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Eve’s Story

Eve has worked for a contract catering company for over 3 years. As an experienced and talented Chef Manager, she has steadily progressed within the company taking on increased levels of responsibility in accordance with her continually improving skill set. Eve already had experience of managing a team but lacked confidence in leading. So when she was given a challenging new position within the company, whilst delighted with the offer of the new opportunity, Eve understandably had reservations about managing a new team.

A progressive, training-orientated company, this established contract catering business arranged for Eat the Elephant to deliver a Team Leadership Skills programme and they invited Eve to attend. The programme was exclusively designed by Eat the Elephant for the company. It focussed on imparting their knowledge in 5 key areas of leadership:

1. Being ‘in charge’
2. The consequences of being a team leader
3. Motivating and managing performance
4. Coaching people at work
5. Dealing with difficult situations

As Eve explains, her confidence in managing her team has improved considerably since attending the programme:

“I had previously found team management challenging due to inheriting a team under difficult circumstances. As a result I had lost confidence in my ability to be a leader.”

“My confidence has been boosted considerably and that has impacted the team that I manage. I am a stronger manager now but I also have a better bond with my team and that has resulted in a positive impact on our levels of customer service. The new skills that I’ve learnt haven’t just been left in my notebook either, instead I find myself adopting the techniques every single day. That’s testimony to Tracey at Eat the Elephant who delivered the programme and it clearly demonstrates that the training methods used in the programme really do work.”

Eve’s line manger has also noticed a significant difference, he explains:

“Prior to attending the Leadership programme Eve was a talented Chef Manager, all she lacked was a little confidence in her ability to manage. I’ve noticed a definite improvement in her management style since she completed this training. She has real confidence in her ability now and manages her team much more effectively. She is more efficient and better organised than before which is resulting in a more proactive approach both individually and within her team.

What’s also interesting is that Eve is considerably more motivated and willing to take on new challenges. Again this is attributed to her increased confidence. I’ve also noticed that our service levels have improved which is of considerable benefit to our company.

Personally it’s very rewarding to see your team members develop into efficient leaders and overcome any necessary obstacles and I will be encouraging Eve to continue to develop her career by managing larger teams within the business as the need arises. As a company the benefits to us are considerable; we develop highly skilled, motivated staff and in turn that can only have a positive impact on revenue.”

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