Corner Bakery's success driven by training
Corner Bakery franchisees and staff undergo extensive and comprehensive training, on an ongoing basis, in order to be well-equipped to run a successful business, explains Wayne Duncan, director and chairman of Retsol Stores, the franchise management and investment company that owns Corner Bakery. The management training demonstrates a practical step-by-step approach of how to run a profitable bakery.
Alan Hockey
"The company understands the sacrifice required for a business owner and his staff to be out of production for a number of days while attending training. Therefore, we have put time and resources into designing a meaningful and practical training curriculum that delivers maximum impact," he comments.
Executive trainer, Alan Hockey, has a unique blend of talents and experience that have positioned him as a top trainer in the industry. He has corporate and call centre experience, owned a bakery, is an executive trainer and a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
He comments, "Owning a bakery provided me with firsthand knowledge and appreciation of the complexity of the processes and the challenges involved in running a bakery and managing the people. My insights into the industry allow me to give all of the participants on my courses a different perspective on bakery management, based on my own experience, I have developed a training method that takes the complexity (but not the hard work) out of owning a bakery.
"Running a bakery is not simple. There is continuous movement of stock, products and people, which can result in the untrained eye making costly errors and oversights. These errors can have lasting adverse affects on both profitability and customers. In our management training, we focus on getting the franchisee and his team organised so that everyone in the bakery understands the detail behind the role they need to play."
"Participants leave this training with a very clear understanding of how to handle complex processes and how to monitor and control stock, staff and turnover. The same Standard Operating Model that is used in training is a tool that will be used time and time again in the bakery to ensure adherence to best practice. Even the most experienced bakery owner will benefit from the training. Ultimately, the training programmes will ensure that customers experience a quality product consistent with the brand anywhere in South Africa," he concludes.
