Regional Sales Manager Review

I have recently taken this new role due to the covid 19 crisis. I was previously a Branch manager which involved managing a sales team, a trade counter, a warehouse team, and a driver. Since i have become a Regional Sales Manager due to the branch being closed and merged with a larger near by branch. This now involved managing a regional project team as well as another office for a regional tender team in a separate location ensuring a select group of the regions largest customers are consistently looked after aswell as any big project in the region.

I have learn alot, largely off my own back, in order to excel in these new roles that involve a requirement for a large variation of skills. This has involved on the job learning as well as good relationships with my fellow managers seeking their experience and expertise. I have personally bought and read a few management books and journals / blogs in order to develop myself and my management ability. I've also had to adapt my style to managing different groups such as sales and warehouse for example who have different requirements from a manager.

The programme i have taken has been enjoyable due to the group of people ive worked with who i have formed a good network and relationships with across the travis perkins group businesses. additionally the facilitators and course day leaders were very helping and considerate to the demands of your work and helped you through it. The course itself i found interesting however the work often felt basic and like a tick box exercise as it seemed very clunky and difficult to fit into the work place

The programme from an organisational point was well organised with module days pre-booked and support sessions available across the country. However the course itself as mentioned previously was often very tick-box like and not beneficial to development but seemed just an inconvenience. The different modules were well balanced and spread out and the days were structures so it wasnt just reading from a screen but engaging with various activities throughout so didnt feel to much of an inconvenience.

Our employer Travis Perkins do really encourage the use of apprenticeship courses and pushes them a lot for anyone seeking self development. This however on a day to day level isnt always filtered down into every branch as some managers and branches are under alot of pressure and run very lean so getting the time to allocate time or even go out of the office in some cases is very challenging. The course days do not seem to be an issue but time allocation to go to catch up days or time aside to complete work is often frowned upon and is definetly no where near the 20% of work time its supposed to be.

The chartered management institute CMI offer very little in terms of support other than sending out alot of emailed flyers and advertised webinars and journals you can read. LEAP our training provider have been mixed depending on which facilitator you get assigned as some are simply interested in hitting deadlines so chase and pester until its done. However some mentors luckily like my own are very flexible and understand its balancing this with work is not perfect so work with you in order to help you achieve.

This as i have eluded too earlier is a sticking point. The content itself is often very useful and thought provoking and can sometimes be very useful in certain management situations where you can evaluate your own style. However the work that goes along side the course have very little application and benefit to your own learning. The work often seems very irrelevant and tedious in order just to tick a box rather than working towards something that is going to develop you or the business.

There are very little official extra-curricular activities provided by the travis perkins group. If there are it is often spontaneous events that are private invites such as golf with close relationships with customers or colleagues. Or in some cases there are charity events conducted by bss however again maybe annually and few and far between. The Annual conference however is a very well organised and good event. And more small scale stuff such as raffles / fantasy football organisation.

Yes

The company is a very successful FTSE 250 big company so it is a great e and offers many perks to the job such as additional internal training, expenses, colleague discounts, colleague perks such as health ect. The people across the company i have found are very helpful as the industry / systems / and products are very challenging to learn so there is a culture to work together and help. Despite there being an ageing workforce and it initially being difficult for young people to get to grips with the industry and company there does seem to be a growing trend to promote youth and give it a chance.

My personal advice would be to go into it with an open mind as personally myself never did i think i would be working in this industry. However, for such a large company to progress and be given the opportunities & experience i have, this would not have been the case at my age in many other companies. I would also say to persevere as the systems / industry / and company can seem very difficult to understand and get your head around at first however if you take every day as it come to achieve something and look back down the line you can see the huge strides you have made.