Update on the Nuclear Waste Services RACER Programme
We’re at the end of the second year of Acorn’s involvement in supporting the Repository Asset Care Enhancements and Remediation (RACER) programme for Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) and there’s plenty of positive progress to report.
Hailed as a major programme on the Repository site when launched in March 2022, the purpose for RACER was that of giving Nuclear Waste Services greater capacity to support current operations and future developments.
As reported in the On The Level publication in the article Major new programme puts asset care centre stage, “RACER focuses on the delivery of key regulatory commitments and strategic infrastructure to develop and operate the site, enabling major capital programmes.”
“This included a mix of physical works, such as site gate upgrades, perimeter track and site drainage improvements, and design and procurement activities.”
Acorn’s appointment to the programme was to support collaboration between NWS and Jacobs, the delivery partner, which from the outset was identified as being key to the success of RACER.
“There’s still the best part of a year of our involvement with the RACER senior leadership and wider delivery teams but our work to date has already delivered tangible, positive results.” Says Acorn’s Keith Longney.
“We were appointed to embody collaboration and raise team performance within RACER, and to make working together easier for both client and contractor, both here and now and for the future, helping establish a framework and approaches that can ensure this activity informs future ways of working.”
Every four months the senior lead team (SLT) and individuals from the wider RACER team completed Acorn’s collaboration questionnaire, a tool which provides information on where focus is needed, where progress has been made and where there is still room for improvement.
“The questionnaire measures nine key behaviours which, over the duration of the project, allows us and the SLT to identify and evaluate progress made and how things have improved – or not – within the teams over time.”
“Surveying individuals in this way captures a snapshot of collaborative behaviours within the team at that moment in time. As the programme progresses, further identical questionnaires are conducted and, over time, we build a more informed picture of improvements made and areas in need of increased focus.”
“For RACER, this meant the relationship between client and contractor and it also surveyed the functional interfaces within NWS, whether that be quality, safety, engineering etc.
“We recognise that NWS is going through quite a significant change [part of the transition from LLWR] that’s impacting their own service levels, and our approach has been mindful of how this might also affect the relationship between them and Jacobs.”
At a recent programme workshop the senior leadership team, including Mike Piggott, Director of Waste Operations and Sites at Nuclear Waste Services, collectively reviewed the results from the latest collaboration questionnaire.
“They analysed them and looked at where there have been successes – and there have been a number of demonstrable successes. As always, there is the presence of absence and this was quite significant.” continues Keith.
“In the past there has been feedback pertaining to quality of leadership or leadership style, or empowerment, but those elements were no longer present. Not only were we seeing consistently positive statements [from the SLT and the wider RACER team], but there were no longer the negative comments which were evident in earlier questionnaire responses.”
Like all surveys, whilst the numbers deliver the data it’s the comments in the open text areas which are the most insightful and most powerful. All of the questionnaires are submitted with the assurance of complete anonymity which supports open and honest feedback from participants.
“Rather than sitting back on their laurels after the review session, the team were further emboldened and the rest of the day saw that focus continue with them looking at ways to further improve collective performance.”
Moving forward, Acorn will continue working with this team until June 2024 and, whilst already very successful, there are still identified areas for improvement with further marginal gains to be made.
During the closing session the team were tasked with making sure the programme is ‘seen through’ and completed fully: “After so many positives it’s easy to sit back on one’s laurels but ‘taking our eye off the ball’ could unravel many of those successes. We now need to ensure that intensity remains until the end and there is transference of the learning and experiences.”
“We must remain diligent right through to the very last item of delivery; it’s understandable that people [both at NWS and Jacobs] will already be assigned to future projects, but it’s vital that they all see this through to the end.”
Client feedback on the RACER Programme
“Our primary focus when launching RACER was establishing the team’s common purpose, values, and individual and collective behaviours. Together with our supply-chain partner Jacobs, we reached out to Acorn Coaching & Development for support.”
“I’ll invite others to summarise that journey below, however last week I saw the results of a long journey of team building at the RACER team workshop – a common purpose, incredibly mature team integration, and a legacy of asset enhancements to show for it (the Grouting Facility ‘best it has operated in 10 years’), with a laser-like focus on remaining tasks in the pipeline (for example our leachate management system and electrical distribution).”
Mike Piggott, Director of Waste Operations & Sites at Nuclear Waste Services
Article image: The NWS / Jacobs team at an Acorn RACER programme day, June 2023