A conversation with…..Kevin Bridgwood, Senior Operations Manager

We deliver an outstanding teaching and learning experience to every learner, every time and we could do this without our handpicked, values-driven and passionate managers like Kevin Bridgwood, who leads and inspire our colleagues on a daily basis.

To highlight the dedicated and driven colleagues we have here at Paragon Skills, I have had a conversation with Kevin Bridgwood, one of our energised and exceptionally experienced Senior Operations Managers, who executes a mind-blowing performance in all aspects of role to talk about what it means to be a Paragon Skills colleague, and why you should consider joining our award-winning teams!

A bit about Kev

Kev has been a valuable colleague for 8 years and has been integral to the smooth running of our operational delivery and client partnerships in the North. As a Senior Operations Manager Kev leads a diverse team of key operational professionals including Operations Managers and Personal Tutors across multiple sectors. Kev is a true representation for great leadership, demonstrating out pledge and values in all that he does, to inspire success and help develop the talent of tomorrow whether that be with our learners or our colleagues.

What is your proudest achievement?

“Seeing my team develop, I love to be part of helping other people develop their skills and qualifications and watching them grow. I like to utilise different people’s skills to get the best out of them and to see them develop in their career, it is nice to see that people I have managed have moved onto different roles or grown in different areas.”

And your greatest motivation?

“I am very self-motivated, I am lucky to have a great line manager and senior leaders as role models, I am also very self-driven and quite competitive with myself and others. I want to do well in my career, I never want to be complacent, so I am always striving for more like us as a business we are currently a Grade 2 Good with Ofsted, so we are all reaching and working on being outstanding. My team also keep me motivated, I enjoy seeing my team succeed and I enjoy inspiring that success.”

Being a Senior Operations Manager

What does the role involve?

• Managing my team – regular 1:1’s, team meeting and ensuring they reach their potential and achieve their objectives
• Forecasting for growth of the business and growing the team to fully support the learners
• Managing key client partnerships and relationship for further business growth
• Leading on key projects including transfers with learners and other providers to our new Elevate programme

What do you enjoy most?

“I enjoy passing on my knowledge and experience to others and seeing them develop into strong Personal Tutors or Operations Manager. I like bringing ideas to life and being part of the key projects and initiatives. I am often involved with projects we have as a business and finding changes or solutions we can implement to continually improve the services we deliver to our learners or to advance the Power BI reporting functionality we have to identify gaps and improvements to further enhance and grow the business.”

What gives you the most satisfaction?

“Making an impact on people’s working life, I like to know I have made people feel better about their career and supported them on their journey whether in their current role or helping them as they develop into a new venture.”

Our pledge and values

What does our pledge mean to you?

“Remembering that at the heart of our pledge is the learners, we are a learner focused business and everything else will naturally fall into place if we get that right like progression, achievement and strong employer partnerships. If we keep the learner at the heart of everything, we do we will stay committed to our pledge.”

Which of our 5 E’s do you resonate with the most? (Energy, Energise, Execute, Experience, Edge)

“Edge – not standing still, if we are always moving and improving, we always have the edge over our competitors as we are always evolving.”

What is your most memorable moment during your time here?

“When I initially joined 8 years ago, I enjoyed being part of the distance travelled from their requires improvement Ofsted in 2015 to regaining the “Good” grade in 2017 and continuing to maintain that to this day, where we are now working on becoming outstanding.”

Why should others join Paragon Skills?

“We are a very supportive environment; the culture is the best I’ve worked with as the people here make us different, with everyone is in the right roles for their skills. Everyone is going in the same direction, there are no internal politics, and everyone wants us to succeed. We are a growing business with lots of opportunities to develop.”

If you enjoyed learning more about Kev and his role as a Senior Operations Manager, take a look at our careers page to view the vacancies we have available.