Standard Life recognised with Gold award for the work it does with young people

Edinburgh-based insurance giant Standard Life has been awarded the Investors in Young People Gold Accreditation in recognition of its commitment to recruiting, supporting and developing young people, and helping them to reach their potential.

Investors in Young People is Scotland’s only people management award focusing on employers’ recruitment and retention of young people.

Having been an advocate of the award from the outset and supporting its launch, Standard Life took part in the review process for the very first time at the end of 2015.

A statement from the insurer said it was keen to benchmark how its commitment to providing real and sustainable opportunities for young people and future generations was progressing, and to learn from further insight and recommendations.

A statement from the firm added that it was “delighted” to have achieved the Gold standard on its first review.

Sandy Begbie, Chief People Officer, Standard Life, said: “Achieving the IIYP gold accreditation is great news for everyone at Standard Life and reflects just how passionate our people are about supporting young people in our workplace. It recognises the success of a four year journey, during which time we have reviewed our entire approach and introduced many initiatives, putting the right building blocks in place to help young people thrive at Standard Life and, in turn, helping our business and our communities to thrive too.

“We have a long tradition at Standard Life of actively supporting our local communities. We also recognise the value of having a diverse and inclusive workforce. So it came as something of a shock to realise in 2011 that we no longer had any employees under the age of 21. This meant we were at risk of not refreshing our talent and we had stopped creating chances for school leavers in our local community to build careers with us. This was at a time when the number of young people in employment in the UK was low and cities like Edinburgh faced a real challenge. We knew we wanted to do something to make a real difference.

“So we embarked on a sustainable programme of change. We’ve introduced a range of very successful initiatives like the Edinburgh Guarantee Scheme, Modern Apprenticeships and Investment 2020, alongside structured support and on the job training for our young people. We’ve also supported the introduction of a Young Person’s Development Network, put mentors and buddies in place and helped our employees learn more about working with young people too. Importantly, we’ve backed this up by paying all our employees and interns a minimum of the Living Wage, so they gain real work for real pay.

“Our approach has had a very positive impact on our business and brought real benefit to the young people and our communities. I’m proud to say that we now have almost a hundred people under the age of 21 working at Standard Life and hundreds more under the age of 25. This week another 18 young people will be starting their six month internships with Standard Life as part of the Edinburgh Guarantee Scheme and we are as excited as ever to be welcoming them on board. Our young employees are an inspiration to us all and while there is always more to be done, I’m very proud of what we have all achieved and the difference we are making.”

Commenting on Standard Life receiving the award, Peter Russian, Chief Executive of Investors in People Scotland, said: “Standard Life have been at the forefront of the youth agenda for many years now, and to have a champion of youth employment accredited by Investors in Young People is testimony to the strength of the IIYP framework. Investors in Young People was launched at Standard Life’s Edinburgh HQ as we felt that it was important to have a committed employer of young people on board from the outset. To have achieved IIYP Gold level accreditation is a fantastic achievement for Standard Life, and I congratulate them wholeheartedly. We at IIYP have enjoyed working with Standard Life tremendously and look forward to doing so for many years to come.”