Learning and Development fact sheet

What is BAE Systems approach to Learning and Development (L&D)? 

Developing our people is core to our Group Company Strategy. We want to ensure that every employee at BAE Systems has the accessibility and opportunity to develop and grow, whether it is in a current role or plans to develop for a longer-term career path. Our performance as a Company is as good as the performance of our people, so it is critical that we are supporting and developing our people to be the best they can be. 
 
The four key areas that we focus on in developing our people can be recognised as Core, Leadership, Functional and Business Integrity Training. Every employee across our global organisation has a responsibility to be compliant and competent in each of these areas for the role, function, business and sector they represent. Various career frameworks available across our Functions show the opportunities to grow further in each of our key areas of development for career progression.
 
We believe that learning and development can take place through various opportunities. With this we apply the 70:20:10 framework in how we provide development opportunities. 10% of an employee’s development is provided through live sessions with facilitators or on-demand content through our partners such as LinkedIn Learning. 20% of development is continued through peer support such as coaching, mentoring and peer group networks. Finally 70% and the largest opportunity for development is seen through on-the-job experience with the appropriate support provided through stretch opportunities, job shadowing, secondments, etc. Combined across the 70:20:10 framework we see this as the most comprehensive approach in developing our people.
 
With what we offer in development opportunities, we seek to apply appropriate methods to conduct performance needs analysis to recognise our current state of performance compared to a future state. Following the performance gap discovered, we ensure the relevant learning and development solutions are designed, developed, implemented and evaluated to ensure we are closing performance gaps, and capturing a return of investment.

How do you know what the Company is doing with regard to learning and development is the right approach?

We are currently developing our new learning and development strategy from the ground up. This strategy is being shaped by comprehensive feedback from our people at all levels across the business, ensuring it will serve as a solid foundation for our future L&D initiatives. By placing our employees' input at the heart of our approach, we will be able to deliver learning experiences that truly meet their needs and aspirations. Furthermore, our new strategy will incorporate mechanisms for continuous evaluation and improvement, allowing us to adapt swiftly as our workforce, technology, and business environment evolve. This dynamic approach will enable us to stay responsive to changing requirements and ensure our L&D efforts remain effective and relevant in the long term, allowing us to know that we are always taking the right approach.

Do you have a dedicated team to manage learning and development?

We have a dedicated team managing learning and development through a hub and spoke model. The hub consists of our Learning Centre of Expertise (CoE), which includes UK and International L&D representatives. This central team develops our learning strategies, policies, and governance frameworks, and develops and looks after our digital learning resources to drive our L&D practices forward.
 
The CoE connects with L&D professionals throughout the organisation via the 'spokes' - dedicated L&D teams or organisation and talent development integrators embedded in various business units. This structure ensures centrally coordinated yet locally relevant L&D initiatives.
 
Our hub and spoke approach facilitates two-way development of the learning function. The hub disseminates best practices and overarching strategies, while the spokes provide insights into specific business needs and local challenges. This bi-directional flow of information allows us to continually refine our L&D offerings, ensuring we're developing our people effectively while maintaining consistency in our overall approach.

How do Managers support employee learning and development?

Our performance management framework ensures that our Managers and Leaders are connecting with their teams throughout the year to ensure their key business objectives are supported through relevant development plans. Development needs will be dependent on a number of factors, including – but not limited to – role, experience, strengths and development areas and, of course, the employee’s future aspirations and career goals.
 
Through engagement of performance, career and talent conversations we expect development plans to be created that will link to opportunities available to the employee internally or externally. Review of development activities will take place to ensure plans are on-track and capabilities are being developed ahead of opportunities.

How can employees develop themselves?

With a development plan established, employees have access to a large range of development opportunities that are available across BAE Systems. Through the framework of 70:20:10, development can take place through a variety of comprehensive development programmes that we offer which are specific to Function, Core and Leadership development. These live interventions can be bite-sized sessions or programmes that can span over a number of months or years. Within these programmes we strive to provide a blended approach to cover a variety of learning styles and needs of our employees. 

What is your talent management framework?

Our mission is to build a strong pipeline of diverse, adaptable, and inspirational talent through both technical and leadership pathways that will lead and grow our future business.
 
