The RailStaff Awards 2024

Emma Power

Said the following about Continuous Improvement Training Team IP Track:

“About the Continuous Improvement Programme

The IP Track Continuous Improvement Programme (CIP) was launched in September 2015 with the aim to create a culture of continuous improvement across IP Track. One work stream of the programme was to train over 600 IP Track colleagues, contract staff and alliance partners in Continuous Improvement tools and techniques with the following ultimate training output:

“To empower our people to make, embed and share changes that make us more effective and more efficient, enhancing quality, safety and our reputation.”

About the Continuous Improvement Training

The Continuous Improvement Training Team worked with Lean industry experts to generate IP Track’s “Continuous Improvement Toolbox” consisting of 10 lean tools ranging from 5s workplace organisation to TIMWOODS waste identification to As-is to-be process mapping. However the CIP team were aware that continuous improvement tools and methods were not the only thing IP Track needed to focus on to initiate, grow and nurture an IP Track continuous improvement culture. Therefore our training and ethos also focused on the soft skills required for an effective continuous improvement culture such as key stakeholder engagement, presentation skills and developing a robust business case for larger scale improvement initiatives.

Logistically, the training project involved managing over 600 delegates and organising over 30 courses across the country within a 6 month time frame. To achieve this in such a short timescale, the training team utilised a novel sign-up website and endeavoured to reduce training costs by booking internal Network Rail locations. Overall, the programme team managed to save over £50k in anticipated venue costs and training material.

Delivering Exceptional Value for Money

The continuous improvement training has delivered exceptional value for money with over £6 million pounds of cost saving projects having been identified and rolled out. On successful completion, the £6m of savings represents more than a 10-1 ROI (return on investment) i.e. the training has paid for itself more than ten times over. Examples of cost saving projects include a procurement project being lead in the S&C North alliance which compares the PPE suppliers of Amey and NR to obtain the most cost-effective quote, a project in the S&C South Alliance which has reduced the cost of skip hire by ordering a more economical size of skip and last but not least, a project in plain line which involved the utilisation of cascade/leftover rail in subsequent plain line renewals.

BUT, it is not just about cost savings, as many ideas are around process improvements, quality and safety which all go to make IP Track an even better place to work. An example would be the plain line construction completion certificate process which originally took 59 days and fifty steps and was reduced to seven steps and four days.

Continuously Improving

The Continuous Improvement Training Team have always tried to lead by example and have actively taken on board and implemented changes to the training following on from feedback. Two examples include the training material provided, originally a large A4 folder, which was then modified to a spiral bound notebook for ease of travel. We also received some feedback around the duration of the training and so the team piloted a condensed version towards the back end of the training programme which was very successful.

Positive Feedback

The training team received consistently high feedback (average of 82% positive for both trainer and course) during the 6 month intensive training timeline. This course feedback was further followed up by an end of training survey to all training participants (600 people) which captured some very positive feedback:

“I thought it would be a waste of time but it was actually very interesting, for work and life outside of work”

“A truly excellent initiative that has been very well organised and implemented, I only wish it could be replicated in other business areas of Network Rail”

“It was very interesting and a lot crammed into the three days. The first day was mind blowing and the second day was trying to apply what you would improve to a day-to-day process.”

Another positive fact that came out was that 1/3 of people trained are working on an improvement project with another 1/3 looking to start an improvement project in the near future.

The new IP Track CI Culture

The Continuous Improvement Culture in IP Track is now growing. We have developed a website which receives approximately 100 visitors a month and have over 140 continuous improvement projects launched across IP Track. Colleagues have also started sharing more ideas and improvements than ever before seen through a 25% increase in “share with pride” emails being sent. All new starters are now invited to a Continuous Improvement Training course so they can understand the continuous improvement culture in IP Track and get involved.

Continuous Improvement is becoming part of the way we do things in IP Track and couldn’t have been achieved without delivering a successful training programme, well received by the IP Track population.“