Utility Week

People & Opinion Utility Week community UTILITY WEEK | 24TH - 30TH JUNE 2016 | 7 Irish Water MD Irish Water has appointed Jerry Grant as its new manag- ing director, following the departure of John Tierney in April. Grant has been head of asset management with the utility since its formation in April 2013. Ervia, which is the parent company of Gas Networks Ireland as well as Irish Water, has also appointed Cathal Marley as group fi nance director. Chris Loughlin gets British Water job Pennon Group chief executive Chris Loughlin has been appointed deputy chair of British Water and will take up the post in January 2017. Loughlin joined the board of the trade association as a non-execu- tive director last month. Speaking about his appoint- ment, he said: "Water is at the heart of dynamic global issues including climate change and urbanisation, which makes devel- oping the role of British Water more important than ever for the water and environment sector." Arensbach gets business post at Offshore Catapult The Offshore Renew- able Energy Catapult has appointed Thomas Arensbach, the former head of off- shore projects UK at Siemens, as its new senior business develop- ment manager. He has also previously worked at Gamesa, A2Sea, Statkraft UK, UPC Energy Management and Vestas Offshore Wind, and during his career he has been involved with various projects with a total capac- ity of 3,750MW. EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS Forecasting, insight and analytics are now widespread in our businesses. The data that we have on our assets and customers is being used in more and more sophisticated ways to drive performance and innovation and prepare our- selves to face the challenges of the future. When it comes to our colleagues, however, forecasting our requirements for the future is somewhat harder – but many businesses say "people are our greatest asset". So what could a manager or colleague of the future look like? We have high expecta- tions of our managers and have long expected them to be experts in safety, performance, people management, budgets and problem solving. Today they are also expected to be experts in technologies that didn't exist ten or 15 years ago. Speaker's corner Sarah Hopkins, people & engagement director, Wales & West Utilities We're all focused on driving customer excellence, and this will undoubtedly continue to be important in our sector. Hav- ing been a leader in this area within gas distribution, we take this extremely seriously and con- tinue to innovate with our cus- tomer strategy and initiatives. It's important to our people, but interestingly it features heav- ily on the agenda of external candidates too. Potential col- leagues see external customer service levels as valuable insight into the way we treat our col- leagues. Our newest generation of col- leagues – and next generation of managers – has never known life without the internet or social media, or work without smart devices and sat navs. Engaging in a di† erent way with these colleagues will be critical as they progress in our organisations. And without wishing to general- ise too much, they will be more focused on corporate values and behaviour, and attracted to com- panies who invest in wellbeing and technology. We're already taking steps to future proof ourselves. At Wales & West Utilities we've trans- formed the way we talk about our business strategy, to drive transparency, understanding and connection internally and externally. We've also revamped all our communications channels to make us more accessible and engaging for customers and colleagues. My learning and develop- ment strategy now features neuroscience, coaching, behav- ioural analysis and mental health resilience, alongside our traditional engineering, IT and customer service training. Critically, this is in response to the demands of colleagues rather than being the latest HR or industry fad. To a man- ager, understanding people's behaviour is important –not just because it is interesting but because that's how we can drive the next level of perfor- mance. Staying ahead of the people game won't be easy, but talking to our colleagues, focusing on customers and technology, and thinking innovatively with our people strategies must be a critical part of our thinking when we look to the future. Sarah is speaking at the Utility Week HR forum on 13 September. For more details, visit: www.uw-hr.net 25% Proportion of UK companies experiencing a cyber breach at least once a month, according to a survey commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. "The independent system operator model has worked in the US. It is time for it to be brought to these shores" ECCC chair Angus MacNeil on the committees' call to overhaul energy network operation. (Full story, p6.)

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