Long term training stories

Roberto de Carvalho: Training the young chefs of the future Executive Chef – Food & Beverage Operations department

Executive Chef Roberto has been with the CTICC since March 2017 and is in an important leadership role, especially now that events are filling the CTICC’s venues again.

Having to pivot to cater for a hospital, a vaccination centre and now an arts centre (see our story on our Artscape partnership on page 63), he has become an expert at taking on new challenges.

Nonetheless, the various training courses he attended in the year under review have deepened his understanding of the ISO 22000 Food Management System requirements in particular, as well as honed his awareness of ethical management.

One of the courses he participated in was Municipal Minimum Competency Training.

“The training has helped me understand how the whole municipal finance management system fits together. There are many moving parts – from managing individual processes to staying within the confines of audit requirements and obtaining the services and products that our clients require,” Executive Chef Roberto says.

When he’s not in the kitchen or doing courses, he is involved with the student chef programme – a cause that really motivates him.

This programme assists teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop their culinary skills and qualify as chefs.

“Training and upskilling yourself is important to keep yourself relevant and ensure you don’t get left behind,” says Executive Chef Roberto

Lillian Hlabangane: Training to develop herself and inspire others Head of Sales – Commercial department

Lillian joined the CTCC just two years ago, at the height of the pandemic, when events were severely constrained.

Her immediate focus was on how to work remotely with the sales team and how to keep our forward book intact and growing into the future.

Contracting was one of the areas that had to be flexibly adapted during that time, and so her Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) training this year was particularly relevant.

She learned much over the 15 months of the course.

In particular, she improved her knowledge of risk management, project management, budgeting and reporting.

She says these were areas in which she needed development and she especially needed to understand and learn how to comply with the MFMA in the context of her work.

She believes that training is vital in order to accumulate a variety of skills and add value both to yourself and to the organisation you work for.

She also believes that discovering new passions can open up opportunities to grow oneself and inspire other people.

This applies equally to her commitments to community work and CTICC activations, which she does her best to join when she can – and not for herself, but because she believes it is important to change other people’s lives.

“I believe that a person can become relevant and at the same time irrelevant daily, depending on how one develops oneself. I am always inspired to grow myself in areas that can influence my current environment,” Lillian says.