Keeping all the plates spinning at once

12 June 2002 by
Keeping all the plates spinning at once

What a surprise! The other day I received an invitation to the Cateys ceremony. I can't wait to dust down my posh dress. Invites like this don't come along every day, and it certainly gave me something to think about while travelling around Devon and Cornwall visiting the outposts of my far-flung district.

Working with a police force means you are never quite sure what is going to happen next. There are many external factors, such as major incidents, which have an effect on the services we provide and we therefore have to be very flexible.

Over the last couple of years we have demonstrated to the client the benefits of multiskilling for the various services we provide. This could be one of the food service assistants providing an extra pair of hands on reception or our security personnel helping out in the mailroom. The success of this approach played an important role in the retention of the contract, and was a big plus point which resulted in an extension to the services we provide.

We have been able to extend the range of skills even more now that we are providing more facility management services, and it is not just a benefit to the client, since our staff have benefited as well. The additional services enable them to earn more money as well as acquire new skills, which makes their working life more varied and interesting.

A reflection of the work we are doing was demonstrated when we had a visit from another police force for which Sodexho had tendered a cleaning contract. The visit turned out to be very interesting; we looked at the similarities between the 100 police stations in Devon & Cornwall, where we currently provide all the cleaning, and the 55 we are tendering for.

During the visit I took the guests to some of the police stations within the contract. This gave them more of an insight into the quality of service we offer as well as providing them with the opportunity to speak with our front-line staff. Now we just have to wait and see whether the tender is a success.

With so much happening at the moment, what with budgets, contract mobilisation and new company initiatives, to name but a few, I sometimes feel it is difficult to keep all the plates spinning at once.

But rising to all these challenges is what makes my job interesting, and it is at busy times like these that I am grateful that I have a strong team around me.

Our new chief executive, Mark Shipman, has been with us now for over a month and is already starting to make an impact. I received a letter from him soon after he joined, in which he introduced himself, and confirmed that he saw a bright and promising future for the company. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to meet him in the coming months.

Sara Carless is Sodexho's district manager for the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary

Next diary from Sara Carless: 25 July

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