Meet Zeke. He is our National Operations Manager, and this is his story.
In 2013, Zeke had started his journey at FRA as Claims Manager. This role required him to compile reports, liaise with insureds and clients as well as stake holders. At this time, FRA consisted of four employees working out of a small office, with four technicians out on the road.
From the start, Zeke made it clear that his goal was to be promoted to Project Manager. He did everything he could to gain as much as experience to be able to make the first steps in that direction. He then volunteered to help as a technician whilst continuing his role as a Claims Manager. To Zeke, the extra money earned from being a technician was good but being able to go out to sites and gain hand-on experience was even better. He showed he was eager to learn more and FRA, too, were eager to enhance his knowledge and skills on the field.
In November 2015, when it came time for FRA to look for a project manager, they were able to hire internally and develop a loyal employee who had shown initiative and drive to fill the position. Therefore, only two years after Zeke had started working at FRA he began training as a Trainee Project manager. This role involved going to sites to scope, assess and quote the work we do.
Once he had been promoted to project manager, he continued to put in the hard yards which had made it easier for the company to support him in stepping into further roles. Again, after two years, in 2017 Zeke had been promoted, this time to the position of Senior Project manager, which meant he was now responsible for bigger, higher valued jobs.
Zeke had fulfilled his goal of reaching Senior Project Manager but being the persistent and hardworking individual that he is, he maintained the strong work ethic that had gotten him this far. Only a year later, Zeke had been promoted to State Manager of Victoria. This role saw him looking after all operations including financials for the state, as well as looking after all the employees, in terms of people management, managing PNLs (profit and losses) of the business itself, gross margins and sales.
Currently, he is the National Operations Manager as of May 2022. He is now looking after daily operations of all business units across FRA. Zeke had started at FRA when it was in its beginning stages – we had yet to grow nation-wide and show as much promise for further growth as we do now.
When asked why he chose to progress his career within FRA and not elsewhere, he credits the working environment present within FRA. To Zeke, FRA has always been a supportive environment with people of all positions always willing to help each other, and this quality is something he still sees today. FRA goes above and beyond to support its employees and to invest in them as we have our own in-house IICIC training manager.
Just like Zeke, many of FRA’s employees had started at the company in entry-level positions and have worked their way up and taken opportunities to professionally develop themselves.