“I like to know how things work” – Introducing Becky Ray

“I partner with leaders inside organisations and help them to create high performing cultures” Becky says. “That can mean different things to different businesses – It’s not for me to dictate what that means, instead I help leaders to explore that for themselves and to support them while they do it”.

Becky brings a fascinating and unusual background to this work. “I would never have imagined this twenty-five years ago” she says.  Becky left school to take an apprenticeship: she wanted to be an engineer – “I like to know how things work. I wanted to use my hands and to fix stuff”, she says.

She became the first female forklift truck engineer in the UK and spent a lot of time out in her van, visiting sites and fixing big pieces of kit. “I qualified as an electrical-mechanical engineer” she tells me, “I fixed all kinds of forklifts, earth moving and construction plant. I loved the variety it was really cross-domain and everyday was a different bit of kit at a different place with a different challenge.”

It was vital and valuable experience. In those ten years Becky spent a lot of time working with teams in stressful operational situations “I was there when things were broken that needing fixing, and some part of their operation was on pause while I did”, Becky says, “I got good at spreading a sense of calm encouragement and building effective communication when times were tough in high pressure, often fast paced, situations”. It’s an experience that left Becky with “a lot of empathy for the people in organisations who do the actual work” she says.  “I continue to empathise with this front facing workforce now and help Leaders understand the realities they face on a daily basis, I love to give a voice to the workers and take it to the ear of Leadership, something I am very passionate about”.

Later Becky qualified in H&S in her own time and embarked on roles in H&S Management with Michelin and subsequently Network Rail. This gave Becky an insight into a massive 24/7 operation. She got to do her Six Sigma training and combine Safety Management with Business Improvement and learned a lot about the differences between the world management saw and how life looked out in the field.

Her safety work taught her the power of culture: safety was so much more than rules and compliance. “It’s people”, she says, “it’s all way more complex than just rules and processes”. This led her to train in HOP – Human and Organisational Performance, which embraces the people focussed approach that Becky supports.  She is now pursing post-grad studies at Aberdeen on Organisational Psychology and has embarked on the Net-Positive Course, an initiative launched by Paul Polman.

Her favourite work is when she’s facilitating a group, developing them rather than delivering training. “I love helping people to go beyond what they know” Becky says, “I love it when there’s that tension at the edge of discovering something new, a prickly sense in the room, and at that moment being able to intervene in a way that brings about a breakthrough moment, a new way of seeing, a fresh idea. That’s where the magic is in those ‘ah ha’ moments”.

You can expect to see Becky writing and speaking, sharing her insights widely.  “I want to reach more people with these ideas” she says,” too many people experience misery in their work and teams, and it doesn’t have to be like that”.

“I’m also going to dig deeper into my work on regenerative business” she says, “and I’ll work tirelessly to help create a world where more people can be both purposeful and effective at work and in their teams”, she says, “it’s all very possible and our future most definitely will look bright!”

If you want a passionate Thinking Partner with a deep understanding of people and culture, and the kind of experience that only front-line work can bring to the table, Becky Ray may be exactly the right person to invite into your project.