Emma Dibb

Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor Apprenticeship Standard

I am a client procurement coordinator so, I am responsible for working with different departments such as corporate and finance to ensure orders are processed in a timely manner to our customers. I currently manage my own team but felt that I did not have any qualifications to help me succeed in this area. I  am keen on progressing and aiming high and in one of my one to one’s with my manager we discussed options for progression and gaining more responsibility. My manager put forward the Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor apprenticeship and explained the details and the hard work I would have to put in but she believed I could do it.

Whilst doing the apprenticeship, I completed the Level 3 Diploma in management alongside my standard, I enjoyed picking my units. I currently do a lot of project management work but I chose this as a unit and it was a great unit to complete, I really enjoyed this and I learnt a lot about managing a project and tools to use. I completed assessment evidence towards managing conflict and managing change, which to me sums up this last year, it has been challenging managing a team and coordinating my job from my kitchen table. The skills that I have learnt through the apprenticeship really have inspired me to use them straight away.

I now have the confidence to ask for feedback from others, the feedback has been a great confidence booster and I have had comments about how professional I come across and how supportive I am as a manager. I am now more focussed on the health and wellbeing of the team and I can pick up on behaviours and actions from the rapport I have built with my team. I enjoyed putting things into practice, when my manager was not in the office I would have to almost step into her shoes so it was a great eye opener to higher management and understand it. I enjoyed the theories and models such as the Belbin and now I understand why people do and say certain things due to their skillset and right mix within the team.

My assessor Clare was great with delivering the knowledge on the PDP, this is not something we had in place before it was introduced but it is a great tool to have. I have had a end of year appraisal and the next steps I have put in my professional development plan is to do the Level 5 as I now feel really motivated to keep going with my learning. I now recognise the importance of learning and development and this is something I have highlighted within my team.

Towards the end of my apprenticeship we worked on Microsoft Teams due to covid, the support I received was amazing, even outside of hours the Tempest team was always there for me. When I completed the apprenticeship and the EPA was completed, I reflected on what I have achieved and I feel very proud of myself for progressing and making the time to prioritise and complete the apprenticeship.