Our People
To deliver customer excellence we need to invest in our employees and recruit, develop and retain the best people in the rail industry.
Our Management Structure
Each train operating company has its own human resources management structure. This is supported by a Human Resource Forum which includes the human resources directors from each train operating company. The purpose of the Forum is to share best practice and identify strategic areas that should be developed consistently across the business.
A number of our train operating companies are seeking to achieve Investors in People accreditation with Hull Trains successfully achieving the standard this year.
Listening to Our Employees
Effective communication with our employees is instrumental in attracting and retaining the right people. We communicate with our employees in a number of ways including regular meetings, focus groups and newsletters. In addition, all our franchises run employee opinion surveys.
Hull Trains Achieve Investors in People
In January this year Hull Trains received the Investors in People (IiP) standard. The IiP report highlighted many areas of the company's operation as being particularly effective and stated the company has created a "caring and supportive culture" and an "ongoing and strong commitment to learning and development" noting that many staff progress through the company.
| Results of Our Employee Opinion Surveys (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 FSR | 2006 FSR | 2004 FTPE | 2006 FTPE | 2006 FGW | 2006 FCC | |
| Company management | 40 | 48 | 50 | 49 | 31 | 44 |
| First | 74 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 51 | 74 |
| Safety and employee welfare | 69 | 74 | 71 | 74 | 63 | 69 |
| Communications | 56 | 64 | 53 | 56 | 41 | 56 |
| Training and development | 50 | 50 | 52 | 55 | 40 | 53 |
| My manager/ supervisor/team leader | 59 | 63 | 63 | 69 | 57 | 60 |
| Company standards | 57 | 57 | 47 | 67 | 53 | 49 |
| Uniforms | 41 | 51 | 62 | 68 | 57 | 64 |
| Pensions and benefits | 95 | 95 | 94 | 92 | 93 | 95 |
Percentage of employees answering agree or strongly agree to a particular question.
The findings of these surveys are an important factor in developing our human resource management strategies and monitoring the effectiveness of our actions. In a number of companies, focus/ listening groups have been created to gain a deeper understanding of the issues raised by employees.
Communication has been a particular focus. The new franchises in particular have been working to effectively communicate their respective vision and values to employees. Other communication tools in development include management roadshows, strategy and vision DVDs, newsletters, weekly e-mail communication and staff suggestion schemes.