Cranfield Executive Development

Apprenticeship Levy

CASE STUDY - AON ‘Working with Cranfield has given us the confidence to be bold’ For some businesses, investing their Apprenticeship Levy fund in sponsoring their future leaders through a Masters-level qualification is about creating a catalyst for change. But, for leading global insurance broker and HR consulting firm Aon, the business was already facing change aplenty. Enrolling a number of high-potential employees onto Cranfield’s Business and Strategic Leadership MSc was about moving forwards through transformation to the future ahead.

“Like a lot of employers, we had thought about how we could use the Apprenticeship Levy to meet the ambitions we had for developing our UK leadership,” explains UK Talent Lead Julie Hyett.

Customised to organisations’ own needs and aspirations, it aims to equip future leaders with the knowledge, skills and capabilities they need to help shape and drive forward their company’s strategic agenda.

For Aon, it was this opportunity to work with Cranfield to customise the programme that really appealed. UK CEO Julie Page was among those involved in flexing elective modules and project work to suit the needs of the cohort and the business itself.

Following such a targeted programme, it didn’t take long for the benefits of working with Cranfield to become apparent.

“Cranfield has been an ideal thinking partner,” explained Julie. “The idea of leveraging the Apprenticeship Levy from the beginning was about integrating learning and the working experience to improve the value we give our clients through personal and project transformation.”

“Working with our UK CEO has ensured the programme has been firmly integrated into delivering this client value. We have been able to play real business challenges through the programme and having access to Cranfield’s expert advice for everything from module choice and planning strategic projects to briefing our Executive has given us the confidence to be bold.” “The Cranfield team built out a brief on us as a business at the start, which they shared with key delivery and project personnel. This has tracked through each engagement, honing the line manager briefings they deliver, landing the launch with impact and ultimately giving us the confidence to engage our Executive at every stage with the set-up, implementation and tracked outcomes of the development programme.”

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