Our Young Leaders project was recognised as ‘best private sector talent development programme’ at the 2020 Learning Awards. The organisation placed a premium on democratisation when choosing the candidates who would participate, as they were nominated by their own colleagues, and on the level of involvement of senior management, in light of the sponsorship of Ana Botín, our Group executive chairman.

The twenty-fourth edition of the Learning Awards, which recognise the most noteworthy achievements in the areas of learning and development in organisations and which are led by the Learning and Performance Institute, took place in London in February. Santander participated in this event as a finalist in the categories of Internal Learning Solution of the Year, received the bronze award for Learning Team of the Year (Media Zoo & Santander UK) and the gold award in Digital Learning Transformation (Santander Spain), and was named the People Development Programme of the Year (Private Sector) with the Young Leaders programme. 

José Maria Palomo, global talent manager, was present to receive the award, along with representatives of Young Leaders and members of the global knowledge, development and talent team, as well as Santander UK and SCF Poland’s HR teams. “The success of this programme lies in the involvement of senior management, in the collaboration with the countries and, in particular, in Young Leaders, who stand out for their commitment, vision and desire to help make Santander the bank of the future," says Palomo.
 

An innovative and influential programme

Young Leaders is a Santander initiative aimed at educating young people at the Group and providing them with the knowledge and techniques they need to develop professionally. 

This programme, involving 280 employees from around the world and lasting 18 months, was launched in 2018. During their training, the young talents contribute to the development of our strategy as a bank and design their own training programme. They also take part in a business competition in which teams of 20 develop products, services and strategies that Santander could implement.

This award motivates us and drives us to continue investing more time and effort in young talents, who are a key part of the future of our company.