1 Training
My most important role is ‘looking after the flowers’; treating the team like you would look after your own garden. Each flower or plant needs looking after in a different way for it to develop and grow.
The key thing is finding out what drives the individual team member. What is it that makes them passionate to ensure they are getting the right development? You also need to maintain your team and keep nourishing it.
2 Development
One thing I love about Specsavers is that the opportunities are phenomenal. I know this from my own career journey. I started as an optical assistant with no qualifications.
I thought it would be a job, but it has become so much more. After following some clinical opportunities, I realised that I enjoy being with customers and my team. I’ve recently completed the Specsavers Pathway programme, so have an opportunity to become a practice partner myself.
There are possibilities to go international too, which is hopefully my next step. I’m looking at Canada. It’s why I love being able to say to colleagues that there is so much potential for you to develop in whichever direction you decide to go in, and support them in their journey.
3 Delegation
I think it’s hugely important to use colleague feedback. I will listen to their ideas and I’m not scared to try them. I have the confidence to delegate to team members because of mutual trust. I trust them to do their job and they trust me to be able to say: ‘Do you know what, we’ve got a great idea for this.’
I think it’s hugely important to allow colleagues to feel that they’re trusted in their role, that they’re part of a team and that we are all working for a team vision.
4 Motivation
It has been incredible to see team morale and resilience through the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been hugely motivating that we’re all back up and running and supporting our community. Change is one of the things that is guaranteed in life. It’s not to be feared, it’s about how we embrace it.
We’re trying to channel that resilience to embrace positive changes. We have a football league-style competition in our practice, which arose from a colleague’s idea, that uses responses from customer feedback.
Every piece of positive customer feedback is a goal scored for that specific team. Everyone has got on board with it, coming up with their own ideas on what we can do with it and they love it.
5 Rewards
We recognise our colleagues in several ways. In addition to operating a bonus scheme, we have an appreciation wall in our office area, where colleagues can pop their shout-out notes so we can all read them. This could be for a colleague who has provided some amazing customer service, for example.
At the end of the week, we recognise our ‘colleague of the week’ by giving them a voucher. We each get to nominate a ‘colleague of the month’ as well. The winner gets a voucher and a lovely card with an explanation of why they are getting this reward. We applaud anybody who has done something exceptional.
6 Safe spaces
We are passionate about our personal development plans and one-to-one sessions. It’s a safe space for people to talk about their wellbeing as well as their professional goals. We have ‘Feel good Friday’ sessions. We’ll talk about something this week that’s made us all feel grateful, something that we’ve learned, and something positive to look forward to next week. Everyone feels they are in a safe space in this environment.
7 Idea sharing
I have fantastic practice partners who have an open-door policy and are always ready to listen if I ever need to talk about something. I offer the same for my colleagues. They can speak to me whenever they need to and can be confident that I will listen. This is something that I hope to carry on when I become a practice partner.
