An evening of dinner, drinks and dancing marked the conclusion of the Pathway Program for 30 course graduates who are now ready to become Specsavers Joint Venture Partners (JVPs).
The Pathway Graduation Function is held once annually for participants from any intake cohort that completed the leadership program in the preceding 12 months, and this year’s event took place on 4 May in Melbourne.
Thirty Pathway participants, including optometrists, dispensers and store managers, travelled from across Australia and New Zealand to the RACV City Club in Melbourne, where they were greeted by the familiar faces of the Specsavers Pathway faculty and the Retail Support Team (RST), who had guided and supported them through the six-month program.
The night started off with members from different Pathway intakes getting acquainted over drinks and canapés, with many capturing the evening’s fun through Polaroid-style instant photos generated by an ‘Instagram printer’ organised by the Pathway faculty.
Once all attendees had been seated for dinner, Raj Sundarjee, Head of Professional Recruitment Australia & New Zealand, took to the stage to congratulate the Pathway participants on their hard work. He mentioned by name the six graduates present who had already been placed as JVPs in their own store, five of whom will be opening brand-new Specsavers store locations.
Following the sit-down meal, members of the Pathway faculty and RST presented each Pathway graduate with a certificate to formally acknowledge their completion of the program. Once the formalities had concluded, the Pathway graduates continued their celebrations on the dancefloor.
Pathway is an intensive six-month leadership and development program that prepares experienced optometrists, optical dispensers and retail managers for practice ownership. The structured program adds critical business management and development skills to the candidates’ existing clinical, dispensing or retail skills, setting up the future store-owners for success.
