Recognising the importance of employer investment in skills and actively responding to the growing skills gap, Direct Line Group, one of the UK’s largest insurance providers, have partnered with tech company Multiverse, the leaders in professional apprenticeships, to develop a range of tech and data training programmes. The new range of innovative training programmes will equip both newly recruits and existing employees with the critical skills needed for the jobs of the future setting them up to succeed in a digitalised world.
The Customer Service and Data Apprenticeship will teach data literacy and will help apprentices become highly effective consumers of data, building the skills and knowledge to improve decision making and customer outcomes.
Sitting under the Groups technology division, the Software Engineering Apprenticeship will provide apprentices with a hands-on experience of building, developing, testing and deploying full stack applications that will ultimately deliver better customer experiences.
Designed to deliver real impact, the programmes will see a diverse set of people get together to learn the technical and people skills needed to thrive in a competitive yet rewarding industry.
Jessie Burrows, Managing Director of customer, sales, service and claims at Direct Line Group said: “We’re really excited to launch our new training programmes which will help our people develop the vital skills needed to serve our increasingly tech savvy customers. The world around us is changing, which is why we have to adapt as a business and make sure our people are equipped for the future. Delivering brilliantly for our customers every day is the driving force behind our strategy. So investing in customer focussed skills-based learning is fundamental to our success, whilst opening up future career opportunities for employees.”
Euan Blair, CEO of Multiverse, said: "Data and software engineering are two of the most in-demand skills today, and we know they will be essential for the jobs of the future. By offering their teams training in these areas, Direct Line Group is supporting their career growth with future-proofed skills. The company is also enhancing its own capabilities and building the industry's future leaders in-house.
"Apprenticeships are simply the best way to develop these skills, providing individuals with both high levels of expertise and the qualifications that are gained through applied learning, on the job."
Embedding data into everyday thinking is integral to the Group’s strategy. Alongside these two apprenticeships, Direct Line Group also recently launched an internal Data Academy that provides an eLearning portal for all employees to learn new data skills. It also helps connect employees with Mentors and hosts data specific events for continued learning.
In their mission to make Direct Line Group a truly customer centric and data driven business, 80 colleagues from across the company, including people from HR, Counter Fraud and Marketing have joined a data apprenticeship to enhance the data capability in their business area, with additional cohorts being launched each quarter.
Jessie Burrows continued, “We recognise that to succeed in a fast-evolving industry, we need to invest in the digital and data skills that are so vital for future success. This programme has been specifically built for us and we are confident that our learners will feel engaged, connected and supported, while building solid foundations for a prosperous career.”