We believe that everyone has talent, and at the heart of our talent management approach our ambition is to be recognised as the leading employer in the defence and security sector for valuing inclusion. 
 
We engage and develop our employees throughout their career at the Company. Our annual talent review process responds to the strategic priorities of the business, leveraging enterprise-wide talent. Our annual process is reviewed by the CEO and the Board. 
 
Accelerated development will be offered to those who have the aspiration, ability, and performance to fulfil leadership and technical roles that are critical to our future success.

How do you encourage internal mobility?

There are endless opportunities to grow at BAE Systems, and we will build upon the breadth of our employees’ experience through supporting their movement across our organisation.
 
Our mission is to support our colleagues reach their full potential and so they’ll always find something new that will continue to inspire and provide an exciting and varied career that continues to play a crucial role in creating a secure tomorrow for generations to come.
 
Our dedicated Internal Mobility Team are our specialists, dedicated to helping our internal talent discover new career opportunities to develop and grow. The Internal Mobility Team support with executive roles that are exclusively open to our BAE Systems colleagues throughout the organisation. So if an employee is curious and open to new opportunities, they will help them to achieve their ambitions. The Internal Mobility Team maintain a presence on the BAE Systems intranet site, where our employees can go to seek new opportunities, join the Talent Community to register their interest in new opportunities, and to seek further guidance on how to apply for roles and how to discuss their aspirations with Line Managers.

How do you support the development of Leaders?

Our Leadership Management portfolio develops our leaders at all levels right from prospective line managers to enterprise-wide leaders this enables us to focus on key topics areas, such as leadership presence and impact, inclusion and psychological safety, digital leadership and AI and team effectiveness.
 
Through this, we develop leaders of tomorrow who will:

• Lead and inspire high performing teams and individuals;
• Drive the strategy and challenge the status quo, to deliver superior value and innovation for our customers;
• Lead with excellence, creating an inclusive and high-performance culture, in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment; and
• Identify new opportunities to rapidly grow our business, actively encouraging creative ways of working and enterprise collaboration.

 

How do you support lifelong learning?

In collaboration with our customers, we are planning for our future skills needs and providing our employees with opportunities for lifelong learning.
 
In 2024, we opened our Digital Skills Academy to all employees to develop employee digital skills at all levels from leaders to the shop floor. The Academy was created to enhance the digital capability of our workforce, supporting growth and innovation while equipping our people to thrive in a connected, competitive, data-rich digital world.
 
We have also invested £15.6m in an Academy for Skills & Knowledge to ensure our people have the skills ready to continue engineering and manufacturing the military aircraft of the future. Located alongside the advanced manufacturing hub in Samlesbury, Lancashire, UK, it will be home each year to nearly 200 apprentices in training recruited by our Air business.
 
The Academy is equipped with the latest technology, which replicates the equipment used in our manufacturing facilities and engineering labs, where world-leading combat aircraft including Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning II are produced.
 
This includes:

• A manufacturing Kuka robot cell identical to the one found in BAE Systems' advanced manufacturing line, producing parts for Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 jets;
• A virtual reality cave, used in a training environment for the first time, which allows our people to mimic any process from enhancing technology on a military jet to simulating building major infrastructure;
• 3D printers to teach skills in designing and rapid prototyping of parts, which is increasingly used in modern manufacturing;
• A carbon fibre cleanroom to help trainees understand the materials used in Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 Lightning II aircraft; and
• A full-size Hawk jet trainer to give workers the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the aircraft used by Air Forces across the world.

 

Our Submarines Academy for Skills & knowledge (SASK) is a £25m investment training academy built to develop world-class engineering skills required to design, build, and deliver complex submarine programmes to the Royal Navy. Featuring classrooms, workshops, a virtual reality suite and scale model sized submarine units. Located alongside the submarine manufacturing facilities in Barrow, Cumbria, UK, the SASK provides bespoke training to almost 9000 employees, including nearly 800 Submarines apprentices.
 
We opened a new £12m state-of-the-art Applied Shipbuilding Academy in Glasgow, UK, designed to support the training of apprentices and graduates in our Naval Ships business as well as provide learning and skills development activities for our wider workforce. 
 
The information contained in this fact sheet is for PLC managed businesses and is accurate as at the date of its publication.
 
Publication date: 28/02/25