As we mark three years working alongside our funding partner, Kyndryl UK and Ireland (Kyndryl UKI), we are reflecting on how strategic partnerships can drive systemic change. By embedding the Universal Framework into community outreach and employee volunteering, Kyndryl is helping us build a world where everyone has the essential skills to succeed. Dominic Nolan, Associate Director - Social Impact, shares Kyndryl UKI’s journey of turning social impact ambitions into tangible classroom outcomes.
Introduction
After three years of partnering with Skills Builder Partnership on community outreach, the green shoots of social impact are starting to show. This makes now a good time for me to share how this relationship has enabled Kyndryl UKI to turn its social impact ambitions into something tangible, measurable, and lasting.
Social impact at Kyndryl
Kyndryl is a purpose-driven company focused on making a positive difference in the communities where we operate. We do this through our Social Impact function, which prioritises education and skills for the community.
As a multi-national company, Kyndryl has a global community skilling strategy. However, the real positive change happens at a local level. That is why we partner with non-profit organisations who are education experts with deep community connections. One of Kyndryl UKI’s community skilling partners is Skills Builder Partnership.
The challenge: Addressing education inequalities
Kyndryl UKI joined the Skills Builder partnership in 2023, driven by the findings of Business in the Community's (BITC) report, 'Time to Act - Addressing Inequalities in Education'. The report highlighted a reduction in education-business partnerships against a backdrop of challenges faced by schools, including reduced funding, lower attainment, disadvantaged students falling further behind and worsening student mental health. BITC called on businesses to re-engage with the education system to help reverse the negative trends impacting young people.
In its report, BITC included insights from educators and businesses that pointed to a need for young people to acquire the skills needed to cope with life’s transitions and thrive when they leave compulsory education. According to BITC, a key area where businesses could make a difference was to help young people develop transferrable skills using Skills Builder’s Universal Framework.
By focusing on the eight essential skills for success - Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Adapting, Planning, Leadership, and Teamwork - we saw an opportunity to support Skills Builder’s vision: that one day, everyone will build the essential skills to succeed.
Putting the Framework into action
When designing the local implementation of Kyndryl’s global social impact strategy from scratch, I had two criteria:
- Our community outreach must complement existing strategies that promote education and skills progression for stakeholders.
- Our non-profit partners needed to enable community volunteering for Kyndryl employees.
Skills Builder Partnership met both criteria.
By supporting the Skills Builder Accelerator programme, Kyndryl has provided schools with access to training for teachers and online tools to help students benchmark their essential skill progress against the Skills Builder Universal Framework.
When using Skills Builder’s Benchmark tool, students assess where they are on the Universal Framework’s 16-step scale for each essential skill. Students also receive guidance from Benchmark on how to move up the steps and get closer to mastery. This process also introduces the students to a shared language for essential skills. This language empowers them to articulate their personal capabilities, which is crucial for the transition to post-school destinations.
Impact spotlight: La Sainte Union Catholic School
La Sainte Union Catholic School has benefited from Kyndryl’s support for the Accelerator programme over the past two years, demonstrating what whole-school impact looks like in practice:
- Year one: Skills Builder’s Education Associates, who are all former teachers, worked with the school’s leadership and staff to embed essential skills into the Year 7 curriculum.
- Year two: The programme expanded across the entire student body, and has led to curriculum innovations. This included some students becoming ‘Skills Champions’ who lead essential skills building activities.
The school has done such a great job of threading the essential skills throughout school life that they are on course for a Skills Builder Silver Award.
Reflecting on the impact of the programme, leadership at La Saine Union Catholic School shared just how deeply these essential skills are bridging the gap between education and the workplace:
"Skills Builder is embedding itself in the school and wider borough through our work with Camden STEAM. This enables students to apply the skills they're learning about in the workplace and wider community.”
The school also highlighted how this explicit focus on the Framework changes student mindsets and outcomes, noting that "all students see the value and impact of essential skills on their preparation for employment," and ultimately, "Skills Builder equips our students to enter a competitive job market.”
Mobilising Kyndryl volunteers
Another huge positive from the partnership has been the access it has given employees from across the UK and Ireland to high quality in-person and virtual volunteering.
Since the partnership was established, Kyndryl’s volunteers have provided over 3,500 young people with career insights and opportunities to develop their essential skills. This has also benefitted Kyndryl’s volunteers, with one reflecting:
“I found the experience incredibly rewarding. Giving even an hour of volunteer time can be energising and motivating, and it’s encouraging to know that Kyndryl not only supports but actively promotes this work.”
Next steps: Future proofing skills for the AI era
So, what’s next for Kyndryl’s Skills Builder partnership?
When we started working together in 2023, Open AI had launched ChatGPT to the public just a few months earlier, and we were yet to fully understand the implications of this technology for society or the workplace. Three years later, it is clear that AI will have a significant impact on the lives and job prospects of young people who are currently in the school system.
According to Skills Builder’s research, people with strong essential skills tend to be better at adopting AI tools. It’s my hope that Kyndryl’s future collaboration with Skills Builder Partnership will include outreach that helps the community to leverage their essential skills so that AI works for them.
