Case Studies & Client Feedback
Vinnie Si, Group Assistant Trade Parts Manager for Eagers Automotive, graduated from the Eagers Automotive Emerging Leaders programme with Darren Pratley late last year.
Vinnie gives us an insight into the Emerging Leaders programme, what he took away from the course and how he will implement his learnings into the business in 2023 and beyond.
What about the Eagers Automotive Leadership programme appealed to you?
The Eagers Automotive Leadership Programme appealed to me, because I am always looking for self-development and career growth opportunities. The course helped me to build confidence in the face of a new challenge and allowed me to implement my learnings to improve my team’s performance. Being set up for success shows me that Eagers Automotive really cares about their staff.
What was your favourite part of the programme?
The connections made with people from different departments and dealerships was my favourite part of the Emerging Leaders Programme. Getting to share my thoughts and push myself out of my comfort zone was valuable to me. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from the likes of Darren, Mike and Debbie; it was a chance to learn from the best.
What did your project focus on and why did you choose this particular topic?
My project was about building and enhancing the brand awareness of our trade centre. The reason behind selecting this for my project was that when I first started the job, I found out that most of the customers didn’t know about us and even some internal staff didn’t even know we exist. We need to spread our brand out of the market, so people know where to go when they need parts.
How will you continue to implement your learnings from the programme into the business in 2023 and beyond?
One thing I have taken on from the Emerging Leaders Programme is to never stop learning. Always be ready for change and innovation. It is important to always keep a positive mindset and look on the bright side; ensuring you and your team are above the line is imperative. Going forward this year, I will continue to get to know our team members individual capacity and develop them, to support them to become the best version of themselves.
What advice would you give others considering going into the programme?
If you have the opportunity to be part of the Leadership programme, get ready to step out of your comfort zone. Although it may seem daunting, it’s a good opportunity to upskill yourself. Be prepared to see a better version of yourself at the end of the course. On top of all this, the Eagers Automotive Leadership programme is fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself.
Caroline Barrett, Marketing Specialist for Eagers Automotive, recently graduated from the Eagers Automotive Emerging Leaders programme with Darren Pratley.
Here Caroline gives us an insight into the Emerging Leaders programme, what she took away from the course and how she will implement her learnings into the business in 2023 and beyond.
What about the Eagers Automotive Leadership programme appealed to you?
This Emerging Leaders Programme appealed to me because in addition to teaching the theory, it gave me the tools to apply my learning in a real-life work setting – which in turn, has given me more confidence in myself and my ability to progress my career.
What was your favourite part of the programme?
My favourite aspect of the course was the opportunity it gave to collaborate with others who have different roles, backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives of the world and our industry. Some of the meetings and conversations we had really opened my eyes to new possibilities and broadened my thinking about what the future may look like in the fast-changing world we live in.
What did your projects focus on and why did you choose these particular topics?
My project was aimed at growing the level of female following, reach and engagement on the John Andrew Mazda’s Facebook page.
The idea for this came about following an audit of the platform which, showed that the following, reach and engagement metrics of the Facebook page was strongly skewed towards males. It was interesting to me that the statistics deviate significantly from other market-based observations, such as census purchasing data, website visiting ratio and manufacturer social media following which had a far more evenly balanced male to female ratio.
I choose this topic because the abnormalities were alarming to me. Our content needed to be more inclusive; I wanted to ensure that it had an abundance of diversity, that spoke equally to both genders and to a broad range of ethnicities and ages.
How will you continue to implement your learnings from the programme into the business in 2023 and beyond?
By adapting and implementing the strategies, learnt on the ELP, into my day-to-day work (along with continuing to invest in self-education) and regularly conducting gap analysis on myself, I will be able to identify aspects in my performance that I can work on for continuous self-improvement.
What advice what you give others considering going into the programme?
Engage in all conversation and do not be afraid to ask questions; likewise, do not be afraid to participate and actively put forward your own perspectives and opinions.
