Climbing the Ladder
I was recently asked to create a blog for Kura that would ‘showcase our career growth’.
Below you will find three stories from individuals within my team; I like to call these our ‘Success Stories’. All three individuals are in different roles and whilst they all work within the same function, their career paths have all taken slightly different directions. This is testament to the individuals themselves who tried something new and grasped opportunities when they arose.
I’ve also taken the opportunity at the end of this blog to share some insight into two of our talent programmes. We are currently running a Future Managers Programme and a Campaign Specialist Programme. Both of these programmes are fairly new but very much in flight and something we are keen to expand into other areas going forward.
Name: Jason Boyd
Current Role: L&D Business Partner
Tenure with Kura: 7 years
I began my career with Kura in August 2010 as an Advisor after completing University. Over the last 7 years I’ve grown with the business and I am now in the position of Learning & Development Business Partner. In this position I manage a team of L&D Specialists and work with other areas of the business on new business/implementation strategies and project work.
Across the last 7 years there hasn’t been a single campaign within Kura that I haven’t worked with, something I’m quite proud of! Kura has been a great place to learn new skills and talents. I’ve been fortunate to be involved in several launches for new accounts, travelling across the UK at different times and even building campaigns from scratch. The most enjoyable part of my role is supporting and watching people develop – from coming in on Day 1 with the awkward nervousness of a new role to hearing how their journey has developed similar to mine.
The most challenging aspect of working in my current role is how fast-paced it can be. Naturally, as an outsourcer, we need to work to meet demands as best we can – but when dealing with multiple clients and internal stakeholders this can drive short-turnaround times and the need to be very clever in managing my diary. The future is looking good for Kura and I want to be a key part of driving the business forward, ensuring I lead the Learning & Development function into further success.
Name: Rachael Key
Current Role: L&D Specialist
Tenure with Kura: 4 years
About 4 years ago I started working at Kura in my first customer service role on a temporary contract. My plan was to stay for a year maximum before moving on or returning to education. Instead, I was offered a full-time permanent position with the company and within that year I found a career that I never thought would be the one for me.
After only 9 months with the business I became a Seconded Trainer for a utility campaign . Every day came with new challenges: I had to learn how to think on my feet and be able to change my plans for the day at a minute’s notice. As time went on, I realised how much of a passion I had for training, how much I loved teaching people new information, new systems, new ways of working.
Now, as a permanent member of the Learning & Development team, I can say that not much has changed. I still love my role, including the challenges, and I can even see in myself how much I’ve grown and improved over the years. I have to say that I’m incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities Kura have given me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Name: Jaclyn Bett
Current Role: L&D Co-ordinator
Tenure with Kura: 6 years
I originally started as an Advisor for an insurance campaign and worked my way from Advisor to Expert Advisor, before moving on to be a Floorwalker. Then I became an Underwriter Assistant for this campaign When this campaign ended I wasn’t sure what I was going to do but I did know that I wanted to stay with Kura. In the interim, I was asked to help design the training programme for another new insurance client within the L&D department. While doing this the L&D co-ordinator position came up and I applied and got the job. This has taken my career in a very different direction, which I am very pleased about. So far, my most enjoyable moment was getting this position and knowing that I could build a career from this. The most challenging aspect of my role is finding the time to fit everything in; it is a very busy job but I love it! In the near future I hope to learn more about the evaluation aspect of learning and development so we can use this feedback to make things better for the team and people within Kura. I aspire to be able to lead my own team within organisational development and help everyone within the business to be the best that they can be!
FUTURE MANAGERS – TALENT PROGRAMME
It’s been nine months since we launched our brand-new talent development programme called Future Managers; as you can imagine, we’ve come a long way since we started. The 14 successful candidates we accepted on the pilot have helped forge our whole approach to recognising, supporting and championing high-performing individuals with the motivation to take the next step in their careers. We are now starting our second cohort in Glasgow, have launched the programme in Forres and go live in Liverpool on the 21st September.
From our first cohort, 85% of attendees have since been promoted, and we finished the programme with a satisfaction score of 100% and a net promoter score of +97, indicating that those who attended valued the programme and positively speak about it to others. Our next set of delegates all have something in common: drive, motivation, commitment and enthusiasm, which becomes part of the defining factors associated with being successful. If you feel you share these important attributes and want to be considered for our next cohort, speak with your Manager for a formal nomination and you too could be one of our exclusive and unique Future Managers.
CAMPAIGN SPECIALISTS – L&D TALENT PROGRAMME
The Kura Campaign Specialist programme provides a unique opportunity for high-performing Advisors to progress into a career within Learning & Development. We look for Advisors who can demonstrate a passion to support and develop our new people into role models for Kura. These individuals will have expert knowledge within particular accounts and undergo a rigorous assessment process which replicates the live learning environment, and assesses their behaviours and aptitude for the role.
Our successful candidates are enrolled into the Kura Train the Trainer programme, which encapsulates the essence of modern Trainer-led delivery. Kura Campaign Specialists then shadow an accredited Kura Trainer who acts as their mentor and provides detailed observation feedback on their delivery.
The Campaign Specialist programme has been a real success with 18 Kura Advisors completing the programme and progressing through to delivery of on-boarding training. This has supported growth within our existing accounts by providing flexibility in our on-boarding capabilities as well as building a talent pool for future roles within Kura.
If you’re a Kura employee and this is something you are keen to progress for your own career, please contact Nick Craig (L&D Business Partner) at [email protected]. If you’re interested in learning more about the various roles at Kura, you can visit the careers section on our website.