3 minute read
4. PEOPLE
THE CHALLENGE
People are at the heart of innovation. With the right leadership, enabling behaviours, and diversity of thought, it is possible to achieve a workplace culture that organically embraces innovation. For the UK rail sector, however, there is still some way to go in making innovation business as usual. Despite bolstered efforts in recent years, the industry continues to suffer from major skills challenges, including an ageing workforce and lack of a diverse talent pipeline. These challenges, coupled with the low-risk appetite that accompanies high safety and performance standards, create an environment that does not always favour innovation.
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A common barrier to innovation within any organisation is the necessary focus on day-to-day delivery and operations. Many teams and individuals do not have the time or space to sit back and consider how to do things differently, leading to a tendency towards the status quo. Within traditional engineering organisations there is a natural focus on productivity, meeting deadlines, and delivering to budget. Organisations that prioritise delivery to the detriment of creativity will fail to enable innovation; our industry needs a mind-set in which innovation can thrive.
Resourcing for innovation is part of a broader skills and talent challenge faced by the industry. UK rail has long been susceptible to a lack of continuity, fragmentation, and frequent changes in direction. This, driven by economic and political cycles has created an environment in which organisations struggle to commit resources and undertake long term planning. In turn, this can block investment in areas of research, technology, and innovation. The lack of a consistent rolling programme (outside major renewals) causes a loss of momentum and expertise, with the uncertainty often leading those working within rail to look for more secure employment options.
In recent years, there has been a notable trend in creating roles and entire teams with the distinct aim of driving innovation within rail. However, this is not without its own challenges. Such approaches can result in a perception of innovation as a separate discipline that is detached from the reality of managing and running an operational railway.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A key enabler of innovation at TfN is to create a culture that welcomes new ideas and where failure is not penalised, developing a ‘fail fast, fail cheap’ culture which can ultimately reduce the cost of innovation. Having the resources and capabilities that act as innovation enablers across the business will help to achieve this. Encouraging an innovative mind-set begins at the top, with the involvement and support of the senior leadership, alongside comprehensive stakeholder, and community engagement to understand the needs on the ground. For organisations at the start of their innovation journey, a dedicated innovation team embedded across disciplines can help to build internal engagement and awareness about what it means to innovate, with an end goal of innovation becoming business as usual.
TfN should lead the industry in providing a visible pipeline of projects, giving confidence to those who work in the supply chain and supporting the case for innovation. A change of emphasis from multiple, interconnected delivery projects to more incremental change would support the development of resources that will deliver the transport outcomes needed for the north.
Resourcing for innovation in rail is intrinsically linked to the ongoing skills crisis in the industry. Involvement from groups such as the Professional Engineering Institutions, Young Rail Professionals and Women in Rail can provide opportunities for people to meet counterparts with a different perspective and novel ideas. It can also help to connect technical specialists with their customers and the economic realities for the passengers and freight customers they serve.
