The Open University has collaborated with TrainingZone to publish a new whitepaper which looks at the role of Learning and Development teams in enabling social mobility.

The author is Jessica Leigh Jones MBE, a multi-award-winning engineer and entrepreneur based in Wales. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of iungo Solutions, a technology start-up developing immersive learning experiences for educational and business clients. iungo Solutions’ core philosophy is that “everyone is an apprentice” and they currently employ degree apprentices through The Open University.

The whitepaper defines what social mobility means to the workplace and highlights some of the hidden talent pools often missed by both businesses and wider society. Jessica shares a range of insights, strategies and tools to help organisations access talent they may have overlooked. The whitepaper is also packed with Open University resources and examples of how the university has worked with individuals and employers to drive social mobility at work.

Viren Patel, Business Development Unit Director at The Open University said, 

Education has always been a key driver of social mobility and this has been a constant thread that has run through The Open University’s work for more than five decades.

Together with TrainingZone, we’ve asked Jessica to author this whitepaper to help employers better understand social mobility and why they should factor it into their learning and development strategy. The paper highlights many Open University initiatives where we have helped individuals and organisations reach their full potential and Jessica gives readers some practical hints and tips which will hopefully get you thinking in a different way.