CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

By Ron Browne

‘Building respect with better communication through uniform messaging, has created much better buy-in from staff and led to dramatically improved performance’
Greg Field, General Manager

The Fraternity Club (“The Frat” as it is known) at Fairy Meadow NSW has been trading as a community club since 1953 and for the past year has sought to move from a good club to an outstanding club.

Over a 9 month period, Sam Ekinci, Allied Risk Solutions has delivered the Allied Duty Manager Training Program to the leadership team at The Frat, focusing on enhancing organizational and management performance and benchmarking excellence in operations, communications and compliance.

The program delivers on three ‘C’s – Content, Context and Competence.

Content – the core content on which the training was based includes:

  • Leadership was defined and instilled into the Frat leadership team with both coaching and mentoring
  • Risk was identified in all its forms, analysed then a management plan was agreed and implemented by the team
  • Compliance to all legislation, policies and procedures was explained and the leaders learned that a systemised structure should be developed for ease of implementation
  • Recording and reporting standard operations, through an organised documentation and communication process, was reinforced to create a sound audit trail
  • Practical solutions were developed within the group to ensure operational efficiencies across all areas of the club

‘When synergy of values joins with management mentoring individuals to a uniform standard of reporting, the organisation grows to the next level with contagious improvement”
Tony Rodrigues, Operations and Gaming Manager

Context – anyone can deliver training, but it is most effective when contextualized to your venue and circumstances:

  • Allied tailored the program to The Frat club and its specific needs, for both individual staff and corporate objectives
  • Consistency of delivery and education that is outcome focused was provided, with training conducted every quarter
  • Regular Review and Audit visits were undertaken (every fortnight or week as per The Frat requirements) to monitor and adjust the program to ensure all agreed KPIs were being achieved
  • Mentoring individuals to understand their own personality traits, their colleagues and their customers created better interactions, defusing conflict in any area
  • Reinforcing learning through repetition created empowering new behaviours that built a new culture of service excellence

‘The program has improved communication engagement within the management team from 4/10 to 10/10. This has created a united front where we understand each other better and have improved on strengths and support any weaknesses in our management’
Cassandra Bull, Duty Manager

Competence – the desired outcome of any training is improved competence of individuals and the team collectively, which was delivered by Allied through:

  • Communication was key – better communications now between leaders, staff and ultimately patrons has defused conflict, improved relationships and enhanced the customer experience
  • Greatly improved teamwork, developed through better managed diversity, problem solving, empowering each other and working collaboratively, has driven everyone to the next level of performance
  • Leadership now inspires the team, shares the vision and the load, and focuses on mentoring others which has created a truly cohesive ‘family’ environment
  • Effective Risk Management was also crucial to allowing delivery of new projects, generating growth and development of the club and its internal stakeholders
  • Delivery to KPIs was an important focus to achieve corporate outcomes and Allied’s program enhanced the leadership and staff’s desire to work towards the achievement of all targets
  • Customer service excellence was the ultimate outcome of the cumulative synergy created by the increased skills and higher level delivery of the team

‘It was really in-depth training, often one on one and definitely created better documentation for improved records’
Frank Stanizzo, Senior Duty Manager

‘We learnt so much about staff personality, which has led to better relationships and me improving a lot as a manager’
Francesco Schisano, Floor Manager

‘I’ve waited 10 years to get this set of different tools to use, which has made a big difference to my management style. Existing staff engagement has gone from 3/10 to 9/10 over the 10 months training with Sam’
Steve Murdzevski, Duty Manager

The Frat has enjoyed a dramatic improvement in team performance and corporate results, through working with Sam and Allied Risk Solutions.
If you would like to create the same transformation in your organisation, your next step is to arrange an obligation free discussion with Allied Risk Solutions (02) 9635 0477 or info@alliedtraining.com.au