Role: Cafe Cluster Manager
Company: Asda
Track Record: “I find it genuinely satisfying to make customers happy — it’s an instant reward for doing a good job!”
Yolanda studied business in school but always knew that the catering industry was where she was headed.
“Even when I was in school I really enjoyed jobs which involved working with the public,” she said.
“I find it genuinely satisfying to make customers happy — it’s an instant reward for doing a good job!”
During her eight years working for a large multi-national fast food chain, Yolanda rose to the position of restaurant manager and studied for a degree in business.
She joined Asda in 2010 — after running her own cafe business — as a manager for an individual Asda cafe before rising to becoming the ‘Cluster manager’.
In her role she is responsible for all aspects of running four of Asda’s cafes in Northern Ireland from staff development to stock management and is responsible for a team of 55 Asda colleagues.
Tell us about a typical day of work.
7.00am
I make my daughter Parris’ lunch and put it in her bag by the front door before I hit the road, making sure to feed the dog and the cats before I leave.
7.30am
Off to Asda’s local headquarters in Antrim first thing which is about a 15 minute drive, for a meeting with our team of local food buyers.
8.00am
After a quick cup of tea and a chat with some colleagues, I take some time to prepare for my meeting with Brian Conway, who is part of our ‘local sourcing team’.
Asda aim to support local food producers as much as possible and Brian is one of a team of six people based here in Antrim who buy food from local companies to be stocked on the shelves at Asda in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
9.00am
We’re meeting today about our new cafe menu which features iconic local brands such as Punjana Tea, Cookstown Sausages and Irwin’s soda and potato farls as part of the menu.
The reaction from customers has been phenomenal — people really love to know that the famous local brands they take home in their weekly shop are available in the cafe.
But for Asda, working with local companies like Strathroy Dairy, Skea Eggs and Cloughbane Farms, it’s all about supporting local companies and helping to protect local jobs wherever possible.
Brian and I have a quick chat about how things are going, customer feedback and new local companies who are keen to get onto the menu.
10.00am
I have to call in to our ‘Store of Learning’ which is the part of the Asda store at Antrim and provides training for all 5,000 Asda employees in Northern Ireland.
I was over in Leeds at Asda’s UK Head Office last week, discussing the future of the cafe business in Northern Ireland and how we can make it even more representative of local tastes.
I have a chat with the training manager about creating a program of training to support this.
10.45am
On the road again.
I’ll be working for the day in our Portadown Cafe which is the newest of our five cafes in Northern Ireland.
The manager of the cafe is Tori who, like me, has catering in her blood — I started my career at McDonalds where I quickly became a cafe manager, I worked there for eight years and it was a fantastic foundation for working within a large organisation with exceptionally high standards for food service and customer satisfaction.
11.30am
On arrival I grab ten minutes to have a chat with Tori about what’s happening today.
We talk over how the cafe has been going and come up with a plan to help promote the new local menu to shoppers with a series of in-store giveaways over the tannoy and some posters around the store.
12.00
Head to the staff canteen and get something quick to eat, it will be ‘all hands on deck’ over lunchtime.
Lots of school children come in for a convenient, low priced lunch at the Portadown store, so we have to be ready!
1-2.30pm
Lunchtime rush!
3.00pm
Phew! A particularly busy day but I love working with the public. I’ve always really enjoyed the face-toface interaction and I think everyone knows Asda colleagues are just that wee bit friendlier, so you get that warmth back from the customers.
3.30pm
As things quieten down, I sit down with one of our new cafe colleagues.
We have a talk over her training needs and how she sees her progress in the company.
I’ll go back to the Store of Learning tomorrow and have a chat with the development team to see how we can best integrate her into the business and map out a career plan.
4.00pm
Run through the till roll to check our sales for the day.
The new local food items are proving popular, not just the new ‘Wee, Ulster and Titanic’ frys but locally sourced items like sandwiches from the Brunch Box.
The cafe’s takings have been increasing steadily since opening in November and we discuss ways to keep this moving forward.
Tori really leads this — which is brilliant.
I want all my cafe managers to take pride in their own cafe’s achievements.
5.30pm
I manage to get away on time today — although this is very rare!
My job can be 7am-8pm at times but luckily Tori has everything well under control.
6.15pm
I swing by my mum’s house to pick up Parris and have a cup of coffee with mum.
I really wouldn’t be able to do it without my mum’s help as both me and my husband work full time.
She is so understanding though and has always been there for me.
She raised me and my two sisters on her own, so she is definitely where I get my work ethic from!
6.45pm
Home again and we’re straight into Parris’ homework.
My husband, Gareth was home just ahead of me and bless him — he’s already started the dinner!
I still love cooking but my husband is a fabulous cook and I wouldn’t want to deprive him of his chance to feed his family!
7.30pm
Bed time for Parris.
8.00pm
Dinner on the table for me and Gareth and a chance to finally chat about our day.
9.00pm
I pack all of Parris’ things for school tomorrow and have her lunchbox almost sorted.
I’ll make her sandwiches fresh tomorrow before I go to work.
9.30pm
A quick TV catch up for me.
I typically only watch 3 programs.
Corrie, Enders and The Apprentice.
I just love them!
10.30
Bit of Facebook before bed and a nice cup of tea.
I’ll take the dog out for a walk around the street and put him to bed before heading up to bed myself.
11.00pm
Zzzzz!