Not only is she focused on helping the organisation move towards becoming carbon neutral, she also plays an integral role in the wellbeing of its staff.
This means there’s always a number of things on her agenda, from analysing the IET’s procurement processes and current contracts to see where sustainability could be improved, to managing refurbishment projects that will provide staff with smart workspaces that inspire collaboration and creativity.
“Every day is different, which I love – I’ve got my fingers in lots of different pies,” she laughs. “I’m looking at everything from hybrid working to sustainability. Right now, my focus is on our current refurbishment projects, but next, I’ll be heading up a project to look in-depth at our procurement system.
“It's great to be playing a role in making a better working world for IET staff, although it's these people that really make it such a friendly, welcoming place to work.”
Nicola joined the IET after 30 years of working for the UK’s Civil Service. Here she’d gained experience in departments as diverse as health and safety, Ministry of Defence (MoD), environmental matters, and property and facilities management.
So, what led to her moving from Deputy Director of Estates to IET Procurement and Property Development Manager?
“I wanted to do something different, I needed some new challenges,” she says. “I was used to ‘policy, procedure, process'. Here it’s very different, and it’s nice to have a new learning curve. I like to be challenged.”
Futures Place refurbishment project
Currently, much of Nicola’s time is spent managing the refurbishment of Futures Place: one of the IET’s main UK offices. The staff hub’s infrastructure was coming to the end of its useful life and so Nicola and her team took on the challenge of updating the building to provide a technically advanced, intuitive, and sustainable workspace that reflects the ethos of the engineering charity.
“We’ve got to practice what we preach, which is to ‘engineer a better world’,” she says. “Therefore, we’re creating a workplace that’s technically advanced and agile. It’s a place where we can come together and collaborate, which is one of the organisation’s key values.”
Throughout the project, the focus has been on both the wellbeing of staff and sustainability. For example, when the building was being cleared, she didn't want anything to end up in landfill and began looking into ways to ensure this.
“We got specialist contractors in to help, and gave away furniture to schools, churches, clubs… I also signed the IET up as a corporate member of Investors in the Environment, a national accreditation scheme that’s been designed to help organisations reduce their impact on the environment.”
Highlights of the job
There are many aspects of her job that Nicola enjoys, but something she particularly loves is the ‘people side’ of her work.
“There’s something special about taking people on the journey with me, making sure everyone understands what we’re doing and why… but I also enjoy the challenge of budgeting. With Brexit and the pandemic, costs have risen by about ten per cent, so this has been a particular challenge – one I’ve relished.
“Then there’s the construction part of my job, I really enjoy this too. Sadly, it’s still a very male-orientated sector. There simply aren’t enough women in construction, especially at the senior level. I often take a colleague with me into meetings and we’ll be the only females in the room. I hope this is something we can help to change.”
She also finds the IET a friendly working environment and is happy to be playing a key part in improving facilities for her colleagues.
“It’s great to be playing a role in making a better working world for IET staff, although, in reality, it’s these people that really make it such a friendly, welcoming place to work,” she concludes.
