Smashing sales targets: how a culture of growth and development transformed Today Team

If you want to grow your business, you have to grow your people, too. Since picking up a CIPD Award for its people practices, Today Team exemplifies how developing the people you have can really drive measurable growth and profit.

Last year, People Director Jayne Chadwick helped Today Team build a strong senior management team and reinvigorate its company values to support the business’s ambitious plans for growth. The project made quite an impact; the business smashed its end of year targets and a newly galvanised management team enabled Managing Director Jamie Boyd to move out of the day-to-day operations and focus on developing the business.

The project’s impact also impressed the judges at the CIPD People Management Awards, who awarded People Puzzles and Today Team with its coveted ‘Best SME People Management Initiative’ accolade.

Twelve months on, the business has continued investing in its people to help them fulfil their potential – in line with one of its company values, ‘Ambitious and determined to grow’. The company has a dedicated bespoke training facility on site, and it’s being put to good use, as the following examples show.

Keen to develop young talent, Today Team took on ambitious young college leaver Jack Sherwood in early 2018. Jack’s made great progress with the business and was chosen as ‘Apprentice of the year’ at the Warrington & Vale Royal Colleges Further Education awards in June this year. After completing his Business Admin level 3 qualification, Jack’s now in operations and is now studying for a Traffic Office apprenticeship at Today Team which will not only enhance his CV, it will bring new skills into the business.

Other Today Team members are upgrading their management skills – with qualifications from the Institute of Leadership and Management. Ryan O’Leary, who joined the company in 2018 as a Logistics Coordinator, is currently studying for Level 3 Team Leader qualification, ‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to gain a nationally recognised qualification, paid for by the company,’ Ryan commented at the time.

Senior management team members are also developing their skills. Business and Finance Manager Dawn Bostock has just completed a level 5 CIPD award in Human Resource Management. Already a trained accountant, Dawn branched out into HR at Today Team, helped by Jayne Chadwick, and is now a qualified HR professional. Her new skills will continue to develop Today Team’s people systems and processes and build an internal team to support the businesses growth plans.

Jamie doesn’t just encourage his team to develop; he leads by example. He is a member of Vistage and has just finished a term as President of the Business Network International in Manchester – a group set up to help SME’s network and pass on referrals.

As well as professional development, Jamie also encourages a culture of personal development and giving back to the community. He’s delivered several talks at Princes Trust events and in schools and colleges to inspire the next generation. He’s also a non-exec director on the Warrington Disability Partnership board, and Today Team members of staff will be taking part in a charity parachute jump in aid of it in 2020.

This altruism is infectious among the company’s team also; each year, they give up a Saturday to get involved in the annual Christmas tree collection for another local charity.

‘Today Team is about growing talent and having a strong vision and values,’ says Jayne. ‘Jamie has shown that these things are not just nice to have, they have a clear correlation with successful finances.’

That’s certainly the case of late with an increase in bookings year on year and double digit growth last month, although it’s about more than numbers as Jamie tells us “It’s great to see the numbers all going the right way however the most pleasing outcome from the project that Jayne supported us with, is the team living our values, the project brought some much needed change to the company and I’m really confident we’ve now got the right team in place to move Today Team forward”

Although the project is now complete with Today Team, Jayne has helped create a long-term change of attitude in the business. ‘I’m really delighted that the values we set up have been embedded in the business’s everyday processes,’ she says.

Please do contact us if you would like to discuss any of these areas within your business, on 0808 164 5826

Jayne Chadwick, HR Director.