What do you do when faced with leaving a workplace you truly love?
You do what Sara Neldeberg Nielsen did.
Since 2022, Sara has been a happy kitchen manager at Compass Group. However, in September last year, her cafeteria had to close, and she was left to explore new internal opportunities to stay within the company she cherishes.
Determined, Sara went desk to desk, asking her colleagues if they could use her talents. When she reached Henrik Bjerke Jensen, Operations Director in our cleaning division, her persistence paid off.
As luck would have it, Henrik needed a Service Manager for UCL Business Academy and University College, where Compass Group had recently secured the cleaning contract. The role, however, had nothing to do with food.
“I’m ready!” Sara said without hesitation. Beyond her desire to remain at Compass Group, she had also long dreamed of developing her leadership skills.
Her first step was to enhance her expertise with an Academy Profession Degree in Leadership, which she completed in 2023. With the opening at UCL, the next step was to change career paths internally.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to do something different and that I wanted to become a leader,” says Sara, who now leads a team of 42 employees, including those at UCL.
The increased responsibility isn’t the only thing Sara enjoys about her new role. In the cleaning division, the team is smaller, which has given her a fresh perspective on being a colleague.
“The team here is incredibly close-knit. It’s all hands on deck, and even though we’re experiencing tremendous growth right now, everyone is ready to step in and help,” Sara says.
When one door closes, another opens. That’s one of the advantages of being part of a large company, and we’re proud to have colleagues who value Compass Group so highly that they seize these opportunities.