Great Leaders Programme - Aspiring Directors Application Summary

Ed Barford

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL An aspect of the business that I feel needs improvement is the so-called “silo mentality” whereby we often appear to be operating as distinct areas of activity, with insufficient understanding and appreciation of other areas of the business. In my role, as Head of the Westminster contract, I am very much aware of the importance of our different areas of expertise working closely and collaboratively and have witnessed just what can be achieved when they do. At an operational level, we work in divisions, but we should not be divided. At a wider level, we operate all sorts of support services to our operational teams, but it is often the case that people are not aware of what life can be like in each other’s shoes. • A Day in My Shoes: This would see people experience a day in the life of someone in a completely different area of the business, perhaps even helping in some way for the day as a sort of internal work experience placement. • Site/Plant Visits: This would see groups of people attending supervised visits to working sites (if they are plant or depot based) or to plants/depots (if they are site based). • Coffee Break Calls: Participants are randomly paired with other participants for an informal 30-minute video chat with each other, with no set agenda other than to meet and talk with others from all areas of the business. • Spotlight on Staff Videos: These would be short videos documenting a typical day or week of staff members from across the whole spectrum. • Meet the Board: Anyone from any part of the company is given the opportunity to enter a ballot to attend a video call with the FMC Board. I feel that introducing initiatives such as these would help us retain the small business feel as we continue to grow and help people to feel included as part of the wider business. There would potentially be numerous benefits to productivity, efficiency, well-being and staff retention. My suggestions to help improve this would include:

THREE PILLARS PROPOSAL My proposal for a business development initiative is something that I believe will be relatively easy to implement, but that will support all three of the strategic pillars. Our vehicles are collectively one of our largest assets. They are key to our self-delivery model but are also unfortunately responsible for generating a large proportion of carbon emissions associated with site works. There are also large numbers of vehicles, carrying out numerous journeys each day and this can generate large amounts of data. I proposal to introduce a driver behaviour and journey analytics programme. By focussing on the journeys that are made the reasons they are made and the way in which they are made, there will be benefits to each of the three beneath areas: - Carbon and the Environment The programme would include a detailed analysis of the journeys that are made each day with a view to reducing the overall number of miles driven through initiatives such as journey sharing, redeployment of staff to local contracts. It would also allow those vehicles most suitable for replacement with electric alternatives to be identified. Additionally, it would look to introduce departmental KPIs around driving style (e.g., mpg/harsh acceleration & braking) Technology We already collect data on our vehicle’s movements, however a holistic and detailed analysis via Map16 would give us some powerful tools. As well as supporting the Carbon and Self-Delivery initiatives, the programme would also investigate the other ways in which we can use the data generated through vehicle tracking as well as what other data could be collected by our vehicles as they drive through the streets of our customers. Self-Delivery Our ability to deliver our own people, plant and materials to site and remove our own waste is key to the success of the self-delivery model. The programme would allow us to provide unrivalled customer service to our own sites. By assisting with the scheduling of journeys, predicting journey times and providing live updates to site, our site’s work can be planned efficiently around the timings of deliveries and collections.

APPLICATION SUMMARY

Wendy: Application was acceptable and provided a lot of detail. Useful ideas suggested.

Sam: Generic answers, development strategic, lengthy, had researched leadership and dropped into his application. Sue: Meets eligibility criteria, operating at the required level to enter the programme. However, has not yet finished his previous studies. Would benefit from working with peer group.

Decision: Shortlist

4

5