Deb Ryan
Owner, Complete Kids
We are a family owned Childcare Centre that was about to open a second Centre when I fortunately saw Sarah Valentine present at a Women In Business seminar. She was an inspiring speaker and talked a lot about how different behaviours work with each other and how important communication and team work is. She also spoke about the company Vision & Mission Statement and how they are the core of any business. This is what got me thinking. What is our Mission Statement?
We constantly struggled with communication amongst our team of 60 staff, with messages not being passed on and expectations of leaders and job roles not clearly defined, as well as group dynamics within the work place and how to combat the “niggles” that occur. Sarah started working with our team prior to opening the new Centre in preparation for the growth.
Sarah firstly started working with our Management team to really explore our Company’s purpose and goals which enabled us to develop our Vision and Mission statement that incorporates all aspects of what we do. Sarah helped us present this to the staff team over a series of workshops, including Professional development about difficult conversations and the importance of our values within the workplace.
Sarah worked with our leaders to develop their skills around direction, conflict and team work in preparation for the growth of the new Centre and more staff. The staff have found Sarah to be truly inspirational. She motivates the staff to try harder and “Bring out their best – Our Mission Statement”
Sarah has continued working with the large staff team as well as smaller workshops with our Room leaders as well as one-on-ones with our Managers. Our team has grown to over 100 staff now and so the importance of good leadership /management is even more important to a successful company and culture. Sarah has had individuals set goals and seek solutions to problems they encounter. We have had all of our leaders’ Behavioural Profiles completed by Sarah which demonstrates the strengths of each person within the business which has helped build relationships within the team and strengthen the professional partnerships of all our leaders.
Sarah has been able to empower our leaders/managers to do their job well. She has encouraged us to look at the big picture and future plan by introducing an Emerging Leader mentoring program so that we have a succession plan when there is a change in leadership roles. The most inspiring and exciting thing about working with Sarah is that all of her advice can be related to your “whole” life, personal and work/business so any staff member, regardless of their position in the business gains knowledge and benefits.
I would highly recommend Sarah Valentine to any business. All businesses need good leadership and clear expectations and Sarah is an excellent presenter who works well with all personalities and behaviours. Sarah gives a very personalised service and demonstrates that she really cares about the company. Sarah started working with Complete Kids in October 2016 and we look forward to every visit which has been on a monthly basis. The staff are buzzing with excitement knowing Sarah is visiting and the moral is always very high after she has attended for the day.
