Q&A Spotlight
Emma Scott
Finance supervisor
Q. So, Emma, what have you managed to achieve over the past year?
In the past six months, I’ve managed to achieve my Physical First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, and become a Fire Marshall. I’ve also completed the Teleste Management Training, and The ISO (IMS) Lead Auditor Course. In addition, in February of this year I started my AAT Foundation and I managed to pass my first exam, with four more to go.
Q. That takes a fair amount of commitment. Have you always been driven to do more?
I left school at 16, progressed from a call-centre agent to manager within two years. Following redundancy, I took a temp role with the South Central Ambulance Service working in the EOC, which gave me a real insight into mental health, because of this experience I decided to gain my certificate in Mental Health through a local college. So, being a Mental Health First-Aider at Flomatik seemed like a natural opportunity for me.
Q. Flomatik must have been a real shift for you in terms of your career?
Yes, it was totally different from what I’d been doing before. In my first two years at Flomatik I saw 5 Finance Managers come and go, then Craig joined. It was Craig that has really inspired me and has given me the confidence to progress my career in Finance at the ripe old age of over 40 😊
I thought I would find it difficult to study, however I have surprised myself with how much enjoyment and satisfaction I am getting from it. Craig also comes from an auditing background, again the knowledge he has imparted to me gave me the interest in becoming an Internal auditor.
Q. Would you say that you get plenty of support from your team?
Very much so. Part of my development also involves Kerry. Whilst Kerry and I work very closely and speak every day, we have a fortnightly meeting in our diaries to so some in-house training, maybe a process that I currently own that will be passed to Kerry moving forward. It may be some Navision training. It may be just some information that we share, or it may be that we do a Talent LMS course together. This meeting is specifically for development and always takes place.
As a team we also have a fortnightly meeting in our diaries specifically for completing 1 or 2 TalentLMS courses together, this started this week and it’s proved to be very insightful.
Q. I’m almost afraid to ask: what’s next on your agenda?
With support from Flomatik and Craig, I’ll continue to develop my career and continue with my AAT – Level 3 then Level 4 then progress to Finance Manager. I have also booked myself on a Power BI course, its next week, a free all day course but again I have booked it for my PD but also so I can write Finance reports for the business and hopefully make us a bit more efficient!
Q. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about their own personal development?
From my experience I would say, never think you can’t do it! I am living proof that you can and you’re never too old! Don’t doubt yourself! Flomatik will support you in what you want to do and if anyone wants to chat with me for advice, I’ll be more than happy to do so!
