Emma Power

Said the following about Lucy Hoyle - **HAS LEFT**:

“IP Track would like to nominate Lucy Hoyle for “Graduate of the Year” due to her dedication and hard work during her 6 month placement with the IP Track Transformation Team.

Lucy started at Network Rail in September 2015 and joined the newly formed Transformation team. The team are spread across the country, travel a significant amount and work in a very proactive way. A lot of the team’s projects are about engagement and implementing new ways of working which requires exceptional stakeholder management and networking skills. Therefore, due to the challenging nature of the team’s projects and ways of working, new starters are required to hit the ground running.

This new placement in September 2015 did not faze Lucy and she did just that, hit the ground running! Within her first few weeks Lucy had started networking with key stakeholders in IP Track and discussing the implementation of the DRACAS system in the S&C departments (data reporting and corrective action system) which would improve the reliability of installed S&C units. Lucy also actively sought out work for her next 6 months such as volunteering to mentor a team of 6 A Level students on the Engineering Education Scheme and overseeing a work experience student to help produce documentation for the DRACAS work stream.

Lucy went on to use her newly formed network to promote the Transformation Teams work. For example, she managed to secure a highly sought after presentation slot with the S&C South Alliance to promote her DRACAS work and after a month in the business presented in front of two hundred IP Track colleagues with confidence.

Lucy, although new to the business, perfectly modelled the Network Rail behaviours since day 1 and was a shining example for all those who worked with her. The first working collaboratively, has already been covered above and it is worth noting that Lucy also proactively supported other members of her team by attending meetings and events for the Continuous Improvement Programme (another Transformation work stream). Lucy was also customer driven by working closely with key stakeholders so new processes fitted well within the current business. She also wanted to build upon her understanding of Network Rail’s customers and so organised a mini placement in Cardiff with the customer service team.

Lucy was an ambassador for personal development and effectively managed her time and workload so that she could gain further experience and training within her 6 month placement. There are too many examples of person development she undertook during her 6 months to list them all but a few would be; Continuous Improvement Training, a site visit to Beeston to see tilting wagons, High Output site visit to see ballast being laid, attending Young Rail Professional events such as “Managing Accident Risk” and helping at the Graduate Assessment Centre. All these activities were undertaken alongside her day to day transformation role and demonstrate exceptional ability to multi-task and prioritise workload.

Lucy achieved an exceptional amount of work on the DRACAS project and in the Reliability programme which could only be achieved by successfully networking and listening to IP Track’s requirements. The process has now been embedded across the Track S&C business and has realised a significant improvement in the mean time between service affecting failure score from a fault every 1 in 1.5 years to a 1 in every 7 years for the S&C South Alliance. These project benefits were approved by the NR exec team and the team (of which Lucy was a key player) was highly commended. She also found the time to support the Continuous Improvement Programme and other team objectives such as co-ordinating the Team’s Safety Contracts. As Lucy’s placement came to an end, she ensured all work she was accountable for was effectively handed over to a new team member so that all the work streams became embedded as BAU. She also ensured any questions or support the new team member required was provided, even though Lucy has since moved on to her second placement in IP Enhancements.

Therefore, as discussed above, Lucy was a key team member from day one and thoroughly deserves to be recognised as “Graduate of the Year” for her hard work within the IP Track Transformation Team. She is an asset to the company with her exceptional behaviours and always tries to go above and beyond what is expected. With all the personal development she organises through her growing network, the IP Track Transformation Team think that Lucy has a bright future in the rail industry.“