Victoria Yates

"The Explorer personality type fits what I do well because Quality and Improvement is about seeing a logical process, then being creative to solve problems or issues to make things better. To do this you need to be able to gather information and ideas by talking to different people with diverse views to get the best outcome. I'm very inquisitive and love to know how things work so I'm always asking why? to understand and explore new things to see if I can apply them in new ways to solve problems. "

"I work in the highways sector and have contact with lots of different projects around the country. My job is looking at ways to improve how we deliver a quality project, ways we can do it quicker, safer, for less money or working better together. I look at putting standard ways of working in place so that different teams can deliver the same great performance time after time, with reduced risk of errors. I enjoy being in different environments, with different people and teams and working on lots of small projects at the same time. No two days are ever the same which I really like, it never gets boring! When I finish a project and show everyone something new I've created to help them, or improved something to make it easier to do it's really rewarding knowing I've made a difference to the way people work so they can be more productive. I started as a Site Manager but was interested in Quality and Improvement so I switched roles. I worked on a project, now I’m looking after a sector and there are further opportunities at business level or you could become a consultant. Every business needs Quality Managers so the principles are easy to apply to different industries and companies."

"I don't have a particular person that inspires me, but anyone that works hard towards goals definitely inspires me to make my own path and create the best future for me. Athletes or anyone with really specialist skills are inspiring because they work a little bit every day towards a bigger goal. When I was a little girl I played with Barbies and K-Nex (a component building toy like Lego) and I used to go to work with my Dad in school holidays, who had his own building company. I used to boss his workers around and they used to call me a proper little madam...but I just think it was an early manifestation in confidence and leadership skills! So never let anyone tell you that you should or shouldn't like something just because of your gender. It's good to be interested in different things."

"I keep chickens in my garden so I really enjoy spending time with them because they're so funny and they always make me smile. I also do archery as a sporting hobby and I like doing cross stitching on an evening instead of watching TV."

"A typical day will involve talking to lots of different people, in different roles, at different levels of seniority and in different cities! I do this to either get or give ideas or opinions on lots of different improvement projects. I use the computer a lot to communicate with people in my company as we can share our screens and talk in big groups to share information. Some days I will be at a project site office or maybe a city office and sometimes I even get to work from home."

"Secondary education (GCSE/O-Levels) GCSE: Maths, English, double Science, German, Art, Design & Technology Post secondary education (College, A-levels, NVQ3 or equivalent) A Level: Biology, Art, Design & Technology Undergraduate degree (BSc, BA, etc.) BSc (Hons): Construction Management 3 year Graduate training programme covering a range of topics. Quality Management training programme towards Chartership with the Chartered Quality Institute. "