Singing caterers and celebrity employees

WE KNEW something was going on at one of our contracts. The gents' changing room is next to the catering office and we could hear some pretty strange noises coming from it!

Thankfully Robert, one of our trusty catering assistants, confessed all and asked for our help. He explained that he was training to be an opera singer and wanted to put on a performance for his customers. An Evening of Opera and Song was then put into action.

More than 70 guests attended and listened to Frederico's Lament for l'Arlesiana and the duet from Act III of La Traviata. All funds raised were donated to the Children's Trust, a charity for children with disabilities. In all it was quite an evening and one that made me feel very proud and very inadequate.

I got another surprise later on this month. I thought I had misheard Caroline Fry, operations manager, when she informed me that she had a 7.30am appointment at a house in the woods close to the office, to pick up two bodies.

As it turned out, they weren't real but two tailor's mannequins that we needed to model some proposed uniforms for a new contract opening next month.

on display

The client was holding an exhibition of the proposed new services and the catering department took a stand. Every aspect of the new catering services was on display and it was a good forum for discussion with our potential customers.

Last week the company had its mock assessment for Investors in People. Our portfolio of evidence was examined at length. Additionally a number of staff were selected at random to talk openly with the assessor about their jobs and their future development. We seemed to do OK, with just a few areas needing fine tuning.

in training

One of our regular unit managers' meetings was held this month and the opportunity was taken to hold a training session with an external company. Charlton House recognises that the transition from a small- to medium-sized company must be managed and not left to chance.

Dale Carnegie Training put together a very comprehensive team development workshop and covered a host of topics including self-development and attitudes towards objectives and commitment to future goals. The event was quite heavy going but very worth while.

Rather than the usual introductions, the session warmed up with getting-to-know-each-other exercises using word associations with surnames. Everything went well until we got to two of our team members: Richard Letch and Vanessa Redgrave! n

Next diary from Robyn Jones is on 12 September