ScotRail is a public service operated by a private company, FirstGroup, which won the franchise in 2004. We provide 95 per cent of Scotland’s train services. ScotRail has around 4,300 employees, with a large trade union membership and a traditional culture that questioned privatisation. There was a marked divide between management and the rest of the workforce. When I joined in March 2006 as HR director, the challenge was to create and deliver an end-to-end people strategy to drive performance and develop a more positive culture. At the time, there were few benefits for our people.

To develop the plan, I talked to a range of stakeholders, including trade unions, managers, staff and the directors. It was clear that the railway industry was steeped in history and was important to our staff: they had seen initiatives come and go, and could tell you what would or would not work. We developed a vision and values through workshops that were attended by more than 500 managers and staff. These were then cascaded through management conferences and face-to-face meetings with every member of staff.

We created a people brand – peopleFirst – to build on this, reflecting our values of safety, integrity, quality, professionalism and accessibility. It was underpinned in our internal communications and our recognition scheme, which rewards those whose behaviour supports these values.

The HR plan was seen to be essential to the business’s deliver of key performance indicators, which include improved operational performance, customer satisfaction and employee engagement.

We introduced a performance-development process for managers linked to a bespoke competency framework. To be accepted more readily, it was important that the framework used railway terms. We delivered three days’ training for each manager over six months to ensure the process and principles were fully understood, and brought in biannual Time With Your Manager sessions for our staff, a less threatening approach than appraisals.

Numeracy and literacy had been flagged as a problem by our union learning representatives, so Earn As You Learn was developed in response to this. Staff attend 10 two-hour learning sessions and receive 20 hours’ pay. More than 500 people have benefited from the programme.

We took risks by testing out benefits seen as radical in the industry. Well-being was important because absence levels were high. Staff are now offered smoking-cessation workshops, chiropody and on-site massage – with a company-funded hospital cash-plan to help pay for treatment. Another incentive was a pension salary sacrifice scheme, benefiting company and staff. We developed our staff survey in conjunction with trade unions. The results are shared with the unions, whose leaders then meet directors to develop action plans. As a result, our survey response rates have more than doubled, from 21 per cent to 44 per cent.

The results? We achieved Investors in People accreditation in 2008. Absence continues to fall; our Towers Perrin engagement score has increased from 66 per cent to 70 per cent of employees engaged – and we have been awarded a three-year rail franchise extension based on our levels of service delivery. The latest independent National Passenger Survey put overall customer satisfaction with ScotRail at 90 per cent – a record high.

Lessons learnt
- Involve as many stakeholders as you can when developing an HR strategy; understand key business measures and ensure the plan is aligned to business objectives.
- Put in place initiatives that fit the organisation – not just what is flavour of the month.
- Stay committed to your plan and don’t add new things. Embed each element deeply.
- Communicate constantly.
- Take a risk and be innovative.