Our Partners& Academy

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Partners& is committed to becoming the best insurance advisory business in the UK measured by the quality of our advice and the experience clients have working with us. We will only achieve this through the quality of our people. In the competitive war for talent, we established a strategic imperative to “grow our own” through a learning proposition to enhance the career opportunities of our colleagues and attract new talent to our business, underpinned by our values. Since launching the Partners& Academy, we have experienced a marked increase in key engagement, quality and service metrics directly aligned with our strategy.

The goals of the Partners& Academy are to deliver:

For our people

What they need to develop themselves and ultimately, their career prospects

For our business

Embedding the tools and techniques for colleagues to be the best in their area

For our clients

Ensuring they receive the right advice and that they understand what insurance they have and why they have it

What are the goals of our professional development programme?

Talent has been a key tenet of our strategy since Partners& launched in 2020. To become the best insurance advisory business in the UK requires us to provide both the best advice and to deliver an unparalleled client experience delivered by colleagues who believe in our purpose. Achieving this level of excellence requires a learning proposition for all of our people that is aligned to our values, the Partners& Difference (our advice model) and our client journey.

 

The programme is also aligned with our values:

  • Progressive: Creating a platform for our colleagues from all parts of our business to challenge conventional thinking, explore their areas of interest and spread their wings
  • Approachable: Creating a safe and supportive environment where colleagues can learn most effectively, and enjoy the experience of learning together
  • Collaborative: Being a true partner with our colleagues, sharing the expertise we have across our business and encouraging a learning culture
  • Enabler: Giving colleagues the time, support and encouragement to progress in their career – whether they aspire to be the next CEO, the best compliance expert or a leading risk adviser

How we’re meeting our goals?

Originated in May 2021, the Partners& Academy was designed and then communicated to all staff at our first annual gathering at Silverstone in October 2021, and was launched in April 2022. As our in-house centre of learning led by our own senior leadership team, it provides ambitious colleagues with the opportunity to learn from senior leaders, network with peers and gain a wider understanding of our business. As a result, they are more engaged in the work they do and become advocates for the business.

The Academy consists of five faculties:

a blend of behavioural and technical skills to bring out the attributes, skills, and experience needed to become the best risk adviser in our market

providing insight and understanding of the discipline, including how to hold powerful conversations, relationship management, and adapting behaviours to build strong rapport

Focused on five pillars of leadership excellence: Performance management, recruitment, motivation & communication, budgets, risk & planning, and belonging & inclusion

bringing to life the importance of quality advice, Consumer Duty, and the regulatory environment

a wide focus on key technical challenges ranging from BI to cyber and people-related risks

The Class of 2022/23 has just graduated and the intake for the Class of 2023/24 is oversubscribed, proving that people really value this kind of opportunity we are providing.

The results

Since launching the Partners& Academy, we have experienced a marked increase in key engagement, quality and service metrics directly aligned with our strategy.

  • We achieved strong employee engagement results in our 2022 engagement survey: 94.8% of our people understood and connected with our values and our purpose; 90.4% felt engaged and motivated in their work
  • In total, 134 colleagues (out of 450) benefitted from the Partners& Academy programme in 2022/23
  • In 2022/23, 45 colleagues (representing 10% of our workforce) benefitted from internal promotions – 21 women and 24 men across all levels of the business
  • We are proud of our Chartered Broker status and actively encourage our people to achieve their CII qualifications. In 2022/23, 14 colleagues completed their CII qualifications and 85 were studying toward their qualifications
  • Our Investor in Customer survey demonstrated a marked improvement in our client engagement and experience scores (reflecting the improving quality of client service and loyalty) from 8.03/10 (May 2020) to 8.33/10 (November 2022). Our overall Net Promoter Score progressed from +44 (May 2020) to +58 (November 2022)
  • The Partners& Academy has become a powerful recruitment tool and has positioned Partners& as a business that is committed to investing in its people

 

Testimonial Quotes
“The Partners& Leadership Academy syllabus was excellent in building a greater understanding of tools that are available to me and practical application of these to help me develop and grow as a leader in business. “Having completed the programme, I feel enabled to continue to grow as a successful leader, with those I work with being at the centre of that success.”

Rowanne Dicker

Markets & Placement Director

“I have been on various leadership and management courses, but the Partner& Leadership Academy stands out, not least for being led by the CEO. This demonstrated to me his and the company’s commitment to the delegates and our continuous professional development. The course was relevant to our day-to-day roles and gave practical tools I have been able to put into practice with immediate effect, whilst being supported by management theory. Having completed it, I feel I not only have a handbook to refer to, but a network of people from the programme who I can reach out to.”

Kirstie Daufer

Lead Client Adviser

“I’ve really enjoyed the experience of the Leadership Programme, particularly mixing with people from around the business that my every day role doesn’t put me in contact with. The sessions are challenging which gives you a fresh perspective on things… Phil is super motivational and has given me a lot of tools that I can take away to my role and career.” I would recommend that anyone in a managerial role undertakes this programme.”

Tom Kendal

Client Partner

“I felt very privileged to get on to our leadership programme. To have that time with senior members of our business to look at recruitment, performance management, motivation, budgets & MI, belonging & inclusion and how we can influence and develop this in our business. I had a good foundational knowledge of these subjects but digging into how to build it up further and learn from the insights of Phil, Natalie, Phill S, Jon and Ramzan, who all had guest spots really helped me step this up. I came away with an action plan and a “support and challenge” group. We have had regular meetings since then end and I hugely value having a peer group to work on challenges together.”

Laura Ford

Client Services Partner