Kristi Hartwell has been part of the Smiths Family for 36 years, joining in July 1988. She is based at John Crane US as Site Lean Leader.
What is your proudest achievement at Smiths?
In my work in industrial engineering and continuous improvement, I support the people and processes at John Crane that keep our operations running smoothly. I make sure our employees have documented processes to follow, efficient plants and offices to work in, strong channels of communication, and safe systems to back them up if something goes wrong. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know that processes I designed and helped put in place are working to keep our business on track.
What makes Smiths company culture so great?
The turn-around in the thinking about safety. We’ve moved from, “Work safe as long as it doesn’t hurt production,” to, “Work safe because those are the rules,” to, “Think about what you are doing and if it isn’t safe, stop work and figure out how to do it right.” That’s a pretty impressive culture change.
What advice would you give to colleagues who have just started their career at Smiths?
Lean into teamwork. No one works as the Lone Ranger anymore. Learn how to work in a team, support your teammates, lead your team, recognise the voices of others, and make your own voice heard.
