It was a pleasure to welcome our members to the University of Westminster for our inaugural Chancellor’s Circle dinner.
Thank you for sharing perspectives on your respective industry challenges and hopes for the next generation of talent. The big takeaways from the evening? Apprenticeships and sabbaticals are on the rise, hybrid working is here to stay but must be tailored to support new recruits, and diverse talent remains a crucial factor for future success.
Here are 7 things we took away from the evening:
- Inclusion makes us stronger: The best ideas come from diverse voices and experiences. As you step into leadership, ask yourself: Who’s not in the room? Whose voice needs to be heard? True leadership is about lifting others as you rise. We need to foster a more inclusive and diverse talent pool that reflects the society we support through our respective industries. This means increasing outreach to underrepresented groups and promoting pathways into our different sectors, such as apprenticeships, mentorship programmes and collaborative initiatives with educational institutions like the University of Westminster.
- Apprenticeships growth: Expect to see a growing emphasis on apprenticeships. Clients in the tech industry for example are increasingly requiring apprentices within project teams. Apprentices can bring fresh perspectives and upskill the existing workforce in areas such as adopting new tech and different approaches to solving problems.
- Sabbaticals and paid time out to upskill – the new future? Offering paid secondments, sabbaticals and opportunities to upskill through short courses is crucial for maintaining a dynamic and motivated workforce and can positively impact staff retention. Paid sabbaticals are not commonplace in all of our organisations. Should they be?
- Hybrid working: Hybrid working models are valuable, but we need to find a way for this to work for all. Office time is essential for new recruits to hone relationship-building and people management skills, but incoming generations have never known a ‘5 days in the office’ culture and their expectations are entirely different to our own. There is an opportunity to lean into this new way of thinking.
- AI: The proliferation of AI, machine learning and data analytics provides opportunities to innovate solutions that enhance efficiency across all sectors. Universities have a role to play in educating students/ the future workforce on how to use AI for good. This generation of graduates will help drive this innovation. Encouraging our employees to embrace and not fear AI is key.
- Soft skills for success: We need to focus on equipping our new recruits with resilience and an appreciation for learning from failure. Fostering curiosity in new talent is crucial for their development and success.
And finally, a word on opportunities.
7. Awareness of opportunity: Graduates often don’t realise the breadth of opportunities which exist within our different sectors. There is huge potential for our organisations to collaborate with specific degree courses at Westminster to highlight the diversity of roles available within our different businesses. You have to ‘see it to be it’ after all.
COLLABORATE WITH US
Thank you for the continuing support you provide to our students. Laura and Tom will be in touch to continue our plans for 2025 collaborations. If you know any organisations who would like to partner with our talented students please let us know: collaborate@westminster.ac.uk
Latest posts by Jenny Stubberfield (see all)
- 7 Tips to Get Interviews for Business Management Graduates - 20 February2025
- Chancellor’s Circle Dinner: Our takeaways - 19 February2025
- ‘Tenacious, skillfull and resilient’ - 19 February2025