create such impactful programmes.   I hope that together we’ll continue creating pathways to success for more aspiring individuals. #SocialMobilty #lifeatphoenix #DEI

Friday vibes with some utterly heart warming comments from our wonderful Marks and Spencer platform Connectr Talent Technology users! Lindsay Rowe & Josh Worth thought you'd love this too! 💜 "Love this platform. So great and easy to use! Feels so welcoming to have a platform dedicated for us, acting as a reminder of the great culture we’ll soon be a part of!"   💜 "The Marks and Spencer congratulations and welcome tasks has been incredibly encouraging, setting a strong foundation for success in my role. The support and connections provided make me feel confident in facing the challenges ahead."   💜 "I truly feel like the content has tapped into my excitement towards this amazing opportunity at M&S. Reading messages from the M&S Team and our CEO, Stuart Machin felt really motivating"

🔓 Unlock the power of commercial awareness in early talent Commercial awareness is a critical skill that can set young professionals apart as they start their careers. How can we cultivate this skill in early talent and should we be nurturing it before they even apply? Join us in September for a webinar with our friends Wealthbrite, featuring research and real world insights from Carla Hoppe, Deborah Sanderson, John Griffin and Yasmin Howell. We'll be talking about... - Why commercial awareness matters for every role, from engineering to marketing. - How a strong commercial mindset leads to better, more strategic choices. - The role of commercial awareness in fostering creativity and identifying market opportunities. - Effective methods to embed commercial thinking in early talent, and the impact of preskilling candidates 👉 Register to attend or see the recording: https://lnkd.in/eqCKptT9 #earlytalent #skillsdevelopment

📢 I'm excited to share that I will be participating in an webinar in partnership with Connectr Talent Technology and Wealthbrite ‘How to boost commercial awareness?’ on 23rd September, 10:00 – 10:45. I’ll be joining Yasmin Howell, Carla Hoppe, and John Griffin to talk about why commercial awareness is a critical skill for all career types and how you can nurture and develop it in early careers hires We’ll be talking about: ❓What does commercial awareness really mean? 🎓Does Gen Z need to be taught commercial awareness or can it be learned on the job? 📌Should intervention support early talent to get in or get on in work? You can register for free here to attend or get the recording: https://lnkd.in/eqCKptT9 #kainos #earlycareers #genz #commercialawareness

Proud to have my official mentoring badge from Connectr Talent Technology, mentoring for Thales! #earlycareers #proud #graduates #apprentices #connectr

🤔 Commercial awareness has long been a desired skills from employers across all sectors and roles, yet historically it has not been offered as a defined line of skill development to employees or candidates, with many managers seeing it as an inherent ability rather than a trainable skill. Yet, as we look to our next generation of talent, commercial awareness is becoming a critical employability skill. Chartered Management Institute include 'Entrepreneurial skills' in their 11 employability skills framework, their 2021 research report suggested 31% of employers looked for this skill but only 5% on non-business students were confident in it. In their 2023 Student Development Report the Institute of Student Employers found that employers were mostly concerned with commercial awareness skills in both Apprentices and Graduates (followed by self awareness and time management). Join us on 23rd of September for a webinar on this very topic, alongside speakers from Wealthbrite, Kainos and IBM: https://lnkd.in/eqCKptT9

📆 A date for your diary! We are thrilled to partner with Wealthbrite for our upcoming webinar: ‘How to boost commercial awareness?’ on 23rd September. Join our panel discussion, hosted by Talia King, with guest speakers Carla Hoppe Founder & CEO of Wealthbrite, John Griffin from IBM, Deborah Sanderson from Kainos, and Yasmin Howell from Connectr Talent Technology as they discuss why commercial awareness is a critical skill outside of commercial roles, how you can nurture and develop it in your early careers hires and when to start delivering training. We'll be exploring... 🤔 What does commercial awareness really mean? 👩🎓 Does Gen Z need to be taught commercial awareness or can it be learned on the job? 📈 Should intervention support early talent get in or get on in work? Register now to secure a spot or get the recording! https://lnkd.in/eqCKptT9 #commercialawareness #genz #earlycareers

We are very excited to announce that we have expanded our partnership with Marks and Spencer! 💜 A relationship that started with a need to reduce reneges and increase workplace readiness of their early careers hires, will now cover the journey for both external and internal candidates through the recruitment journey and into the business. M&S has a mission to bring their brand and values to life at every stage of the candidate and employee journey, ensuring everyone who comes into contact with their employer brand has a high quality and stand-out experience. 💬 "At M&S, we're really excited to be launching our second initiative with Connectr Talent Technology, an amazing candidate experience tool that sets a new standard for how we engage with our incoming talent. This tool ensures a consistent, seamless experience for every candidate, reflecting our commitment to excellence and our dedication to representing the M&S brand in the best possible light. We believe this is a game-changer in how we attract and nurture top talent, and we can't wait to see the positive impact it will have on our recruitment process." Josh Worth Brand & Attraction Lead at M&S Zoe Harrington Will Mason-Jebb Talia King Yasmin Howell

Do you know a young person interested in a career in Finance? BPP Social Impact is delighted to support the new Future in Finance early careers platform, an initiative designed to bring together information and advice about careers in the Financial Services sector to young people across the UK. If you have a young person, work in schools or the financial services sector – you can share or sign-up to the platform, for free, here: https://bit.ly/4df4xYs Sponsored by Phoenix Group, this Connectr Talent Technology platform enables young people to engage with multiple financial services employers in one place - from learning about careers in finance, tackling misconceptions and signposting into early career roles in the sector. The platform also offers the opportunity to chat with employees in a range of finance roles, including Mentors from: BPP, Phoenix Group, Admiral Group Plc, Direct Line Group and more to come. Such a great way improve access and raise awareness of careers in finance. Please do share and help spread the word. #FutureInFinance #EarlyCareers #SocialMobility #WideningParticipation