Earlier this month, a group of enthusiastic Year 12 boys visited Bupa’s offices in Staines-upon-Thames as part of a Business Insight Day.
The boys gained saw the culture of a global healthcare company which employs over 82,000 people and has over 43 million customers worldwide.
The boys were hugely impressed by the values of the organisation and its absolute desire to be as customer-focused as possible. Bupa’s pride in providing exceptional service to their customers and patients across various strands of their business was unmistakable.
They gained an understanding of Bupa’s business model as a health insurance company, care home operator and dental care provider, and saw first-hand the change in working patterns post-pandemic.
The lingering impact of Covid was clear, with their Staines office operating at just one third of its capacity. It remains important to balance the desire for remote working with the learning and sense of community that arises when working in the office. With a currently tight labour market, where workers are more able to pick and choose which job suits them best, they saw the challenges presented to employers such as Bupa. It is clearly important for employers to offer workers flexibility in order to fill vacant roles but also essential to foster a positive company culture and strong community, something that is much harder to do when employees are working from home some or all of the time.
The Bupa visit reminded the boys that careers are not linear. They can involve many meandering pathways and journeys. The group were grateful to have learnt so much about the world of work in a real working environment and thank Bupa for hosting them. This was particularly generous at a time when events such as these are less common than they once were, precisely because office occupancy is not what it once was.
