Jaemes Skinner is an electrician by trade, but his passion for continuous improvement and his ability to build the systems and teams to bring ideas to life has seen his career at Ventia flourish.
Jaemes started his career in the water industry as an electrician before progressing to a Maintenance Planner with Sydney Water, managing various projects including the overflow containment program - 'wet testing'. He described this program "as a good learning experience that contributed to my knowledge for my next role as a Scheduler and then Planning Manager with Ventia for Sydney Water in 2013".
In 2016, Jaemes was seconded to Yarra Valley Water as the Technical Services Manager to develop 'Click' - a field mobility system used for the client. This system delivered a step-change in the delivery of this contract through improved visibility of data. He then turned his attention to the implementation of various other systems and teams required to run the contract, including a mobile time-keeping solution, network operations centre (NOC) reorganisation, business analytics and reporting development to improve performance.
Never one to get comfortable, Jaemes returned to our Sydney Water contract to his current role of Planning and Transformation Manager. In this role, Jaemes' remit is to look at planning and business analysis and to champion continuous improvement.
"I'm always looking for opportunities to elevate us to the next level of performance," he says.
With a penchant for systems and their implementation, Jaemes introduced software to provide dashboard visibility of key metrics at Sydney Water. With over 90 dashboards available, the team can easily track safety, quality, operational, financial and KPI performance, as well as identify opportunities for improvement.
This transparency of real-time data and analytics has opened the door for improved business decision making and driven a new culture of friendly internal competition. Crews in different regions and delivery teams are encouraged to challenge the status quo and strive for continuous improvement, spurred by the transparent and visual reporting as well as some friendly rivalry.
Bringing his experience with the system at Yarra Valley Water to his current role, Jaemes has collaborated with Sydney Water's Mechanical and Electrical division to lead the successful implementation of software for Sydney Water that supports their approach of a single platform for their business.
Jaemes' experience with mobility solutions has made him a valued subject matter expert in Ventia's Technology Enablement Program that includes the development of Pulse, Ventia's work management solution.
When asked about his style, Jaemes says he focuses on how he can help his team to succeed.
"My approach is all about enabling the skills and capability of the team to deliver excellence," he says. "I like to build camaraderie. There are always perceived constraints and challenges, and I see it as my job to enable the team to overcome these, to empower and create value for Ventia, our client and their customers."
Jaemes' passion has been brought to life in his recent creation of a 'Continuous Improvement Team', a forum that brings together employees from our major water clients Sydney Water and Yarra Valley Water. The team shares best practice and ideas that can improve asset reliability, productivity for the crews, add value for the client and better serve the customer.
Read more about our Sydney Water contract here.