Kaplan
Founded in the US, Kaplan is a global educational enterprise, with a UK business, Kaplan Financial providing training and apprenticeships in accountancy, financial services and data and tech. They have worked with over 3 million individuals and countless businesses to help shape and develop careers worldwide. We had the pleasure of discussing with Jenny Pelling, Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity at Kaplan Financial, their matrix Standard journey.
Having previously been assessed against the matrix Standard, Jenny provided her insights on the differences with the previous 2011 version.
“The Standard is thorough and provides you with a useful judgement of your organisation’s position when comparing yourselves to the outcomes required. From Key Performance Indicators to Learner Voice, to Management Structure, all aspects of your business are questioned more thoroughly than before”.
Jenny and her team were well prepared to go through the process again, as time was invested by senior staff to prepare for assessment. She recommends considering what evidence to put forward, identifying any potential gaps and planning how these can be addressed. This systematic approach to working with the Standard was beneficial, Jenny also highlighted the value of attending the ‘Introduction to the matrix Standard webinar’.
One aspect of the Standard that stood out to Jenny and the team was the way it now extends into wellbeing, equality, diversity, and inclusion. This fitted what their learners need in addition to achieving a qualification as broader personal development aspects help learners to flourish now and in their future professions and lives. The matrix Standard provided an architecture to frame Kaplan’s CPD sessions, and as another way to embed the purpose, aim and impact of what they do..
After proudly maintaining its matrix Standard accreditation, Kaplan decided to put themselves forward for an internal award, ‘The Kaplan Way Award’ in one of the 4 categories. They successfully became the UK winners of the Shared Values team award in late Nov 2023! Jenny believes achieving the team’s efforts in improving CIAG with a view to achieving the new matrix Standard accreditation was instrumental in helping them achieve this award.
“It was very powerful as it allowed everyone to be recognised and celebrate all the hard work. As remote workers, it brought a sense of community within our team people together in the London and Liverpool to celebrate. The matrix Standard is almost validation of the team’s award.”
As for the working relationship with the assessor, Jenny stated she couldn’t speak highly enough of their assessor.
“He delivered the interviews with warmth and put people at ease. This was particularly important as we had some new members of staff, who hadn’t partaken in anything like this before. He was reassuring, asking us insightful questions. You could tell his aim was to get the best out of the employees he spoke with.”
Regarding future development, Kaplan plans to continue focusing on career development, further integrating Gatsby benchmarks which are aligned with the matrix Standard. Their journey through matrix accreditation illustrates the positive impact of the Standard on their organisation. Their commitment to career development and alignment with comprehensive frameworks, such as the matrix Standard positions Kaplan as a leader in providing high-quality apprenticeship programmes.
