What gets measured, gets done

My Open University MBA has been in many ways more influential than my technical degree. Technical skills are very important but shaping the organisations I have led to ensure they deliver has drawn heavily from my MBA learnings. The fact that I did the MBA whist in full time employment, enabled me to apply the theory in practice which was really powerful.

When I became Ops Director at United Utilities the business was underperforming and the Board needed to see action. In many ways it was a baptism of fire but I had a great team and through leveraging the capability and skills across the organisation we were able to turn the performance of the business around. This taught me the power of the “multiplier effect” that can be achieved if you can truly empower and leverage the capability of the team. Get it right and the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts - it was hard work but we loved it.

UU had a strong development programme for employees. I was able to experience many different roles at all levels within the organisation. This gave me the opportunity to develop my leadership skills, understand the business and our people. As a junior manager, and even though it didn’t seem so at the time, I was fortunate enough to face some really challenging situations such as having to manage the aftermath of big storms. These events had a big impact on my outlook and the way I see challenges as opportunities.

Workforce Enablement was a key change project impacting over 600 industrial staff at risk of outsource. Through the rapid development and deployment of a range of measures which included a Workforce Management solution, supervisor enablement training and a performance management framework providing line sight for performance across the business, we were able to systematically and radically improve efficiency by over 25%, and achieve this in a way that created a more enjoyable and engaging workplace for employees.

The double digit growth in electricity demand in Abu Dhabi created unique challenges in all aspects of the electricity system -  from generation through to supply. With huge pressure on resources, building sufficient infrastructure quickly enough was stretching. As the Regulator our focus was to ensure that the network and generation businesses had sufficiently robust plans in place to ensure the lights stayed on.

As the sector Regulator, our role was to ensure the efficient development of the utility sector to meet the Emirates’ needs. The work was wide ranging and included supporting the adoption by the regulated distribution companies of billions of dirhams worth of electricity network assets in each of the Mega Developments, huge cities being built in the desert, and ensuring the efficient integration of four new nuclear power stations into the grid.

Building capability by developing apprenticeship frameworks for Emiratis to enable locally grown talent to flourish was another important focus for me.

Motivating energy efficiency in a very low but heavily subsidised electricity space was also important. Through the establishment of the Powerwise office we showcased first of a kind projects in the region including, demand side management in large buildings, incentivising electricity efficiency though the provision of smart meters, and deploying energy efficiency solutions in domestic properties to demonstrate their impact on energy saving.

My key focus has been about creating the right structure to drive performance, coupled with the implementation of new systems to enable performance to be measured and managed. Early on I created separate asset management and delivery functions. This enabled us to focus effort more appropriately and ensure sufficient time was being allocated between the what and the how. In addition I led the development and implementation of our Project Management Office function to drive more efficient and effective delivery of key projects. I also developed our early stage digital strategy that has now flourished into a key part of our business under Director of Technology Werner Bornman.

The Chief Operating Officer role was an evolution of my role to reflect the additional business areas which became part of my team over the last couple of years, including our Customer Experience team and JEBS. Two key areas of focus this year have been the development and implementation of our customer strategy and ramping up of our capital delivery capability, the latter in support of the Island’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap, but also our large ground-based solar projects and grid renewal works. This has included the establishment of a new team as well as the use of ground breaking technology to focus investment precisely to meet the needs of customers.

Be proactive not reactive, seek to anticipate future direction and think ahead of time about how and where you want to be in that future space. Giving yourself the space and time to develop thinking, away from day to day operational matters is key. Returning to delivery - performance visibility is key. Implement systems, tools and frameworks to make performance transparent and measurable – remember, what gets measured gets done. Take nothing for granted, continue to challenge your assumptions to ensure there are no surprises!

The sector is undergoing a huge transformation. I think in the next five years we can look forward to greater levels of embedded generation as the cost of this technology continues to reduce. As part of this we are also likely to see home battery storage becoming more popular. EVs will continue to increase in popularity and, with this, the potential for customers to use the energy stored in their car batteries to power the home or feedback in to the grid (often referred to a V2x). We should see good progress on work to facilitate offshore wind and at JE we are working hard developing new propositions to support the energy transition by providing solutions for customers to transition to zero carbon electric heating solutions.