Aon and Connectr delivered a large-scale work experience programme to engage students with financial services and drive social mobility. Phil Sartain at Aon and Charlotte Dudley at Connectr explain how.
Aon and Connectr were honoured to win this year’s ISE Outstanding Employer and Solution Provider Recruitment Partnership Award for our Work Insights Programme (WIP).
This recognition is not just a celebration of our impact, but a call to action for the sector: large-scale, high quality work experience is possible – and it’s needed now more than ever.
Aon’s Work Insights Programme
Aon’s Work Insights Programme is a structured, three-day in-person work experience for Y12-13 students across the UK. The programme is designed to open up financial and professional services careers to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Delivered in partnership with Connectr, it gives young people practical insights, skills workshops, and direct access to Aon colleagues, helping to build confidence, networks, and a more diverse talent pipeline.
Our ambition is that WIP attendees come away with an increased sense of belonging, seeing financial services and a place for ‘people like me’ through Aon colleagues sharing their journeys.
Why Aon scaled up its impact
The financial and professional services sector faces a stark social mobility challenge. Research shows nearly nine out of 10 senior roles are held by those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, and the proportion of privately educated professionals is more than double the national average.
At the same time, the sector struggles to attract young talent, with more over-50s than under-30s in the London insurance market alone.
Aon’s vision, led by Phil Sartain, and in partnership with Connectr, was to break down these barriers by giving more young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds access to meaningful work experience.
We set out to deliver WIP at scale, nationwide, and with a focus on genuine inclusion and belonging, in order to:
- Give more young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds access to the financial services sector
- Empower our Aon colleagues to take part in volunteering
- Be a catalyst within financial services
Busting the myth – ‘too big to manage’
Many firms hesitate to scale-up work experience, fearing the logistics and resource demands. Our experience shows that running a group-based, structured programme for 25 (or more) students on-site can be just as manageable - and often more impactful - than coordinating dozens of one-to-one work shadowing placements.
In fact, the resource required for hosts and central teams to deliver a group WIP is often comparable to, or even less than, the effort needed for bespoke shadowing.
Key to our success was partnership: Connectr operated as an extension of Aon’s Early Careers team. Connectr Early Engagement supported with the set-up of the new programme in Year 1, with outreach, content creation for live sessions and volunteer training. It continues to support with outreach, safeguarding and data collection/analysis in Years 2 + 3.
Connectr Talent Technology provided an Aon branded platform which pre-boarded students, freeing up Aon's time and ensuring students were fully prepared ahead of each WIP and had a consistent experience across locations. Analysing student behaviour on the platform enabled Aon to accurately predict who would attend.
Impact that matters
- In 2024, over 840 students participated, with 68% from the bottom 30% of postcode deprivation and/or in receipt of free school meals, and 76% identifying as being from a minority ethnic background. Social mobility of WIP attendees continues to substantially grow, with WIP 2025 on track to support even more of the students who need it more.
- 91% of students said they were likely to consider a career in financial or professional services (up from 63% at the start), and 86% said they’d consider applying to Aon (up from 29%).
- 24% of Aon’s apprentice hires in their September 2025 intake were WIP alumni, directly linking the programme to Aon’s hiring pipeline, helping to diversify both Aon’s talent pool and the wider industry. We have ambitions to push this hiring outcome even further next year, aiming for 50% for 2026 apprenticeship hires to have been through the programme.
- The ripple effect is real: over 20 external firms have shadowed our programme, inspiring scale and impact across the industry.
If you’re considering starting, scaling or re-inventing your work experience programme, don’t be intimidated by the idea of scale. Whether you want to target social mobility, increase your student intake, or connect your programme to hiring outcomes, now is the time to think bigger.
With the right partnership, planning, and commitment, you can deliver a high-quality, high-impact experience for many students at once.
We know that Aon’s WIP runs at a large scale, which not all firms can resource, but we’d challenge everyone to reflect on how they can turn work experience into diverse hires for their firm, build a talent pool for the future and give back to your local community.