TECH
PICTURES : TOM BANKS
Core values – ITS managing director Graham Ives
TALKING TEAMWORK
Having spent 25 years at Middlesbrough-based Industrial Technology Systems ( ITS ), Graham Ives reflects on his career and first year as MD …
58 | Tees Business
I
joined ITS 25 years ago as a systems engineer , after being interviewed one Saturday morning by our then MD , Malcolm Knott . I ’ d served a challenging , interesting and exciting apprenticeship with Nissan in Sunderland , eventually leading teams of maintenance technicians in modifying and maintaining robotic and PLC control systems in its body welding shop . It was a pressurised production environment at the early stages of a highly tuned process to build a car every minute .
My next challenge was to achieve results for my new company and hit my career goals . But as I had a background in problem solving , learning and developing , it was a perfect match with the culture and the people at ITS .
At the end of my 24th year with ITS , I was fortunate enough to acquire the role of managing director . But even though it was my goal , I still found it daunting and exciting - working with our excellent senior leadership team to develop the business and grow our amazing team of people .
As part of my transition into the new role , I ’ ve been talking to many of our customers and partner companies , and I ’ ve been humbled by the support and encouragement they have all offered . It ’ s been a great opportunity to talk to them about the things we have done over the last 30 years and the opportunities available for us to grow into as the post-pandemic world of industry accelerates its learning and development faster than ever before .
Several years ago , we set out to clarify the company ’ s purpose and define our core values . We did this with the involvement of all of our team at ITS . Everyone defined what values you need to have to be one of the team and these are now alive within ITS , guiding people when they need to remember what ’ s important to us .
We want to be a place where people are given authority and take responsibility for delivering positive customer interactions - a place where everyone ’ s voice matters , and a place of continual learning . That means everyone is encouraged to make their own decisions , ensuring that everyone is able to grow and develop through analysing