United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) develops leadership programme in light of organisational change at Dounreay

Case study in brief:

UKAEA is a world leader in decommissioning and regenerating nuclear sites
Dounreay, a nuclear site in northern Scotland, is currently in the process of being decommissioned by UKAEA
UKAEA identified the need for an effective leadership programme in preparation for organisational change
CPCR worked closely with the existing management team to create an effective leadership programme supported by a strong organisational development programme
Broad range of activities employed to promote staff understanding and develop leadership skills to achieve UKAEA goals at Dounreay
Collaboration across the organisation essential to delivering the new framework at Dounreay

The role of the UKAEA

Founded in 1954, UKAEA is a non-departmental public body, responsible to the UK Department of Trade and Industry, which pioneered the development of civil nuclear energy in the UK. Since the early 1990s, the public body has been focused on restoring the environment of nuclear sites and leading research into fusion power.

UKAEA’s core business is nuclear clean-up and as such is Europe’s most experienced decommissioning company, with a proven record of restoring sites and regenerating them to leave a positive legacy for the community.

The public body is currently managing the decommissioning process at Dounreay, a former civil research site located on the northern coast of Scotland, under contract to the new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Setting the scene in Scotland

Opened in 1955, Dounreay led the world in the research and development of fast reactor technology. Employing some 2,400 people at its peak, the site transformed the local economy, trbling the size of Thurso, the nearest town.

However by the late 1980s, uranium was no longer in such short supply and the UK government decided fast reactors would no longer be needed for commercial electricity generation. The last reactor shut down in 1994 and in the late 1990s UKAEA stopped all new commercial work to focus on decommissioning the site.

Restoring the 140 acre site is one of the most complex nuclear decommissioning tasks in the world, with the site’s history presenting significant challenges. Since the publication of the Dounreay Site Restoration Plan in 2000, UKAEA has already completed around 20% of the restoration programme. The clean-up operation is due for completion by 2036 at a projected cost of £2.9 billion.

Delivering decommissioning at Dounreay

UKAEA recognised that in order to deliver more effectively the decommissioning programme at Dounreay and meet the requirements of its new customer, the NDA, a new organisational structure would be required. As well as ensuring the right structure was in place, UKAEA also acknowledged that strong leadership supported by a robust organisational development (OD) programme was essential to ensure the successful delivery of the decommissioning programme.

In light of this, UKAEA appointed a steering group to manage the organisational change, encompassing representatives from UKAEA, and its business partners, AMEC and CH2MHill, which would work closely with the existing senior management team to improve leadership skills and implement the OD programme.

UKAEA recognised that it needed to find a consultancy partner that would help the senior management team enhance their leadership skills, creating a more consistent approach when dealing with people issues in light of the forthcoming changes.

It was decided that the public body needed external input to ensure its people received the support they needed to manage the new and challenging environment.

Following a personal introduction, UKAEA selected CPCR as it had a solid track record of working with public bodies such as the Food Standards Agency and the National Assembly for Wales.

Putting the OD programme in place

In order to meet the decommissioning goals of UKAEA, CPCR were tasked with working closely with the UKAEA steering group to identify a new organisational structure at Dounreay.

CPCR worked with UKAEA at an early stage in the project, using a variety of OD tools to bring about organisational development and culture change at Dounreay to sure that the existing management team were fit for purpose to implement an effective decommissioning programme.

CPCR kicked off the programme by using the Burke-Litwin Model to examine key aspects of organisational change and performance. The model provides a link between the wider institutional context and the nature of change within an organisation, examining the following aspects of organisational change:

External environment
Mission and strategy
Leadership
Organisational culture
Structure
Systems
Management practice
Work unit climate
Task and individual skills
Individual needs
Motivation
Individual and organisational performance

CPCR applied the Burke-Litwin model to the existing organisational structure at Dounreay, to identify the transformational elements of change that would be required to create a management team which could achieve UKAEA’s goals. The model was also used to identify transactional processes which would be required to enhance performance amongst staff working at lower levels in the organisation.

