Artfarm (The Fife Arms)
Embedding an open feedback culture and re-discovering company values
Background
Artfarm is an independent hospitality and development company with a hotel in the Highlands of Scotland, The Fife Arms, along with restaurants in Somerset, LA, and London. Each of their establishments offers a unique blend of art, community, education, people and place.
Artfarm’s HR Director, Natalie Tait, invited Sally to support the organisation with customer service and values development.
Brief
Artfarm asked for a bespoke training programme to bring hotel management, leaders and employees together to work as one team. Since the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent hospitality regulations, team confidence was low.
Across the wider group, extensive recruitment and growth through acquisition had diluted the company’s values. The company’ wanted to rediscover their reason for being and improve the relationship between head office and hotel staff.
Solution
Having carefully listened to the aims and objectives of the business, Sally developed a bespoke leadership development session for Heads of Department and Managers at the Fife Arms Hotel. Based on the Exceptional Service Makes Sense programme, she delivered the training on site at the Fife Arms Hotel over two days, assisted by one of her trusted associates.
The aim of the training was to develop open lines of communication between management and staff, and create a mutually respectful feedback culture. A tailored Values Workshop to help the team find focus and redefine their ways of working was a natural follow-on from the leadership programme. Sally went on to deliver a Train the Trainer session for five leaders who rolled out values training to upwards of 100 people across the organisation.
Outcomes
The service development programme has:
Embedded an open speak-up culture across the organisation
Empowered employees to find solutions to problems
Encouraged managers to be more open to ideas
Improved relations between head office and location teams
Improved teamwork
Stabilised staff retention
Led to the implementation of a staff appraisal system to encourage feedback and open communication
The values workshop:
Teased out barriers to bringing the values to life
Uncovered differences between employee perception and reality
Encouraged group discussion to understand issues and explore solutions
Has become an integral part of Artfarm’s company induction programme
Sally continues to work with Artfarm’s Learning & Development Manager to develop ongoing training solutions.
Client testimonial
We’ve evolved so much since that first training session. We’re now more aware of our company values and the importance of living them every day, and the whole team is more confident in delivering an exceptional guest experience.
Sally is forward-looking, honest and determined to deliver. She’s also a realist with a business focus. She listens to understand what you want to achieve and designs the training to suit your organisation, always keeping in mind impact on reputation and your bottom line.
The training really gets people thinking. The process is straightforward and she uses such impactful tools and finds creative ways to tackle problems, checking understanding as she goes.
The way Sally used art to embed our values was genius. It made it accessible for everyone and made us think very creatively about what drives us as an organisation.
Genuinely one of the nicest people on the planet, Sally’s enthusiasm is so infectious it’s off the scale. I challenge anyone not to get hooked in one of her training sessions!
Trust in the process. Sally knows exactly what she’s doing. You can trust her to deliver something brilliant.
Natalie Tait, HR Director, Artfarm