Erica Lack

Hello, since my last blog post a few months ago things have changed quite a lot!

On the 1st July I started my permanent role in the Environment Strategy Team and came off the graduate training scheme. I am now Lead Advisor for Carbon Management. My role requires me to be the company expert on the Carbon Reduction Commitment to ensure that the business maintains compliant with this new Government scheme. I am also responsible for completing the Carbon Accounting Workbook (CAW) section of the June Return, which is a report we provide to Ofwat every year. The CAW compiles all the data on our operational green house gas emissions. All though quite a lot of my role is data management I am enjoying it because it is quite a high profile role, I have all ready been and presented at a board meeting so I have had the opportunity to meet some of the company's directors, and I am also working with people from KWS and KeyLand - two of the other companies in the Kelda Group. I am also working with our research and development team to shape the types of research projects we invest in to ensure the company is preparing for climate change and is working to mitigate the CO2 we produce.

As well as my day to day role I am also planning the End of Scheme Development Event for my graduate group. Zoe Cranmer and I are creating a final training course for the group so we can focus on the outstanding needs from the scheme. I am also still heavily involved I Water Aid and I'm helping out with the Water Aid Ball, this year there is Wonderland theme. I think this shows that even though I have come off the training scheme and I am very busy in my day to day role there are still opportunities to be involved in a variety of different events so that you can still develop skills out side of your role.

It's the 2010 Graduate induction week this week, I can't believe 2 years ago today I started at Yorkshire Water, the time has flown by and I have changed so much since then. I hope the new graduates get as much out of their scheme as I did!

I am really looking forward to settling into my role and really making a valuable contribution to the company, it's going to be hard work but I'm up for the challenge!!

Blog soon - any questions on my role, Yorkshire Water or the Grad scheme feel free to get in touch.

Thanks

Erica

Hi, it's been almost a month since my last post so I'd better give you an update of what I've been up to!

Had a grad social night on the 24 ^th Dec where we went and ate curry and played a quiz all in the name of charity, every one had fun but most importantly the 08 grads beat the 09s!

In November my year of grads also had our development centre, this is very similar to the assessment centre you go through to get the job but it is more focused on feedback so that we can develop in our last year on the scheme. I got my feedback booklet the other day, the majority of it was quite good but I have some areas to improve on if I want to reach my full potential. All in all it was a good two day event but it was quite stressful and tiring at the time.

I've also had a couple of Christmas parties to attend in the run up to the festive season which have been memorable!

In my placement I have been getting involved in ordering all the uniform, safety equipment and other items for a group of about 170 people who will be joining the company in April. The people will be involved in the maintenance of all our assets so it is important they have all the right things to get to work with when they start! My team are counting down the weeks until the new employees start, we have a lot to do but I'm sure we will get it done with a lot of hard work! This placement has helped me learn a huge amount about working with contractors in negotiations and information gathering and I have also improved my knowledge of the operational business units which has been really valuable to me. I'm pleased that even though I am in the regulation business unit I am still able to explore other areas of the business.

I'm coming to the end of this placement now and in the New Year I am going to move into the procurement team to help with things like contract management of our suppliers and partners. I am really looking forward to going into a new environment again and learning all about another area of the business.

Merry Christmas and  happy New Year!

Since my last blog post I have been on a managing time and meetings course.  I went with the 2009 intake of grads and we all learnt about how we can make the best use of our time. I like going on the courses with other grads because you feel more comfortable asking questions and every one is there to help and get the most out of it. I have also created some operating procedures for cranes and done lots of other things in relation to my project.

As a graduate you will have quarterly review meetings with the rest of your group and your HR rep. We had ours on Monday. It was good to hear about all the exciting work grads are getting up to around the company and it is nice to get to see every one to find out how they are as we don't see much of each other any  more, being in our 2 ^nd year of the scheme and the fact we all work on different sites in different areas of the business!

We have our development centre this week. It is a 2 day event where we go through the assessment centre procedure again, however this time it isn't for a job! The aim is to help us see how far we have progressed but also the areas we still have to work on we then get coaching from a trained consultant who is there to help us improve and develop as much as we can in the last stage of the scheme.

As always any questions let me know and I will get back to you.

Since my last blog I have been all over the shop! I've been in Huddersfield, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Barnsley! I have been doing all of the admin for some 1:1s my team has been running and so I have had to travel quite a bit.

