Best Companies | PebblePad Company Profile

PebblePad, an online platform that helps higher education tutors deliver student-centred learning, is on a mission to create products that inspire educators and innovators to design learning experiences that "help people to develop and share their unique talents and attributes for lifelong success".

The company, based in Telford, Shropshire, works with universities in Britain, Australia, America and Canada. It was started in 2002 in a makeshift office above the garage of its founder, Shane Sutherland, who is still chief executive of PebblePad. He was driven by the vision that student-centred and experiential learning would be the future of higher education.

The platform was created to replicate the cosy chat between a student and tutor universities with large student bodies find it difficult to provide. The opportunity to reflect on key discoveries and personal development is built in to the learning method. Sutherland founded his business on the principle that learning in this way would be the preferred route for students of the future.

A commitment to student wellbeing and creating future-ready graduates still permeates everything PebblePad does and, it says, this ethos is what makes PebblePad a great place to work. The company offers apprenticeships, staff take time out to reflect on their own work and value is placed on continual learning and feedback.

My Team

90% of staff agreed

My team is fun to work with

Team building days are conducted periodically. A team gets together in the office to spend time with each other, review their workloads and discuss next steps. The days include a team lunch and provide the chance to learn together and boost team spirit.

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My Manager

92% of staff agreed

My manager cares about how satisfied I am in my job

As part of a move by to improve organisational clarity, new staff are given a buddy. The buddy provides discreet, non-judgemental pastoral support and helps them to acclimatise to the new environment. For the rest of the team, quarterly "all-hands-on" reviews bring the opportunity for senior leaders and team members to ask questions.

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Wellbeing

86% of staff agreed

I am happy with the balance between my work and home life

PebblePad has a wellness policy offering two days per year for employees to focus on self-care. There is also a 'Wellbeing Workgroup', a team of volunteers from across the business who raise and discuss wellbeing initiatives, including mental health first aiders at work, a wellness policy and raising awareness of World Mental Health Day.

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My Team

90% of staff agreed

My team is fun to work with

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My Team

Best Practice

My Manager

92% of staff agreed

My manager cares about how satisfied I am in my job

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My Manager

Best Practice

My Team

90% of staff agreed

My team is fun to work with

See and search more examples of

My Team

Best Practice

Quote from the top...

PebblePad emerged in response to two things that worried me back in 2004. The first was that edtech was firmly rooted in delivering content and much less concerned with learners and their learning experiences; the second was that edtech largely disenfranchised individual educators. And so we set out to develop a learning platform that helped educators help their learners to plan for, make sense of, and make connections between their diverse learning experiences. Today, as more and more institutions align with our vision for student success, I am incredibly proud of the platform and the culture we've created.

Shane Sutherland, Founder & CEO

Development

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Private Healthcare

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Women in Senior Management

At least 40% of senior managers are women.

Pensions

Companies offering a final salary scheme to all employees, or one in which the employer's contribution is at least 5%.

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