SUPPLY CHAIN | BUILDING A RECRUITMENT STRATEGY these technicians typically have a basic set of
qualifications and practical experience in their technical field. In this case, a nuclear industry organisation needs only to provide facility-specific and nuclear fundamentals training after the individual joins the enterprise. However, they continue, it is important that government agencies, industry and academia collaborate nationally and internationally to create a framework to support education and training for the nuclear energy sector. This includes considering funding and planning for nuclear R&D being integrated with funding for education. Similarly, organisations funding nuclear R&D need to ensure that education and training aspects are included as a component of research activities. Networking of academic institutions is another key strategy for capacity building that can make better use of available educational resources.
Candidate pipelines from industry Following the analysis of the knowledge, skills and abilities required, the report says it is possible to identify those industries and organisations whose workforce already have some of the competences required for the nuclear industry. These could include organisations within the nuclear industry, such as those running research reactors, within nuclear medicine and other adjacent or relevant industries, for instance, energy, rail, petrochemicals, aviation or mega infrastructure. The military, especially navy personnel with nuclear propulsion experience, are also a potential source, observes the IAEA. However, attracting candidates from these sectors may
mean competing against other potential employers. This competitive environment will need to be reflected in the HR recruitment and retention strategy. The number and competence of the permanent staff
Below: Nuclear enterprises can work with academic institutions to help build-in the right skills sets for school-leavers and graduates
required depends on the outsourcing strategy of the organisation. For example, on some nuclear power plants maintenance and some technical support functions have been performed through a contract with the original equipment supplier or another third-party contractor. Some of the required assessment and inspection services can also be outsourced. Here the report also highlights the difficulty of maintaining competence for infrequent, specialist tasks and the availability of internal and external skills, and resources. Further to this, the availability and cost of external services and the legal and regulatory
requirements also need to be considered. The range of third-party services required may be affected by the ability of the organisation to hire and retain personnel internally, taking into account the minimum staff required. Other considerations, including the risk management approach, need to be factored in too. The IAEA sums up by saying, whatever the situation, a nuclear licensee can never delegate overall responsibility for safety and must ensure it can maintain sufficient competent staff to manage any outsourced activity.
Management and retention Succession management involves the identification of individuals as potential successors for each key position and then targeting development activities to help them prepare for this forthcoming role. Given it can take years to develop people for specialist positions, this is of particular importance for nuclear organisations. The IAEA report notes that one of the key objectives in succession management is to match an organisation’s future needs with the aspirations of individuals. Providing development opportunities that offer new challenges and are more promising than those found elsewhere is an effective way to retain talent. When enacting succession plans senior managers have to
pay attention to the resilience of the team or teams when internal moves and appointments are being considered. The length of time and performance in a post, number of years of managerial or technical experience, and experience in terms of technical background also need to be taken into account during succession planning. The report adds that other relevant generalist and technical experience, project management and structural integrity, for instance, can be conducive to fulfilling the job requirements. The potential loss of people with critical knowledge and skills can be addressed through conducting risk assessments, which also enable nuclear organisations to improve the competence of new and existing personnel. Critical posts need to be identified and, where possible, successors with agreed action plans to mitigate risk and engage in external recruitment, if required. Knowledge management is acknowledged as being
important for nuclear organisations, which need to have a knowledge management programme to ensure that critical knowledge is transferred before people leave or move within an organisation. It is also closely aligned with workforce planning and succession and talent management. With a 100-year lifespan from planning through
construction, commissioning and operation and on through decommissioning, sustaining a competent workforce through all an installation’s life cycle is no easy task. For workforce management the obvious implication is people from multiple generations of workers will be responsible for nuclear plants over their lifetimes. Each generation may have different norms, expectations and motivating factors that need to be considered and addressed in planning and implementing programmes to recruit, develop and retain them. A key part of this process will be knowledge management over a facility’s lifetime. The IAEA strategy is formulated to help the nuclear industry assess and go some way to remedy these ongoing problems which are expected to become more significant over time. To ensure plant safety means getting enough of the right people and the nuclear sector needs to address that issue without delay. ■
24 | July 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49
