Developing future leaders is essential to delivering IMI’s strategy. Our Future Leaders early careers programme is a core part of how we build the capabilities our strategy demands and enables us to build a talent pipeline that understands global markets, can work across cultures and is well-placed to drive innovation and growth for our business and customers.
Roy Twite, our current Chief Executive Officer, began his career as a graduate on our Future Leaders Programme. This is no coincidence and shows a deliberate outcome following decades of investment in building leadership from within.
In this article, we speak to Claire Kennady, Head of Learning & Development, Jitka Robenkova, programme alumna and current Data Analyst and Nicholas Kruempelmann, a current participant in the programme, to find out more about the programme and the impact it has on our business.
"Our people will grow the business. We have significantly grown our investment in talent development over the last few years, from programmes to the technology that gets learning to people. It is an investment in our strategy."
Building intentional career pathways
At IMI, we operate across 50+ countries in highly specialised markets. Our competitive advantage comes from deep applications engineering expertise, understanding customer problems and designing bespoke solutions. The Future Leaders Programme is structured to build this capability systematically, with three twelve-month rotations across different sectors and geographies giving graduates a breadth of exposure and experience beyond most engineering roles.
"We have mapped the most critical roles in the business, where succession is crucial," Claire explains. "We know that site leadership, regional managing directors and sales directors are some of our most important roles for growth. This programme is designed to give participants the skills and experience they need to springboard into those career pathways."
In practice, this means graduates quickly gain exposure to project management, financial frameworks, operations and customer-facing roles. The structure is intentional: the programme aims to create leaders who can lead market-led innovation and execute with accountability.
Business impact in practice
Nicholas Kruempelmann, a current participant, demonstrates how this translates into real business impact. During his research and development placement, Nicholas has been visiting customers to understand their technical challenges. "Currently I am in research and development, which you’d expect to be very technical and very engineering focused. But I have got closer to customers and met them personally in this role – I wouldn’t have expected that."
This customer-centric approach has led to tangible outcomes. Nicholas recently joined a team implementing AI initiatives in our German operations. “We are currently identifying existing processes in the business that can be automated with AI. We are all pitching ideas, which are then evaluated before we execute the best ideas”, he explains. We want graduates to drive innovation and business impact from day one.
Global mobility as a differentiator
Global mobility is an important part of what makes the programme so impactful. "International mobility was the biggest draw for me,” explains Nicholas, “It wasn’t just the chance to work abroad, it aligned with my own international background. Growing up with dual U.S. and German citizenship and studying in the UK, I’ve always been drawn to environments where different cultures and perspectives come together. Being able to continue that journey within the programme made it especially exciting”
Mobility serves a strategic purpose. Our growth depends on cross-sector innovation: taking solutions from one sector and adapting them for another. Graduates who have worked in Process Automation and Climate Control can spot these opportunities. Those who have worked in Germany and the US understand how customer needs differ by market.
Claire emphasises the development impact, "So much resilience develops because you are integrating professionally into a new team. You might be somewhere where English is not the native language. And then personally, living somewhere you have never lived before? All of those things develop resilience."
Graduates who have navigated cultural differences, built networks across geographies and delivered results in unfamiliar environments are better equipped to drive our global growth strategy.
Career mobility beyond the programme
At IMI, career mobility goes beyond the Future Leaders Programme. Jitka Robenkova graduated from the programme in 2021. After starting in Industrial Automation, Jitka was able to move sector to Process Automation, then sales and data analysis, ultimately becoming Product Manager for Data and AI.
“I had an idea about what is the next step that I would like to take and I was proactive - IMI always supported me", Jitka highlights.
Jitka adds that the programme builds long term capability through mobility, “Being part of the graduate programme means I have worked with colleagues across regions and sectors. I am able to apply my knowledge of Industrial Automation, Process Automation, and sales to my role in data and AI. This is a big advantage.”
As we focus on data-enabled aftermarket growth and AI-enabled customer solutions, Jitka's ability to identify opportunities across sectors and mobilise expertise across geographies directly supports this strategic imperative.
Building a performance culture
Our culture also encourages graduates to challenge assumptions and test new ideas, essential in an engineering environment where innovation comes from questioning established approaches.
Nicholas has experienced this on the programme, "Having a growth mindset and putting yourself out there into challenging and unfamiliar situations is something that IMI appreciates."
Claire connects this to our broader performance culture. “What we focus on is creating the right conditions in teams for high performance. That starts with creating trust among teams. That is not being nice to each other all the time, it is having open conversations, healthy debate and robust discussions and ideas. People need to fail and experiment."
"We encourage leaders to focus on the human aspects of leadership and connecting as humans, including being vulnerable with their teams, to build trust.”
Measurable business outcomes
Our commitment to development is reflected throughout our talent offering and delivers measurable results. We believe that supporting our people to continually learn directly drives our delivery for customers and, through that, our business performance.
The Future Leaders Programme sits at the heart of this talent strategy and sets our graduates up for a career at IMI propelled by continual learning. It builds the cross-sector, customer-centric capabilities our One IMI operating model demands.
Find out how to apply for our Future Leaders Programme here
