Capgemini: In-Work/Retention
Beth Clarke is a former Corndel learner and Software Engineer at Capgemini Engineering. Beth completed her Corndel Software Engineering Apprenticeship in June 2021 and has since gone on to do fantastic things in the company.
Intent
Beth has been recognised for her significant contribution to Capgemini Engineering, particularly through founding their Women’s Network. With support from senior management, the network now has 130 members from across the organisation, and they hold monthly sessions to discuss a huge range of topics relevant to the business, its future, and women in STEM. Beth’s co-founding of and work with the network has allowed women to feel more connected to the company, with regular sessions have covered a range of relevant topics from menopause to male allyship.
Implementation
The Women’s Network at Capgemini Engineering has supported significant changes for the organisation. Their work has led to many important developments, such as; the revamping of parental leave policies and involvement in developing training programmes to support flexible workers who may feel the stigma of being considered part-time. An interesting insight that came out of the Women’s Network discussions was that many employees felt they weren’t getting enough regular feedback on their work. Beth recognised that this was an area the business could do better in and has supported the implementation of a recognition system called Applaud, which allows employees to recognise and celebrate other’s performance. Once approved, these comments are shared on a public site celebrating the success of the team. There are also financial rewards and incentives, such as vouchers linked to the system. An interesting insight that came out of the Women’s Network discussions was that many employees felt they weren’t getting enough regular feedback on their work. Beth understood that this was an area the business could do better in and has supported the implementation of a recognition system called Applaud, which allows employees to recognise and celebrate other’s performance. Once approved, these comments are shared on a public site celebrating the success of the team. There are also financial rewards and incentives, such as vouchers linked to the system.
The Software Engineering apprenticeship programme at Capgemini Engineering offers support beyond the end of the programme, ensuring apprentices have a structured way forward. Beth explains that the company is now putting training plans in place. Employees have access to a wide range of courses and a personal training budget of 50 hours a year to do any training they want, including external training courses. This is a great example of investment in a lifelong learning culture an important factor in retention.
Impact
It’s clear Beth’s apprenticeship was transformative and gave her a chance to become an important and valued individual within the company. Her aptitude and hard work have seen her working across many varied projects, and just three months into the apprenticeship, she was given the responsibility of leading a team of three. Beth received a distinction for her apprenticeship and got immediately promoted from a Junior Engineer to a Software Engineer.
Beth has found that apprenticeships have been a great way to bring women into computer science and engineering by opening career paths for those who haven’t studied software previously. She was the only female in her cohort of apprentices, however, a third of the latest cohort is female, a significant increase and a massive achievement for the team.
Increasing the number of women in STEM is an important priority for many businesses in this sector. The work Beth has done in co-founding the women’s network, and supporting other female apprentices at Capgemini Engineering is inspirational and a great demonstration of what others could do to support women in their organisations.
