Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/877922
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | OCTOBER 2017 | 29 • PersPectives "People get so more out of this type of learning than they would just sitting in a classroom. I think our staff genuinely see we've gone out on a limb to try and do something new. There might have been a feeling initially that this was a gimmick, but now they are actually using it they can see that this is a massive statement we are making, investing in developing our people, so that's a positive thing for everyone." Mark Grimshaw, Head of Wastewater Networks (N.London) Thames Water "Everyone who has gone through our induction loves the Igloo, because it brings everyone together to learn together. It's easy for the industry to do things the same way they've always done, but that's not what the partnership between Thames and Lanes is about. We're always looking to adapt, move with the times, and be one step ahead." Michael Hall, Head of Operations, Lanes Group • virtual reality tools The Works: Innovation drawn to the realism of the objects, peo- ple and buildings around me, it's easy to see how the millennial generation would respond better to this type of experience than a traditional chalk-and-talk or pow- erpoint approach. By the time we move into a walk down a large-diameter sewer, and the video screens switch to show the dripping surface of an underground pipe, I'm truly immersed. Beyond the novelty of being sur- rounded by a picture or video, the system also allows for interactivity, with some courses having a decision-tree structure. At any point, participants might be asked what piece of equipment or technique they want to use, or what they want to say to the customer or head office. Once the group decides between the options, the next video sequence will show the results of that action. With the help of a specialist agency to do the filming, and some of its own employees making appearances as actors, Lanes is creating a series of 13 realistic training scenarios with this decision structure. I am shown one which tracks the experience of a customer as she calls the call centre to report a blocked drain, has a van dispatched and then sees staff having more than one attempt at resolv- ing the problem. The decisions taken culminate in the customer awarding a customer service score of between 1 and 5 via text message for her experience – something that happens in reality, with this score being considered the most im- portant KPI for the company's workforce. Lanes is using the facility not only in its induction for new employees, but to give refresher training to its existing staff once every three months, and to give office-based staff an insight into what colleagues do in the field. Teams with staff from different job functions typically take the training together, so each has an opportunity to contribute with decisions that fit their specialism and the session is not dominated any one individual. There's also a competitive aspect, with teams from the five geographical Thames regions (NW, NE, SE and SW London plus the Thames Valley) all competing against each other to register the best scores. This fits in with a general trend for 'gamifica- tion' in the Lanes HQ: the offices are replete with dashboard screens indicating the statistics and activity in each of the five regions, and there is a natural tenden- cy to compare them against one another and seek to outperform. Hall tells me that the retention rate of employees who have gone through Lanes's revamped induction process (which includes the Igloo) has increased markedly, with 18 out of 20 now staying for at least six months. This compares to previous years when as many as 8 out of 20 dropped out before the six-month mark. Benefits can also be shown on health and safety performance, and on customer SIM scores. With Lanes employing 1300 field operatives and 350 support staff on the Thames Water contract alone, marginal gains made through employee training can really pay off – an example of innova- tion in action. • Virtual reality is most used in the water sector for design tasks, helping to visualise an asset or facility before it is built and to identify potential issues or improvements needed by allowing people to explore it with a virtual walkthrough. The sophisticated 3D models available through Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be shared in this manner by a whole project team. • However, these tools are generally viewable through headsets, meaning that using them is a largely individual experience. By contrast, 360-degree screens can be viewed by multiple people at once, and this shared experience is ideal for training purposes • Welsh Water and Wessex Water are two other utilities who make use of 360-degree screens in their engineering capabilities, although the Lanes Group/Thames facility is the only one to be routinely used for skills training