If you don’t have goals, what’s the point?

Katrina Cracknell, better known as Trina, has been our Operational Admin Manager at KWL for the past three years. Her career has naturally progressed since starting with Hull City Council 18 years ago from Contract Assistant and then Senior Contract Coordinator.

Trina tells us that she has “come full circle” as around 12 years prior to this, she had been on the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) with Hull City Council, working in the City Engineers record room. After just two months, she secured a job in the works department, later moving over to another department and onto other job opportunities elsewhere. Her career has since seen her working in all sorts of places, including a clothing factory, wet fish factory and a bingo hall!

At present, as an Operational Admin Manager, Trina coordinates a wide range of clerical duties. From contracts to private works, a typical day can involve overseeing the processes and admin staff who are calling customers, ensuring operatives have work sent to their PDAs (handheld devices) and monitoring the progress of works up to completion.

Trina explains:

“As a Senior Contract Coordinator (SCC), I would oversee the contracts in one operational admin area of the company – R&M, gas, or electrical for example. Now, in my managerial role, I am responsible for a large team – approximately 38 members of clerical staff and 4 Senior Contract Coordinators.

“My experience at KWL over the years has definitely been positive. I love the fact that the company isn’t stagnant – we are constantly striving to improve and encourage staff to do the same. For example, I completed a Level 3 CMI Diploma in Management and Leadership and a Level 5 CMI Extended Diploma in Management and Leadership, supported throughout by the company, and before I’d even completed my Level 5 training, I was offered the OAM position. These qualifications are well-recognised in the industry and have really helped me to excel.

“Also, during the first lockdown, I had some particularly upsetting events occur in my personal life, but my colleagues couldn’t have been more supportive. I was off work for a short while, but I felt massively reassured upon returning by all of the measures that had been put in place. Everything had been considered – social distancing, sanitising, one way systems – I felt very secure at work, which was especially important at the time.”

Trina tells us that despite all efforts, working through the pandemic has been inevitably challenging.

“However, we’ve all pulled together and tried to keep morale up with regular communication. We’re only asked to come into the office for the minimum required hours  and this has helped to collectively ease our worries.”

In her spare time, Trina enjoys pottering in her garden and doing some craft work. Originally from Hull, she now lives in Cottingham with her 22 year-old son, 16 year-old daughter and their dog Buster.

According to Trina, the best part of her job is getting to see her ideas come into fruition. In fact, this is the reason she tells us, “I’m not finished here!”:

“There are projects and developments that I want to see through. We’ve just put new resource allocation systems in place which I’m excited about – these should hopefully benefit both my colleagues and the company, along with helping us to meet KPIs.

“Ultimately, I’m here for job satisfaction. I have always had a dream to open a teashop one day, but who knows what the future holds. I would say I have a similar mentality to most of the KWL team: if you don’t have goals, what’s the point?”.