In collaboration with Women in Transport (WiT), PA Consulting hosted a transport resilience workshop on the 6th September 2023 with over 30 aviation, rail, road, and logistics leaders to uncover the challenges to embedding and uplifting resilience.
Building on the recently published report, ‘The always-on advantage’, attendees identified challenges and practical steps, with the objective to create an agenda for change. It is based on three themes: mindset, muscle, and ecosystem.
Here, we explore the outputs across each theme.
Figure 1: Transport Resilience agenda for change - output from WiT x PA women in Transport workshop
Transport resilience: an agenda for change
1. Embed a resilience mindset
In transport, a resilience mindset is vital at a time when the industry faces a number of key challenges – not least a complex network of interdependent systems that can be vulnerable to natural disasters and changing economic conditions. Our conversations uncovered three critical priorities relating to mindset.
First, fostering cross-functional teams is necessary to combat organisational hurdles. Second, recognising the varying reactive and proactive mindsets across roles and modes is crucial for a safety-oriented culture. Finally, implementing mentorship programs throughout the organisation fosters collaboration, enabling knowledge sharing and resilience at all levels.
Introduce cross-functional teams to overcome organisational and cultural challenges
Several key challenges and strategic considerations emerged from our workshop. These included the presence of red tape, governance structures that prevent adaptability and responsiveness. Another described how hierarchical structures and the inclination to safeguard the status quo has restrained innovation and resilience.
Organisational culture and values play a pivotal role in shaping a mindset that can address these challenges. Cross-functional input was recognised by attendees as crucial to creating diverse perspectives. This can help foster a collaborative, adaptable, and open culture where people are able to challenge the status quo.
Embrace reactive and proactive mindset variation across roles and modes
The variations in mindset across modes are exemplified by the difference in the response and planning strategies and approaches of different modes. Aviation colleagues spoke of how they often exhibit a reactive mindset, in contrast to rail, which tends to be characterised by a more planned and methodical approach. In some part these differences are rooted in historical practice, where aviation’s safety standards were primarily developed in response to accident. Yet aviation leaders also highlighted that the lack of flexibility around processes acted as a barrier to new thinking.
All mode leaders agreed that continuous improvement was key to progress, and it starts by empowering employees to question current processes. This can be achieved by using data to drive decision making, which is central to any culture seeking to build resilience.
Harness mentorship to diversify knowledge sharing
“Resilience should be treated like health and safety – include resilience moments in meetings, induction training, regular training, to make it become part of the mindset. This way not everyone has to deal with the crisis, but everyone has an awareness of spotting and flagging issues.”– Sonya Byers, CEO of Women in Transport.
In a bid to manage and contain threats, many transport operations have been deliberately siloed. However, the operational setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic showed that collaboration with other people and organisations is essential. Attendees told us that the transition to this way of working was initially slow and hindered by a gap in managerial and leadership knowledge. It called for new levels of trust, empowerment, and giving teams new-found autonomy.
A solution lies with continuous learning, where the fresh perspectives of reverse mentoring can not only challenge established mindsets, but also allow for knowledge and skills transfer throughout all levels of the organisation. Building support systems and mentorship programs are instrumental in nurturing resilience at all levels, from individuals to the entire organisation. There is also value in engaging all employees to generate ideas on resilient crisis and major incidents management and allowing the time for innovative thinking.
2. Train your resilience muscle
In today’s rapidly changing and uncertain world, organisational resilience is not just a defensive strategy but a means to thrive and prosper – even in challenging circumstances. While certain processes can create the right resilience mindset, people and the organisation need to be aware of them, be comfortable using them, and regularly ‘flex the muscle’ of using these processes. For this, an organisation needs to develop resilience training that enables colleagues to develop skills in relation to scenario planning and uncertain events. These targets and strategies need to be included as a company-wide programme for resilience that supports existing targets and processes.
Develop strategies for the ‘what ifs?”
Our workshop participants identified that transport organisations often lack frameworks and standardised control systems, which leads to varying responses to disruptive events. Moreover, major disruptive events are not tested nearly enough, and there is concern about who is responsible for building resilience within organisations.
One senior rail leader explained how there is “not much of what we did then (during a crisis) that we still do now”. A top-down approach is needed to plan for major disruptive events, and often there is insufficient resource allocation to resilience efforts due to a lack of senior leadership strategy. A symptom of this challenge means that tried-and-tested solutions such as scenario planning and wargaming exercises programmes do not happen as frequently as they should, despite learnings from disruptive events such as the stand-still environment of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent uncertainty of demand post-pandemic.
To develop ‘what if’ strategies, our participants suggested the strong need to establish standardised control systems and frameworks to provide clear guidelines and procedure for managing disruptive events. These frameworks should encompass areas such as crisis and major incidents management processes, communication protocols and resource allocation strategies. Incorporating lessons learnt from past disruptive events can further inform on future strategies and help in designing effective response plans. Finally, all this would not be achievable without the sufficient resource allocation to resilience efforts across organisations, which include training, technology, and infrastructure improvements. Periodically reviewing resilience plans can help transport organisations adapt to evolving risks and challenges to ensure their strategic resilience planning remains relevant and effective over time.
Build routine and muscle memory of deploying scenario planning and wargaming exercises programme
Organisations need to be able to react differently to each disruptive event and repurpose, re-train, and upskill to avoid overreliance on a single approach. Some transport leaders suggested that their inflexibility stems from people not questioning current processes. In response, a senior airport leader highlighted how they use ‘decision-gyms’ to practice thinking under pressure across all levels of the organisation, with regular sessions based on events with the greatest impact. This enables knowledge sharing, which helps build routine and strengthens muscle memory in case of disruptive events.
