About AJ Bell

AJ Bell is one of the largest providers of low-cost, online, investment platforms and stockbroker services in the UK, with assets exceeding £52.3 billion and more than 232,000 customers. Founded in 1995, it’s one of the fastest-growing businesses in its sector. Located right by Salford Quays, their head office has a gym, training and seminar suite, e-learning zone, dining area, amphitheatre, lounge and rooftop terrace. They also have a stunning office in London, which is home to their specialist financial publishing business.

A combination of the friendly atmosphere, the rewards, excellent development opportunities and the potential for a varied, challenging career all help to retain employees at AJ Bell. Committed to helping employees develop and excel in a career with them, they support training and development from day one, with most of their client services managers and team leaders joining them as administrators, progressing through hard work and determination.

They pride themselves on the fact that they deliver excellent service for their customers and they continue to win prestigious industry awards across their products and platforms year after year. They are also big believers in giving something back to their local communities, providing their people with opportunities to take part in volunteering and charity fundraising events, organised through the active social committee.

What is it like to work for AJ Bell

My Manager

89% of staff agreed:

I feel that my manager talks openly and honestly with me

The Talent Development Programme for Managers utilises the apprenticeship Levy and is a 2 year programme. The qualifications include a Level 5 qualification with the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) and a Level 5 apprenticeship in Management. The Programme covers modules in: Personal Effectiveness, Interpersonal Excellence and Organisational Performance and is a mix of classroom learning, 1 to 1 coaching and on and off the job development.

Those already in role or those having completed the Programme are supported by; internal mentors, on-going coaching, annual Managers’ Day and a library of “referesher” courses, labelled “Masterclasses” replicating the some of the content from the programme. These include: motivation and engagement, coaching, difficult conversations and performance reviews. These are designed to be “off the shelf” and can be repeated as often as is felt necessary to refresh or to revisit best practices.

89% of staff agreed:

I feel that my manager talks openly and honestly with me

Wellbeing

84% of staff disagreed:

My health is suffering because of my work

In addition to their AJ Bell Gym they have a range of activities and initiatives to promote and encourage the health and wellbeing of their staff. They know how important the office environment is – providing a modern, vibrant energetic open plan workplace is at the heart of offices. They also encourage all staff to take one hour for their lunch and to not eat at their desk. AJ Bell is committed to offering all staff a good work–life balance by ensuring that they can benefit from their holiday entitlement in a way that best suits them. In addition to the option of being able to ‘sell’ additional holiday days, staff also have the opportunity to ‘buy’ additional holiday days. They have increased the number of Mental Health First Aiders from two to eighteen to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for their staff to have someone to be able to talk to with their mental wellbeing.

In the last month they have also launched their new Employee Assistance Programme to strengthen that support for their staff in both their work and home life. This year they have run a number of internal workshops focusing first on stress in the workplace offering a couple of coping strategies and then a half day workshop on mental health in the workplace. This session is aimed to help broaden knowledge on mental health, to break down the stigma and signpost the appropriate actions if they spot someone struggling.

84% of staff disagreed:

My health is suffering because of my work

My Team

93% of staff agreed:

My team is fun to work with

This year they launched their first Community of Practice (CoP) workshops. The hour long breakfast workshops are made up of staff from across the business who come together to discuss ideas and drive forward the notion of design thinking, applying this to problems and coming up with solutions. The first CoP looked at how to the improve the intranet from a UX (User Experience) angle, the principle being that they're all qualified to put on a user hat and think about things from a slightly different angle. They held several workshops and it was really encouraging to see staff from across the business taking part. Moreover, the output from the workshops influenced the build of their new intranet platform, ensuring it was closely aligned to staff feedback. Following this success further workshops have been held by their Agile Release Team to help staff understand and provide feedback on how they develop and deliver their software, and the impact this has on the business.

93% of staff agreed:

My team is fun to work with

Learn more about the 8 factors of workplace engagement here

Benefits:

Gym

Companies offering either free gym/ sports facilities or subsidised gym membership for all employees
Maternity

At least 10 weeks’ full pay or generous alternative
Development

Companies that provide support for non-work related training to all staff