“It’s about creating a culture of problem-solvers”

He shares a recent challenge, where his team was tasked with reducing the overuse of ingredients in one of the factory’s key processes, which involved people from across the manufacturing chain. Through structured problem-solving and incremental, iterative improvements and savings, they managed to claw back £100,000 over two main product lines. 

For Szymon, that success showed the power of cross-functional teamwork and respect for standards to drive real impact. 

Szymon started out on the factory floor himself, where he packed products, before moving to operating machinery and gradually taking on more responsibility. While his work blends strategy and hands-on leadership – both delivering training and coaching teams directly – he believes the most important thing is to foster enjoyment. 

“People need to be engaged in order to take up the frameworks the team puts in place to help them through it,” he says.

Something to chew on

Szymon’s rise to management came by taking all the experience he’d gained and reinforcing it with hard study (including a degree in applied professional studies from the University of St Mark and St John) and “a desire to make work better for others around me”.

As such, it makes sense that Szymon and CMI would eventually cross paths. 

“I’ve always been drawn to solving problems and helping people grow,” he says, “but I had to learn how to lead, not just manage. That meant investing in education. Becoming Chartered helped me formalise that journey.”