Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/347201
utIlIty WEEK | 18th - 24th July 2014 | 23 Operations & Assets length and with a combined weight of nearly 400 tonnes. This then made the short journey along the A59 and down Howick Cross Lane to the substation. The deliveries to the substation were timed to take place early on Sun- day mornings to make sure there was no disruption to rush-hour commuters. The new quad booster will be installed in the coming months. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paul.newton@fav-house.com or call 01342 332085 Pipe up Peter Jones W e've got our up-and-coming leaders focused on some of our big business issues, one of them being the challenge of recruiting the right peo- ple as the construction and utilities industries enter a growth phase. One made a comment along the following lines: if you have the same kind of people, in the same kind of roles, making the same kind of decisions – we will have the same kind of industry. How prescient. If we really want to see significant change and improve what we do, we would do well to consider what other industries are doing. For me, there are two focus areas. The first is being clear about what we want to do and how we are going to get there. Customer service is a key issue for our industry and we can look at brands such as John Lewis and Virgin as shining examples of how a strong customer focus delivers results. But we should look at their start point as well as their end point. How did they go about shaping their organisation and instill- ing the right values and culture so that their people and supply chain partners could deliver? For inspiration, we can look to Britain's successful Olympic cycling team and their marginal gains concept. Led by coach Dave Brailsford, the team broke down and analysed anything that could affect an athlete's performance – from the equip- ment they used and food they ate, to the pillow they slept on. Making just a 1 per cent improvement in each area was transformative. This principle can be moulded to almost any business challenge – including ours. The second focus area is about attracting new people into our industry. The CITB (Construction Industry Train- ing Board) estimates that 182,000 new jobs will be cre- ated in construction by 2018, fuelled by government-led large infrastructure projects and demand for housing. It's an opportunity to recruit people from other profes- sions and backgrounds who bring with them alternative views and ideas. But we must place them at decision- making levels if we are to effect real and lasting change. We also need to be proactive in creating development opportunities for younger people, who will be tomorrow's leaders. We've created a Junior Leadership Team, which has genuine authority to make decisions. Employees in this group include people with degrees in equestrian sci- ence and ex-RAF pilots. It brings truly innovative thinking. In the next couple of regulatory cycles, I predict we will see a positive difference between the organisations that are bringing in new skills sets and developing the next generation, and those that are not. Peter Jones, utilities managing director, Skanska "To change, we must recruit people with alternative views and ideas and place them at decision-making levels." "We also need to be proactive in creating development opportunities for younger people"