I did my first set of Environmental audits today. I went to 4 of YW's sewage treatment works and went through the audit proforma with the environmental rep for every site. It was really interesting and encouraging. Firstly because all the sites I saw were to a pretty good standard which is nice but also because I am used to thinking about Esholt as a STW which is huge and treats water for 1000s of people every day; one of the sites I went to treated water for 10 people so it was tiny but it was really cool to see how we clean waste water on such a small scale and then compare it to doing the same thing but on a large scale. I was really nervous to go and do the audits on my own as I thought I was going to forget something but I am quietly quite impressed with myself as I think I did quite a good job for my first audit. I'm pleased the environment strategy team gave me the responsibility to do my own audits as it shows they trust me.

Things on the personal development front have been pretty quiet this week. I am still doing stuff on the university liaison project and that involves me arranging a session with Sheffield Hallam Uni but apart from that I have just focused on my role as I haven't had time for much else.

I'm on a training course for 2 days next week on managing time and meetings which I am looking forward to and I hope it will give me some skills to help me get the most out of meetings I have with people I don't know very well.

Blog soon.

Erica.

Since my last post I have been very busy on my placement! I can't talk about it though because the content is confidential! It's all very exciting and I am pleased that I have been able to get involved. This project is a rare opportunity for me to develop some specific business skills and the chance probably won't come up again for many years - by which time I will be in a substantive role. That's one of the great things about the grad scheme - the chance to get involved in so many exciting parts of the business.

I went back to my old Uni on Wednesday - The University of Manchester and I spoke to a group of students about the grad scheme and how I managed to get the job. It was really nice to be able to inspire some people and hopefully they found my advice useful! I think a career in the Water Industry is some times overlooked by some people, either because they are unaware of the graduate opportunities in the sector or because they think the only things water companies to is clean water. I am glad I am able to go and meet students to try and change these misconceptions.

Over the next couple of weeks I am out and about quite a bit but I will try and write again soon.

Last week I had my photo taken for the blog so you can now all see who I am! I also had quite a few deadlines for my placement due at the end of the week so I was working hard to get them completed and I managed to get everything in on time to my manager. I had some productive meetings with members of my team to help me make progress on my project and with one of our service partners. I really enjoy the fact that on the Grad scheme you get included in loads of different aspects of the business and I have been made aware of all sorts of different business processes which I find really interesting. I have also had to learn to use different computer soft wear in the form of Microsoft Visio, it is basically a tool to map flow charts on but it has taken a bit of work to get my head round it.

I am going to Sheffield Hallam Uni this week to run a skills session on application forms with some of the students there. I am really looking forward to it; hopefully I will be able to impart some wisdom which will help them get on a Grad scheme!

I have been in my placement with the Equipment Reliability Strategy Team now for just over a month. I think I have just about settled in and got my head around the absics!

I have been out and about to lots of different offices and sites meeting and talking to all sorts of people. I am really enjoying myself because I have been given real resposibility and the chance to make a lasting impression even after I have moved on to my next placement. It is hard work and I still have a lot to learn but i know I am making progress which is ver rewarding...and tiring!

I am organising a team of Graduates to go to the Water Aid curry and quiz event which should be good fun and give all the grads a chance to catch up so I am looking forward to that.

I will check in again soon.

I have just started my 4th placement on the scheme and I have taken the opportunity to look back at what I have done over the past year.

On the work front I have helped update the contacts we have with our recreational tenants and develop a recreational site audit, in the Land Property and Planning team; I was involved in producing the final version of our 5 year business plan which went to our regulator Ofwat in April whilst I was in the Regulation team.

I have also trained 7 operational teams from across the business on environmental issues and I have been involved in communications with the Environment Agency and some of our contract partners, whilst I was in the environment team.

These are some of the things I was doing in my day to day role but as a graduate you are expected to challenge yourself and I always try to take on every experience I can. So as well as work I have also helped raise a lot of money for the charity Water Aid. I organised a ball, helped with a fishing competition and sponsored swim. I also organised the graduate 2009 induction week with a team of other 2008 graduates and I am involved in developing personal relationships with some universities to increase the awareness of our graduate scheme.

As well as all of this I have been on a number of training courses designed to help me in my role such as assertiveness, negotiation and written communication skills. So all in all over the past year I have done quite a lot! It has been an intense and challenging year but I have learnt a lot about the industry and made a lot of really good friends through the scheme so I don't think I would change anything.

I will be updating this blog regularly so you can follow my progress. If you have any questions about the company, the graduate scheme or the recruitment process leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Bye.