So the Christmas joy and mayhem is over and we have a fresh year to enjoy with the infamous new year resolutions……. Mmmm, I love a list like anyone but I do find them a bit daunting. More so because the one muscle I need the most for these – will power, is unfortunately the one I don’t have at all!

I looked up the history of new year resolutions. I was surprised to find this event started in Roman times. January is named after Janus, the two-faced god who looks backward to the old year and forwards into the new. At bartlett mitchell we have lots of great things to reflect on and we are excited about this year.

Personally I have the normal goals – eat less (in my dreams!). Exercise more (oh yeah!) and the one I will have to stick to is to get better at Spanish. I am okay at speaking basic Spanish, but I am making a big effort because in January I am going to Nicaragua with Lin, (bartlett mitchell’s marketing director). We are going to visit our Perkee coffee growers. They don’t really speak any English so I’m on a ‘must get better’ deadline.

bartlett mitchell loves a challenge and 2018 is going to be no different. Brexit, an unsettled economy and changing contract catering market, means more turbulence. Last year there were big changes for clients and the catering industry, but for us an unsettled market means more opportunities to grab.

So what are our New Year resolutions?

Twice a year the whole senior team get together to discuss;

• What’s important to them?
• What will have the biggest impact on our team?
• What will deliver the biggest benefit to our clients?

And as a consequence we focus on making bartlett mitchell a great place to work for everyone.

Here are our 2018 objectives

• Ensure retention of clients and teams through strong relationships that recognise individual’s needs
• Make sure training is meaningful and impactful. It’s important training touches all levels and makes an impression. The only way to do that is to engage our team members from the start. Our Essence training focuses on thinking about others and paying attention to the small details. We will refresh this brilliant training initiative, because everyone has now completed the foundation course.
• Communicating and training through on-line, apps and social media. There isn’t one magic catch-all solution. Our tools will deliver consistent messages which convey the opportunities available at bartlett mitchell.
• Think K.I.S.S – less is more. Have the right tools for the job. Make sure our team have better tools to work with that are more intuitive to use and less administrative. The quantity of admin to ensure due diligence and maintain an audit trail is mind boggling. We think K.I.S.S. (Keep It short and simple). We want to improve the input and output for the team and clients in 2018.
• We are making sure it’s a very easy process from field to fork. We are focused on our recipe costing, nutrition and information details. This ensures they are easy to get and support the flow of innovation and passion for our food.
• The bartlett mitchell fundamentals are established in daily life. These are the basic simple rules, as a bartlett mitchell family, we follow. They make sure we all understand the framework and expectations that deliver great food and service.
• Everyone is living our FOODIES values. Making sure from the bottom (board level) to the top (the most important front line team) we all live and breathe our FOODIES values. We will use every opportunity to recognise great behaviour and make sure we thank and reward our amazing teams.

So bring on 2018 and let’s get started! Happy New Year

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