Taking Leadership to the Next Level With the Student Beans University

Looking to be inspired and educated? Want to take your leadership to the next level? Well, for Student Beans employees, the best is yet to come… 

This April, we’re excited to launch our new Student Beans University programme – a course designed to motivate and upskill aspiring, new, and current managers working at Student Beans.

This 15-month programme is in partnership with WELL Training, who specialise in delivering training to supercharge individual and business growth – in fact, they’ve created this course exclusively for us! 

In this blog post, we’ll be sharing more details on our new venture and discussing the positive impact that investing in development can have on you, your teams, and the wider business. 

What is the Student Beans University?

The Student Beans University will be available in two tracks – Green Beans and Keen Beans. 

Green Beans

This track is open to aspiring and new managers who wish to build their knowledge, skills, and confidence in key management and leadership themes. There’s also the option to achieve a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Qualification through to undergraduate level in Leadership and Management. 

Keen Beans

Perfect for those who want to take their skills to the next level, our Keen Beans track is for experienced managers and leaders who wish to deepen their knowledge and skills in key management and leadership themes. There’s also the option to achieve a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Qualification in Leadership and Management, right through to Master level. 

The CMI route leads to a formal qualification, and key topics at the Student Beans University include: growth mindset, authentic leadership, communications, performance management, managing through change, and knowledge management. 

Thanks to our partnership with WELL Training, the Student Beans University is fully supported by external coaches and trainers, meaning that ‘students’ will be learning from the very best!

Why have we created the Student Beans University? 

So why have Student Beans partnered up with WELL Training for this exciting new programme? “We get quite a lot of feedback from our employees that the ability to grow and progress with Student Beans during their time with us is really important to them”, says Jenny Crawford, Chief People Officer at Student Beans. “It’s also part of our culture that we want to invest in our people and empower them to learn and develop new skills and do their best work during their time with us – Student Beans University is going to help us to deliver on that. 

“Essentially we want this offer to be part of what it means to be a manager and leader at Student Beans and we’re excited to see what our employees will achieve as a result of this opportunity!”

The importance of investing in development

Student Beans’ wellbeing practices are informed by our people, as they know better than anyone what will have the greatest impact on their wellbeing. We believe Student Beans is only as great as its employees, which is why we’re proud to be an employee-led company – in fact, we’ve been ranked as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing! Some of our favourite policies include: unlimited annual leave, flexi-Fridays, enhanced parental leave, wellness allowances, and we’re an Endometriosis-friendly employer. 

Additionally, investing in the development of our employees, in this case, through the Student Beans University, is just as important, and can result in great personal and professional growth. “Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying that ‘an investment in knowledge pays the best interest’, and I have to say, this is a sentiment I can get behind 100%” says Lianne Russell, Head of Corporate at WELL Training. “The investment (and yes, time is an investment!) in developing your own knowledge and importantly, applying that knowledge is what will take your investment to the next level. Enabling and empowering you to not only improve your own circumstance and situation, but also that of your organisation. 

“When budgets are tight and margins are thin, what better investment can you make than developing the skills and knowledge of your people so that they can take themselves (and your organisation) to as yet unknown heights?!”

We can’t wait to enrol our first cohort of managers at the Student Beans University!

Feeling inspired and want to know more? Find out more about life and careers at Student Beans here.

Drive your biggest growth yet this Festive Season

Access insight-packed infographics, reports, blogs and more to fuel your holiday campaigns