Head of Service Management Review

My role is very varied. I work as part of a leadership team in the finance shared service centre, with responsibility for monitoring and improving our service levels to internal customers. This involves continuous improvement activity and project management with all of our transactional teams, and working with many functions around the business.

I have learned many new skills, in the area of process improvement tools. We have focused on lean process improvement and six sigma data analysis. I had some experience in both of these areas, but the chance to put together the tools in a real project, and to refresh some old experience has been very useful.

I have enjoyed the theoretical elements of learning new tools, and hearing about the history behind the development of them in real world scenarios over the years. I have also enjoyed having time to put them into practice in a linked sequence with a project in my workplace. Doing sessions online has not been as good as in person, but has enabled us to continue during the pandemic.

Very well organised I would say. The theory sessions are set out on a timetable which enables step-by-step learning with a chance to put the learning into practice between sessions. The materials and templates that we are given are of a high standard and have been useful in various other contexts already.

I am supported to the extent that they recognise the value of the work I am performing on the project, and have agreed to be a project sponsor. In addition they have shared their experience to help me with some decisions. It has been up to myself to organise my time to meet the 20% criteria.

I receive a high level of support. This includes the monthly full-day training sessions, and also fortnightly one to one coaching sessions done on Microsoft Teams. This enables me to ask questions and get support which is focussed on my specific project and specific challenges. I can also contact my trainer by email where needed.

I have already been able to put into practice some of the things I have learned. For example, some of the tools we use in the 'define', 'measure' and 'analyse' phases of the project. In addition I have been able to coach colleagues in the use of some of these tools.

Not really. Occasionally we have a social event, but during lockdown these have understanably been suspended. We have charity fund raising activities from time to time, for example walking ten thousand steps per day for a whole month. In addition I participate in professional networking through a forum which I am part of.

Yes

I think that Premier Foods has a culture which is supportive of a good work life balance. There is a desire to grow, innovate and improve which is an environment that I like to work in. However, working hours, practices and expectations are reasonable, and we have the tools required to do our roles well.

There are many different roles available which may not be the kind of thing you immediately consider are opportunities in a food manufacturer. I would recommend looking at the company website to see profiles of some of the people and roles to get ideas of things which might be a bit of a surprise.