In
extraordinarily
difficult business
circumstances,
South West
Trains has put
into action its
belief that
developing
managers at the
front line is what
will characterise
good service,
Diana Thomas
looks in on their
FLM
development
programme.
Errol Williams, Scholar Training UK, 'Building confidence is
the
business I'm in'.
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Summing up Glenn Taylor says "Errol never
makes you feel you don't know something or puts you down. We've had
a lot of laughs and there's never a graveyard slot, not even at 2
o'clock on the fourth day. I didn't know what to expect
when I came on the course but now I'm thinking I know this. Why
aren't I doing it?"
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Half way through
a series of five week-long programmes
developing front line managers, senior
managers at South West
Trains are already able to see a difference in
performance among staff who have been
on the programme. Julia
Higgins, Recruitment and Training Officer for
South West Trains, confirms "Over
twenty people have been
through the programme so far with about fifty,
including the current programme, still to
come. They are generally just
more 'up for it', readier for
whatever challenges are presented. The programme is
giving a tremendous boost to
motivation."
Increased
motivation alone is a considerable achievement
in what has been a nightmare
year for any business, one
shared by all the train operating companies. Those on the
programme include ticket
office managers, station managers and supervisors and
others who deal with the
public face-to-face - a public which has
recently under-standably often been angry and
disaffected. Maintaining motivation and a
positive attitude to the job has not been easy
especially as it has happened against a background
of uncertainty due to the refranchising process to
decide who will run South West
Trains for the next 20 years.
At the time of going to press
a decision was still awaited.
"We are
having to manage a situation where there is a
constant tension between a lot of uncertainty
and some very
exciting possibilities"
Julia continued. "One certainty
though is that South West Trains is committed
to encouraging personal development
for our staff. The investment in this area is
being maintained
and the focus is very much on the first
line managers - the people
who actually work with the travelling public
and deliver the service."
"We have
got to bring about a step change in customer
service and it is the people on these
programmes, both in what they
do themselves and how they manage the behaviour of the people
who work for them. which
will make the difference.
They are the ones who have
an impact on punctuality and
reliability of trains and also
on every aspect of the service
which makes the customer
feel they have had a good
experience with us - or not."
Up for it at
SOUTH
WEST
TRAINS
"As well as management
development programmes
such as this, we are putting a
lot into customer service
training. It is not just a question of developing
certain management skills, though
that's important. We
are trying to manage attitudes - evidence
of commitment and positiveness, for
example, or respect. We want to encourage
those attitudes in the people on the
programmes and we want them to be able
to create a climate which
favours those attitudes in their
own work teams".
With this in mind James Burt,
General Manager for the Woking Division,
selected Scholar UK to design and
deliver a suitable programme.
The end product is quite
intensive - five full days plus
a period of individual study
using nine modules from the
Scitech Educational Summit
Series and a follow up day
to distil what they have got out
of the programme so far and where
they go from here. One major task during
the period of self-study is to
carry out a work-based assignment of their
own choice. That is polished up during the follow up day and the
manager then makes his or her own
arrangements to
present it to line
managers with a view to incorporating the
findings into
the operational plan.
Aamir Bukhari, Glen Taylor and Geoff Hobbs
- the interview panel
The whole programme represents
something over seventy hours' work.
Managers receive an
Introductory Certificate in Management, hard
won you might say, on the basis of this
much work, but the programme precisely meets
South West Trains requirements and the fact that it
leads to a qualification, especially one from which
there is a clear progression route, is
appreciated by the participants.
"We do a lot of short courses" says Denis Horgan,
Platform Supervisor at
Waterloo Station "but this is the first I've
been on that leads to a qualification. It gives you a sense of
achievement if you have got something to show for it. It's a confidence
thing."
"Building confidence is the business I'm in." Says Errol Williams, who
designed and delivers the programme.
"I want people to go
away feeling 'I didn't know I knew so
much'. Between the members
of any group on this programme they are going to
know far more than I can
ever tell them. It's a question of sharing
what they know and of their feeling that they
take all the credit for what
they have learned."
"There is such richness in
what people contribute. We
do a lot of role-play as a way of getting
people to really immerse themselves in the
issues. In theory you could
do some of this using a video case study but
what I prefer to do is get the people
involved in the role play
and, if we are using video, to
record the feedback they give
afterwards. The insights and
reflections they provide can
set you back
on your heels — far more than any standard
management text would do."
It is a strategy that Glenn
Taylor Office Manager for the Portsmouth
area enjoys. I came on the course
feeling that I wasn't at all confident
that I new what to say
and when. I've been on
courses before and I know
the rules in principle but I like things that
are practical and this
course has been all about
relating what we already
know to practice."
Glenn's ability to say things
which are absolutely to the
point was honed when he chaired the panel for
a simulated interview for the post of Area
General Manager and led some pretty hard
hitting questioning on how the candidate would
set about restoring confidence in the railway
service: prioritise spending to ensure maximum
achievable improvement in service; and
ensure contractors provide
services to South West Trains' required
standards.
In the hot seat was Karen
Prevett, Station Manager at
Bournemouth but currently
seconded to the post of Revenue Protection
Manager. The group agreed that the
way she handled the questions was very skilled and
entirely credible. Karen herself had found it
unexpectedly challenging. I only had
half an hour to prepare and I couldn't believe how nervous I was getting waiting for the interview
to start. It was very realistic. I don't think the real thing could
be any worse and I think it has probably been a very useful
experience. Time will tell!"
Karen Prevett
chosen by the group as Group President
"That activity was typical of what we try to do." says Errol.
Everybody taking part was using skills they already have and which
they have maybe worked up a bit this week. Asking them to use them
in a very challenging situation, which may be beyond their current level of activity, and finding that they can do
it really well, builds confidence and encourages them to think,
'Well, why not me?'
The group's confidence in Karen is reflected in the fact that they
elected her group president and she will be responsible, with help
from vice-president Glenn Taylor, for organising the award event and
for liaison between the group and Scholar UK between the end of the
five day programme and the follow up day.
Summing up Glenn Taylor says "Errol never
makes you feel you don't know something or puts you down. We've had
a lot of laughs and there's never a graveyard slot, not even at 2
o'clock on the fourth day. I didn't know what to expect
when I came on the course but now I'm thinking I know this. Why
aren't I doing it?"
Errol Williams' new book,
'Pursuing
Excellence', on which the programme is based, is
available from Scholar International. |