By considering both the strategic and operational aspects of change management, CPCR were able to adopt a collaborative approach which engaged staff across all levels of the organisation.

The findings provided CPCR with sufficient data to define the re-structured organisational and identify new teams within the revised structure as well as profiling the skills needed for each role.

Self assessing

The recruitment process for the roles in the new organisation proved a dual challenge for the CPCR team, faced with assessing the skills of the existing Dounreay workforce as well as the relative skills of applicants based at other nuclear sites around the country.

Assessment centres were held hosted by 4 assessors and 3 CPCR facilitators, with eight candidates assessed per day. In total sixty nine candidates were assessed over 4 days.

Candidates were provided with written information prior to attending the session, outlining the format of the day and any preparation required.

Assessment took place using the Scan, Relate and Act Model developed by CPCR to assess leadership performance. The model considers leaders ability to continuously scan and interpret the world around them, making sense of the bigger picture. It also considers how leaders balance the short term issues with long term issues and needs of internal and external stakeholders.

Secondly, the model examines how leaders establish and maintain effective relationships with people both inside and outside the organisation, achieving a sense of collaboration with their people.

Finally, the model considers whether leaders have the necessary skills to implement solutions and bring about effective performance in others, taking the lead on standards and monitoring the quality of outputs.

Prior to the assessment centre taking place, the senior management team were required to complete a self assessment questionnaire based on a set of the leadership competencies developed from the Scan, Relate and Act model. It also involved feedback from their line manager’s staff, peers and those outside the organisation with whom they had an established working relationship.

Other exercises were also employed throughout the day, including a group discussion, presentation and interview, a role play and a psychometric test. The assessors were trained by CPCR to observe, record, classify and evaluate the evidence gained from all the exercises. Listening and interviewing skills were also important skills for the assessors to use at the assessment centre.

Candidates were also required to complete the Collaborative Leadership Inventory (CLI), a new self perception tool developed exclusively by CPCR which helps identify an individual’s leadership strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of each session, each candidate’s performance was discussed and analysed by the assessors, with CPCR facilitating the discussion to ensure fair decision making based on the evidence available. The evidence collected from the assessment centres was used as the basis to allocate successful candidates to specific roles in the organisation. After being notified of the outcome, all received written feedback on their assessment centre performance.

Once the new teams were formed, UKAEA’s focus turned to ensuring that they were quickly embedded within the new organisation structure. This was achieved by facilitating decisions between management team and employees focusing on the core values, goals and overall restoration strategy of UKAEA and the steps being taken at Dounreay to meet UKAEA decommissioning targets.

The management team at Dounreay recognised that adopting an open, collaborative leadership style was a key factor in managing changing effectively. With this in mind, the leadership team also implemented a new performance management system which would allow the workforce to be assessed against the new criteria going forward.

Achieving success

CPCR worked closely with the UKAEA steering group throughout the project to achieve the ultimate goals of culture change and organisational development.

Commenting on the project, Simon Middlemas, Site Manager and head of the reorganisation project said, "We could not have achieved the radical change in so short a space of time without such a professional outfit as CPCR to assist us with the leadership and cultural changes. We are very grateful for their guidance and input."

Since the organisational development programme has been implemented, there has been a significant increased in productivity amongst the workforce, with Dounreay over delivering against its yearly performance targets.

Despite a challenging timescale, CPCR working in conjunction with UKAEA and has helped Dounreay achieved its goals within just six months. A new organisational structure is in place, complete with new teams and effective performance management systems.

Commenting on the project, Dipesh Shah, UKAEA Chief Executive described the transformation at Dounreay as, “the best example of change he has seen”. Looking ahead, the management team at Dounreay is now ideally placed to deliver decommissioning and help UKAEA achieve its aim of becoming the ‘contractor of choice’ in the nuclear industry.

Ascent PR

Back to case studies