Some transport leaders are also looking towards artificial intelligence (AI) as a resource for resilience planning to enhance preparedness for enhanced scenario planning and wargaming. A senior leader in rail emphasised how “using data and getting an organisation to shift away from anecdotes can support scenario planning and exercising”.
Bridging the gap between building a resilient mindset to training our muscle memory calls for continuous training, with an emphasis on developing resources for training. Using games on mobile devices to develop muscle memory for major disruptive situations has the potential to incentivise repeat training. It also provides a safe environment for employees to practise their response, and allows them to better prepare for high-pressure situations in the workplace.
Rethink strategic targets and organisational processes
Workshop participants agreed that to successfully implement resilience strategies in transport organisations, there is a need to reconsider targets and processes. Many organisations are still heavily focused on recovering from disruptive events. Re-establishing strategic targets and processes are actions that can be done today. These can lead to implementing resilience strategies across organisations to help future-proof them in case of disruption.
When it comes to attracting new talent, resilience-related skills and experience are necessary to recruiting individuals and build on organisational resilience. Forming resilience focus groups for different business areas can also help foster cross-sectional problem-solving and collaboration, helping to inform strategic targets across the organisation.
3. Build a resilient transport ecosystem
Transport services depend on a complex network of interconnecting organisations, including external partners and suppliers, those within individual modes and beyond, and within and across national boundaries. In such environments, a resilient ecosystem will enhance the resilience capacity of individuals and organisations. To achieve this, organisations need to embrace cross-organisational collaboration, and extend knowledge sharing and communication with other transport modes, government organisations, and their own current supply chain. Starting to map out who you are reliant on, and vice versa, is the priority.
Break organisational silos and form cross-organisational matrices
Transport modes, and their supply chains, often face the same challenges – and the same opportunities. For example, the performance of highways is extremely reliant on the power sector. In aviation, the whole supply chain poses an opportunity for collaborating on the challenge of decarbonisation, which is interlinked with sustainable aviation fuels and other innovations. Or think how electric vehicles, digital roads, and charging infrastructure are coupled with each other.
During our workshop, numerous examples of impressive collaboration came to light. For instance, timely communication between a cross-border rail operator and border force teams helping to reduce passenger delays to crossing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Or when airlines, government departments, manufacturers, airlines, regulators, and other stakeholders held regular calls during the pandemic to ensure safe conditions to fly. These examples show the speed at which organisations can safeguard operations and adapt to change by making sure there is a resilient ecosystem in place, and by being prepared to share relevant data and information with each other. To do this, organisations must create communication channels across public and private sectors.
Introduce knowledge sharing across all transport modes
The rapid collaboration and data sharing that took place between different organisations when COVID-19 struck is something that all transport leaders agree should continue.
A shift in this direction calls for leaders to embrace openness and data sharing to facilitate collaboration and communication for resilience. For example, an aviation leader mentioned that the mode is particularly well-equipped on near-miss reporting, but that this knowledge is not always shared with other modes. Greater knowledge sharing and communication can help build the right structures to respond to unforeseen events, and to be proactive rather than reactive.
Map the clear value of resilience across the supply chain
There is a need for a clear and transparent mapping of interdependencies and value chains across operating models. This includes working closely with suppliers to ensure they are aligned with the resilience structures in place, and to innovate, collaborate, and share ideas.
Transport organisations should encourage their suppliers to share data and intellectual property as the norm. There is also the need to work together when setting Key Performance Indicators so that resilience progress can be measured accurately. Business and operating models also need to be flexible to change, so they can withstand shocks and impacts. Changing amendments in supplier contracts can be costly, so there is incentive to knowledge share as default.
Welcome communication channels between public and private sector
A common thread across all themes was the need for centralised knowledge sharing across the industry – whether that be a forum, network, or learning legacies documentation. Some respondents mentioned that the facilitator or owner of this function should be a government body, such as the Department for Transport (DfT). Transport leaders agreed that this forum needs to have strong momentum and buy-in to make lasting change. This could be achieved through the body establishing a network for open communication to foster sharing of lessons learned, track what has worked and what has not, and to act as a space to ask questions. This would form the agenda of priorities and communication channels to flag issues and focus areas.
A ‘one size fits all approach’ to funding will be unlikely to solve every organisation’s often complex resilience issues. There needs to be a clearer measurement of resilience that is potentially regulated by a body like the DfT. An expert in rail highlighted that investment opportunities currently sit in multiple departments which poses a resilience challenge from a streamlined funding perspective.
There is a need to learn from past mistakes. This can only be fostered by open lines of communication and collaboration, bringing people together across different industries, establishing ownership and accountability and creating data transparency.
Take action
From our workshops, many transport leaders acknowledge that significant and unpredictable disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, warrant investment to build a resilience mindset, muscle, and ecosystem. They also recognise the importance of applying the valuable lessons learned from the past few years.
Crucially, it emerged that leaders must look beyond operational resilience and include forward-looking proactive strategic resilience planning. It’s a move from ad-hoc, responsiveness resilience, to always-on resilience – a switched-on, fluid capability that is able to respond to whatever the disruption of the moment is.
The transport resilience movement is ongoing, and the upcoming year promises a continued focus on solutions for the industry to withstand disruptions and challenges. These initiatives are aimed at creating a more proactive approach to ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of the different modes across the transport sector.
Read the full PA Consulting report here.
To stay up to date on our latest events and reports, and to contribute your thoughts to the agenda for change, please do get in touch with us at TransportResilience@paconsulting.com
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