It's award show season and Pearson just wrapped its annual Celebrating Pearson Talent and Awards where we commend achievers and award winners from across our Early Talent programmes. The affair brings together partners and supporters from Pearson and beyond to recognise a year of hard work and dedication by programme participants.
Early Talent and why it’s important to us
At Pearson, Early Talent refers to those who are completing an apprenticeship, internship, or T-level programme. Whether they're already employed or joining us via a learning programme, it is about providing opportunity and developing people--both personally and professionally. Typically, programme assignments involve a combination of work and study and span a diverse range of sectors, standards, and disciplines--from Marketing to IT.
In addition, Pearson extends opportunities to other, smaller businesses to work with us to hold their own Early Talent programmes through the Transfer of Levy funding. We work with several training providers to deliver programmes, so the celebration event is the perfect time to recognise our external partners too!
Head of Early Talent Programs Anne Ashworth commented, “It is so important for Pearson to bring in a diverse workforce and for us to plan for the future skills required to keep our business growing and at the forefront of the education sector. The Early Talent programmes we offer at Pearson provide us with an integrated approach that helps our managers to plan and develop their teams to meet the ever-evolving needs of the business”
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Anne Ashworth and Siobhan Bradley presenting at the celebration event |
Siobhan Bradley, manager of the Early Talent Program, spoke to the programme's ability to attract a more diverse pool of employees. “For us, this special event is the culmination of many weeks and months of hard work and dedication, and the apprentices should be extremely proud of all they have achieved. Our early talent programme gives people the opportunity to progress in a career with us, as well as enabling us to attract a more diverse range of people at different stages of their lives and careers."
A reason to celebrate
The Celebrating Pearson Talent and Awards event took place via virtual live stream, and for the first time ever, in-person viewing parties organized by apprentice ambassadors and held at Pearson offices in London, Oxford, Manchester and Hellaby.
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Viewing Party at Pearson's 80 Strand, London office. |
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We welcomed internal and external guest speakers including Michelle Day, Pearson's Vice President and HR Business Partner for Workforce Skills and Freya Thomas Monk, Senior Vice President for Vocational Qualifications & Training. In total, ten award categories highlighted early talent, line managers, employers and providers that have gone above and beyond in their support for the programme. Here’s what some of the award winners had to say:
“I'm delighted to be recognised for my hard work and efforts by receiving the 'Striving for Excellence Award'. It takes a lot of commitment to balance my full-time role alongside my degree apprenticeship studies, so it's fantastic that this is being celebrated and I'm very thankful for the support my colleagues, managers and mentors provide to me whilst I go through this learning journey.” - Adrian Lloyd-Brown (Digital Marketer Degree Apprenticeship)
“I was shocked to find out that I was nominated for the ‘Making Your Mark Award’ which is an amazing achievement in itself. However, the biggest shock was to find out that I had won! I felt such pride and so many emotions as I look back at where I was a few years ago to where I am now. This is all thanks to making that move to upskill myself with the apprenticeship program and the support of my manager.” - Craig Cheetham (Safety, Health and Environment Technician)
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Viewing Party at Pearson's Hellaby office. |
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Early talent is key to driving the next generation of our workforce and it’s incredibly important to recognise their achievements no matter how big or small! At Pearson we offer a wide variety of programmes to help people kickstart or upskill their career; find out more about our programme here.
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Imani Brown is a Degree Apprentice undertaking the Chartered Manager programme at Pearson. She currently works with the Early Talent and Apprenticeships team as a Marketing Content/Communications Specialist. Connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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