Emily Beale is a senior data analyst in our reporting and insights team at our HR Shared Service Centre, and in her first six months with us she has already progressed and supported the team around her in a fantastic way. We caught up with Emily to find out about her journey so far at Kier, and what her role in the team entails…
Hi Emily, how long have you been at Kier, and what were you doing before?
“I’ve been here since September 2022, so still quite new.
“Prior to Kier, I had roles in marketing and insurance with my responsibilities revolving around data, analytics and performance stats, so the skills I’ve picked up from my previous roles are all relevant to my current one at Kier which has made the change in industry a lot easier.”
Why did you decide to join Kier?
“It was the people really! I was looking for a new role and new challenge, I was approached by one of Kier’s recruiters on LinkedIn and the change of industry provided that new challenge I was looking for so I thought ‘why not?’.
“My interview was great; everyone I spoke to before joining were really friendly and professional. That was something that attracted me to the business and made me more determined to take on the challenge of moving into a new industry.”
You’ve had great progression since joining, could you give us more insight into that?
“So, I joined as an HR reporting and insights analyst. The role was to work on cases we receive, checking monthly stakeholder reports and putting together packs for our senior leadership team.
“A senior data analyst position then came up and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try even if I didn’t get the job. I gave it my all, drawing on my experiences in previous roles and I was thrilled to find out the team were offering me the position.
“The role is a step up, there was that natural nervousness around the new position but I’m really proud to work for a company that promotes taking those leaps, believes in its people.
“The main difference in the role is the increase in responsibility, I’m now a line manager to a few members of the team, it’s been great to take that on.
“I love that things like age, gender or tenure don’t hold you back from new opportunities here. Since joining, I can also really see that Kier is committed to developing its people and promoting people internally.”
That’s amazing! So how has Kier supported that progression?
“I’ve had resources from previous courses about line management shared with me and I know that there’s opportunities to join in on these too, but another nice thing we have is our seniors chat on teams. It’s a support system for us to collaborate, share ideas and even just have a coffee and a catch up. There’s a nice feeling of community there and it’s helped increase my confidence knowing that I have this community to reach out to for advice.”
What does a typical day or week look like for you?
“I’m still in the transition phase into my new role, but so far, it’s about supporting the team.
“The start and end of months are always a busy time for us, putting together packs for the leadership team and our monthly reports - of which there are between 200 and 300 a month!
“In terms of the data we analyse and use in a typical day it varies a lot. We collate reports and insights on things such as holiday entitlement, absence requests, training data (attendance or feedback) and so many more topics. It’s a really interesting and varied role that I’d recommend anyone to take a look at.”
What do you love about your job?
“Number one at Kier is always the people; they’re lovely and I can hand on heart say that from my first day I was welcomed with nothing but happy faces and helpfulness from those around me. Everyone wants to help, and if they can’t then they’ll send you in the direction of someone who can. There’s just such a sense of community, you can talk to anyone.
“I love Kier’s drive from a diversity and inclusion perspective too. I’ve never had such great exposure to this and it’s amazing to see a focus from the whole company on our roadmap.”
What’s next for you Emily?
“On a personal level, I’d love to do a charity run! I used to run quite a lot and I’d love to get back into that, something like a 5k run for charity.
“Professionally though, I want to get fully settled in my new role, then help progress the team to a point it hasn’t been before by progressing our data architecture and therefore our insights capabilities – giving them some form of innovative analytical freedom.”
“Long term, I’d love to be part of increasing awareness about this career path at schools, encouraging students to be interested in STEM, data science and data technology.
“It matters to me because I remember feeling lost and I knew nothing about roles that were outside of the traditional ones, and I’d love to be able to inspire the next generation and open their eyes to the rewarding world of data.”
