Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/258952
10 | 14th - 20th February 2014 | utILIty WeeK Interview sheer amount of investment either in equity or debt that the investor has put in, their attention is perpetually being drawn to what the person is taking out." Her stated ambition is nothing short of making Northumbrian Water the best water company in the UK on every count – and there are 28 of them, according to a multi-coloured score- card she waves tantalisingly under Utility Week's nose before tucking it back into her folder. Has she succeeded? "I think we are one of the best," she replies thought- fully. "The number of people in that pack is very small, and we've got different strengths and weaknesses – you could put a bit of paper between us. By a lot of criteria, the answer would be yes. Across our balanced scorecard we're tracking about 28 things in the business. We have more firsts than anybody else, but there are some things we need to do better." One of these areas for improvement is management of the sewer network. Mottram outlines the problems cre- ated here by the extreme weather of the past few years and gives examples of a new catchment-based approach to management, such as working with local authorities in the Newcastle area to divert excess water to a recrea- tional lake and golf course. "We know we are ahead in our thinking," she says. "We are moving some of our drains to move water into different water courses. That is going to yield really good long-term results." If Mottram gets a bit excited when talking about the new approaches to water management, she is practically jumping out of her chair when it comes to Northumbri- an's people. This, she says, is what makes the difference between Northumbrian and other companies. The pride in the company is "in its DNA", she says, and one of the things that attracted her in the first place. "I met some people at management level and they impressed me hugely," she says. "I also knew some people who knew people who worked on the front line. Nobody said a bad word about them." Mottram spends a lot of time nurturing the culture – and isn't afraid to use the "l" word. "I have to make sure all of that love for what people do – and I would use the word love – is given free rein. When you've got people who feel like that and who care so much about it, if you give them the goals and the targets and freedom to do it, that's very motivating for them." It's a recurring theme. Asked later what her personal contribution has been to a company that was already doing well, Mottram replies: "I've given people a stronger sense of direction, a clearer set of targets about what that means and freedom and empowerment to use their skills and expertise to hit them. And they have flown." Perhaps mindful of her competitive advantage, Mot- tram holds back some of the details around how she trains and empowers her workforce. One example she does give is of an annual performance review dedicated solely to personal development, rather than to other aspects of the role. This has resulted in around 100 peo- ple in the business doing something outside of their ordi- nary role, be it a special project or a placement with a different department. This, thinks Mottram, has directly contributed to an increased staff satisfaction score on the count of individuals helping one another across the business. "People do business with people, so when they know each other, they help each other out," she says. Another example of Northumbrian's culture, and one of the initiatives for which it won a Utility Week award, is the "just an hour" programme. This encourages North- umbrian workers to engage in voluntary work for charity during their paid hours. The company has succeeded in meeting its target of 50 per cent of employees engag- ing in the programme two years in a row. "We don't do it to engender culture, we do it because it's the right thing to do," says Mottram. "But it does by definition create stronger bonds into the community." Whether a strong culture will lend Northumbrian a competitive advantage when the water market opens to retail competition in 2017 is something on which Mottram remains tight-lipped. Asked if she is ready to discuss the company's ambitions around business customers, she replies: "We set our stall out to be really good at what we do, and we've always worked very hard to keep our business customers happy and engaged and served well. We've always had a separate team of people working on that and out customer satisfaction scores are very high. Don't be surprised to hear we want to be a good retailer, that's what's governing our thoughts. Beyond that, we'll keep our powder dry." Mottram, who enjoys climbing mountains as a hobby, somehow finds the time to be active on industry issues, and sits on the high level steering group designing the future water market, among other things. As such, she is confident that the market will open on time – "deadlines are a great motivator" – and is reluctant to be drawn on whether companies should be allowed to exit the market. She is uncharacteristically ambivalent about the received wisdom that competition in the business sector will automatically improve service for household cus- tomers: "Do I think it will benefit household customers? I find it really hard to say, other than we were ambitious to do that anyway." Don't underestimate how important customer service is to Mottram, though. Asked whether the water com- pany of the future should see itself as an engineering business with customer services tacked on, or vice versa, she replies immediately: "A customer service business. Supported by engineering. It's all about the customer – that's why we get out of bed. They pay the bills, they're the most important people." Mottram is less forthcoming on upstream reform. "We all need to get our heads around abstraction in the first instance because then we would understand how what is available is currently being managed. Then it would be easier to understand how trading fitted into that." Asked whether the government has kicked abstrac- tion reform into the long grass, she replies: "I think they're grappling with this balance… I think they're rec- ognising how critically important it is to get it right." By doing nothing? "I don't want to comment on that." Mottram's too smart and too cautious to be drawn into saying anything unpolitic. Her commitment to her customers and her staff shines through, as does her determination to build on Northumbrian's already stellar success. And that's something everyone can cheer for. "It's all about the customer – that's why we get out of bed. They pay the bills, they're the most important people." The Stars Awards will recognise frontline staff In response to popular demand, Utility Week has launched a new awards ceremony to sit alongside the Achievement Awards. The Stars Awards will celebrate the individuals and teams on the front line, with categories including customer service, team of the year and innovator. Entries are now open and the awards will be presented at a summer party at the Lancashire Country Cricket Club in Manchester on June 13. See utilityweekstars.co.uk