Recruitment and retention
The UK rail industry does not have the high turnover of staff experienced in the UK bus industry. However, growth demands that we continually recruit at a time when the railway industry is facing a shortage of operational expertise. It is therefore strategically vital that we place ourselves at the front of the field in retaining and attracting talented individuals.
Succession planning
We recently conducted an Operations Succession Review, the purpose of which was to identify opportunities and solutions to respond to the challenges of retaining and developing strong operational expertise.
Recommendations have been made on how the UK Rail division can grow individuals through career development and talent management, and these are currently being implemented.
Recruitment
We have a well established standard process for recruiting train drivers. We run both apprenticeship and graduate schemes that allow us to develop our employees to suit our business needs. We also take part in the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC ) development scheme for professional engineers. This provides a training programme and fast track route to Chartered Engineer status.
We have recently strengthened our recruitment processes for management level staff. The competency criteria developed as part of our leadership development programme are now being used to assess potential candidates as part of the recruitment process. A question bank and interview framework is also being developed for all front-line roles. Both will ensure a consistent approach to recruitment across the Rail Division.
Graduate development scheme
I joined First ScotRail in 2005 as part of a structured General Management training programme. I spent my time working in areas such as station management and train crew management as well as Group functions including marketing, train planning and HR, learning about the rail industry from various perspectives.
After the initial 12 months, I started work as a station team manager in Inverness, responsible for 42 stations and 26 station staff. Following a reorganisation of areas, I have recently been appointed to the position of Retail Manager for both Aberdeen and Inverness areas. I am now responsible for the operation of all 54 stations within my area, and for the management of three station team managers and their teams.
First ScotRail’s recruitment campaign recognised at Scottish Recruitment Awards
An online recruitment campaign which attracted more than 80,000 job applications in a matter of months was honoured this year. The initiatives saw Change Solutions on behalf of First ScotRail win Best Recruitment Campaign at the Scottish Recruitment Awards 2008. The award pays tribute to outstanding achievements of recruitment companies across Scotland.