FEATURE SKILLS |
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How data insights can transform rail skills Sally Shellum and Jonny Buckley explain how a data-driven approach to training provides the opportunity for rail to get the right training to the right people at the right time
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aving a skilled workforce with the right competences is fundamental to the rail industry’s ability to run safe and effective operations. Across the industry, tens of thousands of staff are deployed daily to inspect, maintain and upgrade our national infrastructure and rolling stock. All these employees need ongoing training to make skills and competences keep pace with the network’s evolving demands. Planning training to provide the right skills and competences when and where they’re needed is complex and timeconsuming. The sheer number of moving parts – from the changing conditions of infrastructure and assets, through to the roll-out of new technologies such as Digital Railway and modern rolling stock, and the developing nature of individuals’ knowledge and experience – is daunting. This complexity is perhaps why rail, like other asset-heavy industries, has often
tended to stick with traditional approaches to training needs analysis. Training has been allocated according to roles, grades and historical requirements, with plans based on the previous year’s training activity. But the drawbacks are many. Annual training plans are unable to evolve to reflect the changing situation on the ground, so are quickly out of date. And the lack of a clear link between training interventions and its impact on network performance means training spend is often seen as an overhead. At a time when rail industry budgets are coming under pressure, this misses an opportunity to frame training spend as an investment in raising operational standards and hitting performance goals. Given this complex picture, industry leaders are left wondering how best to identify and deliver the right training to the right people at the right time, all while drawing a clear link to improved operational performance and safe delivery. The answer lies in using data and digital tools to make the link between performance, training needs and outcomes – and to do so at pace. There are three actions that can drive this: 1. Use data-led evidence to uncover fresh insights into needs and outcomes. 2. Close the loop between training and performance. 3. Harness new digital delivery modes. Use data-led evidence The traditional approach to training, based on precedent, organisational matrices and roles, can fail to improve the individual and team competence and capability needed to improve operational performance. Leaders need a fresh approach that’s driven by needs and outcomes, not by legacy working. Data-driven insights offer the potential for training leaders to identify far more effectively the learning interventions required to achieve optimal outcomes. In this respect, Network Rail Training is already ahead of the game. PA is working with the organisation to develop awardwinning systems and decision-support
tools that will modernise the industry’s approach to how it plans workforce learning. This includes aggregating and analysing operational data to link performance to the competences and skills needed to manage engineering tasks and deliver high-performing systems. PA and Network Rail have developed intelligent algorithms to calculate the impact of planned training interventions and understand how this will change both future competence requirements and, therefore future training requirements. Close the loop Key to linking training and performance is making sure outcomes can be identified, tracked and assessed, noting that there is likely a lag between delivery of the optimal training plan and frontline teams having the opportunity to demonstrate their new skills on the infrastructure. Training is still largely viewed as an overhead rather than as an investment. Data can flip this on its head Rail Professional
