WET News

8 WET NEWS FEBRUARY INTERVIEW " Technically, it [collaboration] doesn't become pointless it just means you're not getting the true bene t of rolling it down the supply chain," says Simon Moran. "Everybody is thinking about how we can deliver what the client needs and what the customer ultimately needs. There is a desire to connect in the supply chain and start to put them through some of the processes that the Tier 1s go through." Moran continues: "In putting AMP6 alliances together a lot of these organisations are the thinking type. They do the planning and then hand it over for someone to physically go out and do, which is obviously the Tier 2s. "You can have a great plan and you can all work collaboratively but then you're handing o† to people that aren't connected into this way of working." Moran is an associate at JCP, the collaborative working specialist that helps clients, contractors and their supply chains realise the bene ts of reduced cost, speedier delivery, increased pro t and improved relationships from working collaboratively with each other. Thames Water, Anglian Water and AŠ nity Water feature among JCP's clients. WET News spoke to Moran recently and discovered that it is critical that Tier 2 businesses adopt collaborative behaviours; that Anglian Water is willing to help smaller organisations through the behavioural assessment process; and that Tier 2s need to stand up for themselves. Moran says Anglian is one of the water companies that has been looking at collaborative behaviours among its Tier 2 suppliers for the past year, and there are "very interesting di† erences" compared with the Tier 1 organisations that all go on the behavioural assessments. "Large organisations tend to look a' er their people, from the point of view of their personal development, in a much stronger way. Project management, presentation skills that sort of thing, whereas smaller organisations don't tend to a† ord that. "The smaller SME-type of operation among the Tier 2s don't really have that budget and that insight. And, the stake is not so high – for larger organisations it could be £100M at stake so they're willing to spend X amount trying to win the bid but for SMEs they just don't have that kind of investment they can throw away. They tend to send people on the behavioural assessments with no previous experience in doing them or any pre- training. It's a struggle in a di† erent way." Then there is the di† erence in style of person. Sta† from Tier 2s can be more much more anxious, and may not have stood up and carried out presentations before or team-building exercises. "We see from an assessment perspective quite Simon Moran, associate, JCP Con- sultancy "That's the inte- resting thing about seeing the Tier 2s, they haven't been trained. What you see is quite real" di† erent skills and di† erent levels of behaviour," says Moran. "I'm not saying the Tier 2s are weak but from the point of view of their collaborative behaviours and that sort of development some haven't had the same investment as the large organisations. They can be much smaller so the pool of people available to send on these assessments is much less. If you look at larger organisations they have people who have some insight into doing these things, probably done three or four before, where for the smaller organisations it's new. It's very new for the Tier 2s and a long journey for them still to go on." Moran says Anglian Water is really keen to test its Tier 2s, to connect and build their collaborative behaviours. "I think they'd be willing to invest in how to build this capability on behalf of the organisation because it's in their investment in the long-term. Anglian's AMP6 deals are ve- , ten-year contracts, so they're really looking for that longevity of relationship. I think they'll be looking to support some of those smaller organisations. "It's creating a fair playing eld. You can apply the same behavioural framework to the Tier 1s and Tier 2s because it's the same behaviour we're looking for, it doesn't really matter what organisation you're coming from. It's just that some people have had more training than others as a skillset. "That's the interesting thing about seeing the Tier 2s, they haven't been trained. What you see is quite real – 'wow, that person's a really good collaborator'. We're making it slightly harder for the Tier 1s and there's a reš ection on the Tier 2s that they're smaller organisations and probably can't a† ord to have people out for too long. Once the contract is in place it's the client understanding that they'll need to help [Tier 2s] develop a bit more. Tier 1s, being the larger organisations, can look a' er themselves." Anglian Water does get something back. One of the things the company is looking for from its Tier 2s is challenge, says Moran. "'Challenge us with some innovation. Bring some new thinking. You're the experts in your eld. Don't be frightened of us we're equal'. That's what they're looking to get back is that challenge and long- term relationship." But Moran says this will take time to lter through because the Tier 1s "need to stop telling the Tier 2s what to do and the Tier 2s need to stand up a little bit more and say 'actually we do know what we're doing. We can help you'. But this lovely thing called ego gets in the way. You know 'who are you to tell us…?' It's classic leadership management." WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW! ¢ My perfect evening is... Spending time with family and friends ¢ I drive... A BMW X3 ¢ It's not good for my image but I like… Dancing ¢ My favourite TV programme is… History programmes ¢ My greatest weakness is… I'm too trusting ¢ I'm currently reading… I'm re-reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning

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