Yapping with...Wendy Bartlett, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Bartlett Mitchell
“Culture needs to be walked and talked every day”
This week in the Yapping with series, we’ve caught up with Wendy Bartlett, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of contract catering company Bartlett Mitchell. Set up by Wendy and her business partner Ian back in 2000, they now employ more than 1000 people across 100 sites in London and the South East.
Wendy has an impressive 37-year career in contract catering. She sits on the board of the UKHospitality, and has been voted one of the Top 100 Women in Hospitality. In 2015, she even received an MBE for her services to the industry in the Queen’s New Years’ Honours List, and it’s no surprise.
Bartlett Mitchell’s fresh approach to food and drink has resulted in them being the first contract caterers to achieve the Sustainable Restaurant Association Three Star Champion Status, and to be included in the ‘Best Companies’ list for the seventh year running.
According to Wendy, in order to be recognised as a trailblazing organisation, one of the main areas a leader needs to focus on is culture, which she defines as “a set of processes in an organisation that affects the total motivation of its people.” She maintains that a high performing culture is sure to result in maximum total motivation, as it creates a space for knowledge and best practice to be shared.
‘Culture is a way to uphold standards and share a common voice.’
This is important for when Bartlett Mitchell goes to tender. Wendy has to include an outline of the ways they’re working to engage, train and retain their team. This is vital as, unlike most hospitality organisations, Bartlett Mitchell are guests in other peoples’ businesses, and therefore have their clients’ reputations in their hands. “If something happens, [we] need to show that we are doing the right thing.” That’s why culture is so important to Wendy; it’s a way to uphold standards and share a common voice.
Having a large, geographically dispersed team constantly being bombarded by other client cultures can make establishing and maintaining a communal Bartlett Mitchell identity challenging. “We have to work harder than most,” admits Wendy, “because we need to ensure that all of our team leaders are at the right standard in terms of the culture they are presenting.” But by establishing better internal communication and creating a platform where everyone’s voices and opinions can be shared, a multi-site team suddenly finds a common heartbeat - and a culture is born.
Wendy claims that “Yapster provided a perfect solution” to not only engage with her wider team, but to share with them a common voice. “[It’s] allowed an upward feed and - more importantly - it’s engendered a culture we’re proud of.” A quick glance at the Bartlett Mitchell news feed is enough to see how much effort and care has gone into nurturing their culture and their people. “Whether it’s a chef sharing photos of a dish they’ve made, or a team leader sharing a ‘thank you’ letter from a client, everyone can feel like they’re a part of something bigger than [just what’s going on in] their location.” Earlier this year Bartlett Mitchell announced an impressive 16% increase in turnover driven through a combination of organic growth and strong client retention. Employee engagement rose 30%.
“Yapster’s allowed an upward feed and - more importantly - it’s engendered a culture we’re proud of.”
It’s abundantly clear that Wendy has a lot of pride in her people. “If you truly value [your team],” she says, “you have to find ways to better communicate with them.” She is also firm in her belief that “it’s often a leader’s mistake to assume that it must always be them showing and telling when, in reality, our main role is simply to listen.” That’s why she reiterates to her management team that Yapster is “the team’s comms tool, not ours,” and below most images they post on the news feed, a heartfelt comment from her can be found.
As a leader, Wendy’s philosophy is to be visible to her team in every sense. She doesn’t have an office, and spends most days visiting different sites and team members. “Culture is about having a very clear path and vision of what your company is about, and that needs to be walked and talked every day.” She understands that “no matter what you do, if you want to do it well, you have to make sure your team is engaged.” After all, it’s through engagement that a strong company culture is created, and it’s a strong company culture that sets the stage for success.
