Member Article

Explore Learning named second-best big employer in the UK

Popular tuition provider, Explore Learning, has been named the second Best Big Company To Work For by The Sunday Times, for the second year-running.

Explore Learning has 144 centres across the UK employing over 3,700 people in various roles. It had previously been recognised for six consecutive years as one of the best companies to work for in The Sunday Times 100 Best Mid Sized Companies to Work For List but this year marks its second outing on the list of 25 Best Big Companies.

Employees praised Explore Learning for supporting their personal growth and wellbeing. With a massive 93% of staff agreeing that ‘this job is good for my personal growth’, and a further 91% agreeing ‘I feel proud to work for this organisation’, reflecting the personal investment of staff in Explore Learning and its mission. Furthermore, 40% of Explore Learning’s senior managers are now female showing they are on course to achieve their aim of gender equality throughout their business. The provision of easy access to e-learning via the company intranet, podcasts and books were also commended.

Bill Mills CEO and Founder of Explore Learning says: “It’s brilliant to be named the second best company in the UK to work for, for the second year in a row. It once again highlights what the dedication and hard work of those working at Explore can achieve. Not only are we delivering outstanding service to thousands of children across the country, we are supporting our employees and ensuring they are happy and thriving at work. To us, making sure our staff are happy is a priority as they represent the backbone of the company, and I can honestly say every member of staff deserves credit for this award.’’

Chief Executive Bill Mills launched Explore Learning in 2001 and remains deeply involved in the business to this day. The company provides maths and English tutition from the ages four to 14, working together with schools, local communities and libraries to create fearless learners.

An extensive talent management programme for top performers is in place, with over 80% of those in the experts scheme being promoted to Head Office last year. Every Head Office employee is paired with an assigned centre, as part of a buddy scheme to offer personal and professional development to the team throughout the year. Explore staff said they feel a strong sense of family in their teams and say managers talk openly and honestly with them.

Explore Learning is currently growing at a rate of 20% year on year and in 2014 opened its first international centre in America, under the name ‘Explore Horizons.’ The business now has six US centres located in Dallas, McKinney, Garland, Frisco, Alliance Town Centre and Plano.

Best Companies has been producing and publishing the ‘Best Companies to Work For’ lists since 2001 to measure and acknowledge excellence in workplace engagement. According to BC, each year hundreds of organisations from a wide range of industries use its employee survey to measure their employee engagement.

The responses from these surveys are collated and combined to produce an overall engagement score for each organisation. Only the organisations with the highest level of overall employee engagement qualify for the 25 Best Big Companies to Work For list. Achieving this award for a second time continues a winning streak for Explore Learning, as last year it was also named the 20th Best Place to Work For by GlassDoor.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katherine Adams .